Explanation of the author's statement: And in it is a report from Ibn Mas'ud: that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them
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The Shaykh : ... "And in it is a report from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 3651" We say in this what we said in the first, except that his statement: is clear that the generation of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best of people, and the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are better than the disciples who are the supporters of 'Isa (peace be upon him), and better than the seventy chiefs whom Musa (peace be upon him) chose.
He said:Sahih al-Bukhari 6658 meaning after these three generations ... four ...
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The student: ...
The Shaykh :Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2302Sahih (Darussalam) Is that so?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have it like this?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : I have it only twice, and that is the correct one, yes.Sahih al-Bukhari 6658 Yes, twice. Sahih al-Bukhari 6658 What is the meaning of this phrase? Sahih al-Bukhari 6658 The commentators differed on it in two ways:
The first way: That due to the lack of trust in them, they do not testify except with an oath, and they do not swear except with an oath, due to the lack of trust in them. So he would say, for example, "I testify that so-and-so has a claim against so-and-so for such and such," and then he would say, "By Allah, I am truthful," because betrayal is common among them, so they confirm their testimonies with oaths. Or he would say, "By Allah, I testify that so-and-so has a claim against so-and-so for such and such." In the first formulation, the testimony precedes the oath, and in the second, the oath precedes the testimony. This is one way.
The second way: That it is an allusion to the fact that these people do not care about testimony or oaths, so that the testimony and the oath are, in their case, as if they are racing like two racehorses; one precedes sometimes and the other sometimes, because they rush into oaths and testimonies. They do not seek accuracy in either the oath or the testimony. And on this basis, the meaning is an allusion to their laxity in, yes, oaths and testimony; they do not care. And it has been established for us that if texts can be understood in two meanings that do not contradict each other, then it is to be understood as applying to both, meaning it is applied to both, or the three, or the four. And if the meaning can only be understood in one way, then the stronger position is looked at; the stronger position is looked at and preferred. And in any case, this indicates that the generation that comes after the three generations will include these people, and the meaning is not that every person of that generation is described this way, because he said: and he did not say "then the people will be." And I think the difference between the two phrases is clear, yes. Then, this preference is a preference in terms of generality and kind, and it does not mean that there is no one among the followers of the followers who is better than the followers, or that there is no one among the followers who is more knowledgeable than some of the Companions. As for the virtue of companionship, no one is distinguished by it other than the Companions, and no one precedes them in it. As for knowledge and worship, it is possible that among those after the Companions, there is someone who is more knowledgeable and more devoted in worship than some of them. And on this basis, the preference is in terms of generality and kind, just as if I said, "Men are better than women." Does that mean that every individual man is better than every individual woman?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, because there are found among ... women individuals who are better than many men and superior to many men, so the preference here is in terms of
The student: Generality.
The Shaykh : generality and kind.
Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And Ibrahim said" Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, and he is from the followers, and he is from the jurists, from the jurists of the followers. But as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding the hadith, he is not up to that; he is good in jurisprudence, meaning he is inclined toward jurisprudence over hadith. Even though he is from the narrators of hadith and from the hadith scholars, jurisprudence predominates in him more, so he is a man of jurisprudence.
"And they used to beat us for testimony and pledges while we were young"
The student: And pledges.
The Shaykh : And pledges, yes. "They used to beat us for testimony and pledges" Who does the pronoun "they" refer to?
The student: The fathers.
The Shaykh : The guardians of the people; this is the apparent meaning, because discipline is for the one in authority. "They used to beat us for testimony" meaning if we testified, they beat us for it, if we testified falsely, or if we testified and did not fulfill it, they beat us for it while we were young. Why? So that they would be raised on truthfulness and verification. And his statement "and pledges" the pledge between us means that when a person pledges to his brother, he must fulfill it, so they beat them for it while they were young for discipline. It is derived from this phrase of Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) that the testimony of a child is accepted, ... and they were young ... or not? And this is a point of disagreement among the scholars. Some say that it is a condition for accepting testimony that the person be an adult of sound mind, to bear it, to accept it, meaning to perform it.
The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter
خير الناس قرني ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهمThe best of people
خير الناسHe said:
after that there will come some people whose witness will precede their oaths and their oaths will go ahead of their witness.
ثم يجيء قوم تسبق شهادة أحدهم يمينه ويمينُه شهادتهThere will come people.
يجيء قومThe student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The student: ...
The Shaykh :
The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them,then those who follow them, then those who follow them.
خير الناس قرني ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهمThe student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Do you have it like this?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : I have it only twice, and that is the correct one, yes.
after that there will come some people whose
ثم يجيء قوم تَسبقafter that there will come some people whose witness will precede their oaths and their oaths will go ahead of their witness.
ثم يجيء قوم تسبق شهادة أحدهم يمينه ويمينُه شهادتهafter that there will come some people whose witness will precede their oaths and their oaths will go ahead of their witness
يجيء قوم تسبق شهادة أحدهم يمينه ويمينُه شهادتهThe first way: That due to the lack of trust in them, they do not testify except with an oath, and they do not swear except with an oath, due to the lack of trust in them. So he would say, for example, "I testify that so-and-so has a claim against so-and-so for such and such," and then he would say, "By Allah, I am truthful," because betrayal is common among them, so they confirm their testimonies with oaths. Or he would say, "By Allah, I testify that so-and-so has a claim against so-and-so for such and such." In the first formulation, the testimony precedes the oath, and in the second, the oath precedes the testimony. This is one way.
The second way: That it is an allusion to the fact that these people do not care about testimony or oaths, so that the testimony and the oath are, in their case, as if they are racing like two racehorses; one precedes sometimes and the other sometimes, because they rush into oaths and testimonies. They do not seek accuracy in either the oath or the testimony. And on this basis, the meaning is an allusion to their laxity in, yes, oaths and testimony; they do not care. And it has been established for us that if texts can be understood in two meanings that do not contradict each other, then it is to be understood as applying to both, meaning it is applied to both, or the three, or the four. And if the meaning can only be understood in one way, then the stronger position is looked at; the stronger position is looked at and preferred. And in any case, this indicates that the generation that comes after the three generations will include these people, and the meaning is not that every person of that generation is described this way, because he said:
There will come people.
يجيء قومThe student: No.
The Shaykh : No, because there are found among ... women individuals who are better than many men and superior to many men, so the preference here is in terms of
The student: Generality.
The Shaykh : generality and kind.
Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And Ibrahim said" Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, and he is from the followers, and he is from the jurists, from the jurists of the followers. But as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding the hadith, he is not up to that; he is good in jurisprudence, meaning he is inclined toward jurisprudence over hadith. Even though he is from the narrators of hadith and from the hadith scholars, jurisprudence predominates in him more, so he is a man of jurisprudence.
"And they used to beat us for testimony and pledges while we were young"
The student: And pledges.
The Shaykh : And pledges, yes. "They used to beat us for testimony and pledges" Who does the pronoun "they" refer to?
The student: The fathers.
The Shaykh : The guardians of the people; this is the apparent meaning, because discipline is for the one in authority. "They used to beat us for testimony" meaning if we testified, they beat us for it, if we testified falsely, or if we testified and did not fulfill it, they beat us for it while we were young. Why? So that they would be raised on truthfulness and verification. And his statement "and pledges" the pledge between us means that when a person pledges to his brother, he must fulfill it, so they beat them for it while they were young for discipline. It is derived from this phrase of Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) that the testimony of a child is accepted, ... and they were young ... or not? And this is a point of disagreement among the scholars. Some say that it is a condition for accepting testimony that the person be an adult of sound mind, to bear it, to accept it, meaning to perform it.