Explanation of the Book of Tawhid-45

The Shaykh :"It is narrated from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

if anyone begs in Allah's name, give him something

من سأل بالله فأعطوه

Sunan Abi Dawud 1672Sahih (Al-Albani)

" The word "whoever" is conditional for generality, because conditional particles are general. "Whoever asks by Allah"—I told you that asking by Allah has two forms or two meanings: The first meaning is that he asks for what he is entitled to by the Shari'ah of Allah. The second meaning is that he asks using the formula "I ask you by Allah." The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Give to him," because giving to him responds to his need on one hand, and it is an exaltation of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, by whom he asked.
Is it required that he ask using the Name of Allah, "by Allah," or is it sufficient to use any of the names specific to Allah? Yes, we say it is general; the intended meaning of "by Allah" is by whatever is specific to Allah. Therefore, the king who came to the leper, the bald man, and the blind man said to them, "I ask you by the One who gave you such and such, by the One who gave you." It was mentioned to us previously that he deviated from saying "by Allah" to draw their attention to what Allah had bestowed upon them.
He said What do you say about the command here? Is it for obligation or for recommendation? We say, according to the well-known rule among the scholars, that the default for a command is obligation, but it is restricted by the conditions we mentioned: that he does not ask for a sin, and that he does not ask for something that entails harm to the one asked. If he asks in that manner, then it is not obligatory to respond to him; rather, he should be advised. The second point: He said Why? Because he sought refuge in the Great One. Therefore, if someone seeks refuge in Allah, it is obligatory for you to grant him refuge, except if he seeks refuge from a matter that is obligatory upon him. In that case, it is not obligatory for you to respond to him. For example, if you wanted to compel a person to attend the congregational prayer and you said, "Come on, go, attend," and he said, "I seek refuge in Allah from your shirk," do you grant him refuge? No. Allah the Mighty and Majestic does not grant refuge to an oppressor. If Allah Himself, Glorified and Exalted is He, does not grant him refuge, then you do not grant him refuge. If he seeks refuge in Allah from being compelled to do an obligatory matter, or from being compelled to abandon a forbidden matter, do you grant him refuge? No, because if you grant him refuge, you have helped him in sin and transgression. And perhaps we would say about the one who seeks refuge in Allah what we said about the one who asks by Allah: that is, the one who seeks refuge in a valid sanctuary that the Shari'ah requires one to grant refuge to, even if he does not say "I seek refuge in Allah from you," it is obligatory for you to grant him refuge. Therefore, the scholars said that if someone commits a crime that entails a fixed punishment (hadd) and then takes refuge in the Sacred Precinct (Haram), it is not permissible to carry out the hadd against him in the Haram. Likewise, if retaliation (qisas) is obligatory upon him, he is not subjected to retaliation in the Haram if he takes refuge there. But what is done with him? The scholars said that he is restricted; he is not traded with, nor is he partnered with. And if it is known that he is not traded with, nor partnered with, nor rented a house, nor is he given any attention at all, then he will leave. This is different from the one who violated the sanctity of the Haram and committed the crime within the Haram itself, for the Haram does not grant him refuge because he is the one who violated its sanctity. The conclusion is that we might say that the one who seeks refuge in Allah, meaning by what Allah the Exalted has made a sanctuary, whether by the formula or without the formula. And his saying "Whoever invites you"—this "whoever" is one of the words of generality because it is conditional—respond to him. Invites you to what? It appears that the intended meaning of "invitation" is the well-known invitation, which is the invitation to honor or a favor. What does it mean, "whoever invites you to what"? If a person called out to you and said, "Oh so-and-so, oh so-and-so," this is an invitation. But it appears that the intended meaning in the hadith is the invitation to a favor in the house. "Respond to him" means do not make excuses to him. And his saying appears to indicate obligation, and the appearance of "whoever" indicates generality. Accordingly, responding would be obligatory in every invitation. This is the position of the People of the Apparent Meaning (Ahl al-Zahir) that whoever invites you, it is obligatory for you to respond to him. But the majority of the scholars say that responding is not obligatory except in the invitation to a wedding, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding it: Here, it is explicitly stated regarding the wedding invitation that whoever does not respond has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. And no such statement was reported regarding other invitations. And in any case, whether we say it is obligatory or recommended, there are conditions for it:
The first condition, the scholars said, is that the inviter be someone whom it is not obligatory to boycott.