Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "

The reciter: He said (may Allah have mercy on him): "The chapter on scrupulousness and avoiding doubtful matters:
Allah the Exalted said:

and thought it was insignificant while it was, in the sight of Allah, tremendous.

وتحسبونه هيناً وهو عند الله عظيم

[An-Nur 24:15]

.
And He the Exalted said:

Indeed, your Lord is in observation.

إن ربك لبالمرصاد

[Al-Fajr 89:14]

.
And al-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say:

What is lawful is evident and what is unlawful is evident, and in between them are the things doubtful which many people do not know. So he who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honour blameless, and he who indulges in doubtful things indulges in fact in unlawful things, just as a shepherd who pastures his animals round a preserve will soon pasture them in it. Beware, every king has a preserve, and the things God his declaced unlawful are His preserves. Beware, in the body there is a piece of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound and if it is corrupt the whole body is corrupt, and hearken it is the heart.

إنَّ الحلال بين وإن الحرام بين، وبينهما مشتَبِهات لا يعلمهن كثير من الناس، فمن اتقى الشبهات، استبرأ لدينه وعرضه، ومن وقع الشبهات، وقع في الحرام، كالراعي يرعى حول الحِمى يوشك أن يرتع فيه، ألا وإن لكل ملك حمى ألا وإن حمى الله محارمه، ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله، وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله: ألا وهي القلب

Sahih Muslim 1599a

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim ".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
The author al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book *Riyad al-Salihin*: "The chapter on scrupulousness and avoiding doubtful matters": Scrupulousness and asceticism are confused in their meanings by some people, but the difference between them is as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book *al-Ruh*: "Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter, and asceticism is leaving what is not beneficial": So the station of asceticism is higher than the station of scrupulousness, because scrupulousness is that a person leaves what is harmful, and asceticism is that he leaves what is not beneficial.
Because things are of three categories: harmful and beneficial, and neither harmful nor beneficial, meaning some are harmful, some are beneficial, and some are neither harmful nor beneficial. So the ascetic leaves two of these: he leaves the harmful and he leaves what is neither beneficial nor harmful, and he does what is beneficial.
And the scrupulous person leaves one of them, which is what is harmful, and he does what is beneficial, and he does the thing that has neither benefit nor harm. And by this, the station of the ascetic became higher than the station of the scrupulous person, and sometimes one of them is used for the other.
So scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful, and among that is leaving doubtful matters, those that are doubtful in their ruling and those that are doubtful in their reality:
The first is doubt in the ruling. The second is doubt in the state.
So the scrupulous person is the one who, when a matter is doubtful to him, leaves it; he leaves it if the doubt is regarding its prohibition, and he does it if the doubt is regarding its obligation, so that he does not sin by leaving it.
Then the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned two verses regarding this chapter. He said (may Allah have mercy on him), the first verse is: : "You consider it": The pronoun refers to what the people received of the false rumor, the lie, concerning the Mother of the Believers, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). This is because Aisha, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), was the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the hypocrites were waiting for an opportunity to tarnish his reputation and defile his honor. So one of the expeditions took place, and when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from it, he slept on the way. The wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had men to help them with their luggage. When it was late at night, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) went out to relieve herself. The men who carried the palanquin in which she rode came and loaded it onto the camel and tied it to the camel, thinking she was inside, because at that time she was young and light in weight. Then the caravan moved on. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) returned to the place and found that the people had departed. Due to her intelligence, composure, and calmness, she remained in the place; she did not wander to the right or left, because if she had gone, she might have gotten lost and they would have missed her. However, she stayed in her place. A man from the best of the Companions, named Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, was sleeping. He was of those who, when they sleep, do not wake up until they are fully satisfied with sleep; if you try to wake them, no matter what, they do not wake up. So he woke up (may Allah be pleased with him) and found that the people had departed and saw this figure, this dark shape. He approached it, and it was Aisha, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her). He knew her before the hijab was established. So what did this man do? This man dismounted the camel and did not speak a single word out of respect for the bed of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he did not want to speak with his wife in such a place. He dismounted the camel, placed his foot on the camel's leg, and supported the camel, so Aisha mounted it. He took the reins and began to lead the camel, placing Aisha behind him. When he approached the group, the hypocrites spoke, and they saw that this was an opportunity. They said, "We are not lying in what we are saying." They spoke about Aisha, but they did not care about Aisha's honor; a girl with her husband does not concern them. What concerned them was defiling the bed of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). May Allah curse them; how are they turned away? So they continued to speak. And it was by the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that when they arrived in Medina, Aisha fell ill and remained in her house. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would enter upon her, but he did not see from her what he used to see before. He would pass by and say: meaning, "How is she?" He did not ask persistently or say, "How is she today? Perhaps she is better than yesterday," or the like. He said this word because the talk of the hypocrites had spread in Medina, and some of the believers had become hesitant. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not doubt his family, and he saw that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), by His wisdom, would not allow the bed of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to be defiled. He would never have believed this, but with the abundance of talk, knocking, and rumor-mongering, a person is human. After about a month had passed, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and her maternal aunt, Umm Miththath ibn Athathah, went out to relieve themselves. In the beginning, they did not have toilets in their houses; if someone wanted to relieve himself, he had no place to do so in the house, so they would go out to the open land, looking for a low, quiet place to relieve themselves. So she stumbled. She went out with her maternal aunt, Umm Miththath, and stumbled, so she said, "May Miththath perish." She said this, Umm Miththath: "May Miththath perish." Aisha was surprised; how could she say this about a man from the Muhajireen who witnessed Badr? She said, "Why? Why do you say this?" Because the meaning of "perish" is "lost and destroyed." She said, "Do you not know such and such and such?" So Aisha's illness increased upon her illness, and she began to cry night and day; her tears did not dry up, and she found no comfort in life. While things were thus, the hypocrisy of the hypocrites reached its peak, and Allah revealed these noble verses regarding them: meaning: "A group of you," : "Glory be to Allah! Do we not consider this false rumor and accusation of immorality as a great evil?" Yes, we do not consider it a great evil, : because it resulted in the purification of sins, the elevation of ranks, and the defense of the honor of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his bed, which is better. : Each person who spoke about this matter has what he has earned of sin. : The greatest of them is the one who led this fitnah, and may Allah protect us from that. Then Allah continued the verses until He said: : And the scrupulousness and piety was that you not speak about this matter. Where did it come from? From the hypocrites, who are the liars among Allah's servants. The hypocrites are the most lying of people. For this reason, one of the signs of hypocrisy is lying. Listen to the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): A confirmed testimony with "in" and "lam." Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: "The truth is that you are His Messenger," : A testimony by a testimony. Which is greater? Their saying, "We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah," or Allah's saying, "And Allah testifies that they are liars"? Without doubt, it is the saying of Allah. So He testifies (Mighty and Majestic) that the hypocrites are liars in their saying, "We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah." This news or this immorality that was spread, its source was from the hypocrites, and at their head was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. But this wicked one does not speak openly; he comes to the people and says, "Have you not heard what was said about Aisha? It was said such and such." There were people from the believers who spoke about this openly: among them were Miththath ibn Athathah, Hassan ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), and Humaynah bint Jahsh. They spoke because they are human. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) swore that he would not spend on Miththath ibn Athathah. Miththath ibn Athathah is what? He is the son of his maternal aunt, but he swore that he would not spend on him because he said about his daughter, rather, he said about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) what is not fitting. So what did Allah (Mighty and Majestic) say? He said: : "Let not those who swear oaths": meaning, let not he who swears, and the one intended by this is Abu Bakr, , who is meant by "those nearest in kin, the poor, and the Muhajireen"? Miththath. : When this verse was revealed, Abu Bakr said: : So he restored the financial support to Miththath. This is a great obedience. Otherwise, a man says about his daughter what he says, rather, about the Messenger of Allah what he says. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that Miththath, Hassan, and Humaynah be flogged, each one eighty lashes, the hadd for false accusation of adultery.