Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-81a
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The reciter: And upon our master Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. He said, may Allah have mercy on him:
"The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers when there is no need for it. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:2]
Narrated by Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 4860Da'if (Al-Albani) Narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi."
The Shaykh : ...
The reciter: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying the hadith"
The Shaykh : ...
The reciter: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers when there is no need for it. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:2] Narrated by Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Abi Dawud 4860Da'if (Al-Albani)"
The Shaykh : And I am pure-hearted
The reciter: "Sunan Abi Dawud 4860Da'if (Al-Albani) Narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi"
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book Riyad al-Salihin: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers" when there is no need or benefit in doing so. This means that the author, may Allah have mercy on him, intended by this chapter that people should not convey to the rulers the speech and conditions of others when there is no need for it. This is because conveying speech to the rulers when there is no benefit leads either to aggression against the person about whom the speech was conveyed, or to the rulers imagining things that have no reality, such as thinking that people hate them and curse them, and the like. Therefore, it is not permissible to convey to the rulers the speech and talk of people unless there is a need or benefit in doing so. If there is a need or benefit in doing so, then the speech of people must be conveyed to the rulers out of fear of harm.
For example, if one of the people speaks about the rulers in gatherings, saying such and such about them and cursing them, then it is better not to convey this to the rulers so that the harm I mentioned does not occur, which is aggression against this person and the rulers imagining that people hate them, so they hate the people and do not bring about what they should bring about from the interests of the Muslims. However, if there is a need to convey the speech of people to the rulers to repel harm or achieve a benefit, then it is necessary to convey it to them. If we see a man speaking about the rulers regarding their sins and open sinfulness and the like, and spreading it among the people, then it is necessary to inform the rulers of this, because this is advice. It is advice to this person so that he does not persist in his tyranny and his attacks on the rulers, and it is advice to the rulers as well so that they do not cause people to hold hatred in their hearts against the rulers. As for leaving the corrupter to corrupt and speak as he pleases without restraining or deterring him, this is contrary to the benefit; rather, it contains great harm.
In summary, al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned in this chapter that it is not permissible to convey to the rulers the speech and talk of people unless the benefit requires it. If the benefit requires it to stop evil, corruption, and tyranny, then it is obligatory to convey it to the rulers after verifying and confirming the matter, so that the rulers may restrain the people of evil and corruption. Otherwise, if people are left to speak as they please, great harm will result from this.
Then the author provided evidence for this with a verse and a hadith. As for the verse, it is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:2] And cooperating in sin and aggression includes a person conveying the speech of people, or the speech of a specific person, to the rulers without a benefit that requires it. For this may result in what I mentioned: aggression by the rulers against the person without a legal reason.
As for the hadith, it is the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 4860Da'if (Al-Albani) This is from the wisdom of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that no one conveys to him the speech of people so that nothing may settle in his heart against this speaker, and he loves to come out to them with a pure heart. For this reason, it often happens that a person loves someone he respects and sees as a noble and sound man, but then something is conveyed about him, and when something is conveyed to him about this man, he hates him and turns away from him and comes to dislike him. But as we said first, if the benefit requires us to speak, then we must speak so that evil and corruption do not spread and fitnah does not occur. And success is from Allah.
"The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers when there is no need for it. Allah the Exalted said:
but do not cooperate in sin and aggression
ولا تعاونوا على الإثم والعدوانNarrated by Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
None of my Companions must tell me anything about anyone, for I like to come out to you with no ill-feelings.
لا يبلغني أحد من أصحابي عن أحد شيئا فإني أحب أن أخرج إليكم وأنا سليم الصدرThe Shaykh : ...
The reciter: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying the hadith"
The Shaykh : ...
The reciter: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers when there is no need for it. Allah the Exalted said:
but do not cooperate in sin and aggression
ولا تعاونوا على الإثم والعدوانNone of my Companions must tell me anything about anyone, for I like to come out to you with no ill-feelings.
لا يبلغني أحد من أصحابي عن أحد شيئا فإني أحب أن أخرج إليكم وأنا سليم الصدرThe Shaykh : And I am pure-hearted
The reciter: "
for I like to come out to you with no ill-feelings.
فإني أحب أن أخرج إليكم وأنا سليم الصدرThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book Riyad al-Salihin: "The chapter on the prohibition of conveying people's speech and talk to the rulers" when there is no need or benefit in doing so. This means that the author, may Allah have mercy on him, intended by this chapter that people should not convey to the rulers the speech and conditions of others when there is no need for it. This is because conveying speech to the rulers when there is no benefit leads either to aggression against the person about whom the speech was conveyed, or to the rulers imagining things that have no reality, such as thinking that people hate them and curse them, and the like. Therefore, it is not permissible to convey to the rulers the speech and talk of people unless there is a need or benefit in doing so. If there is a need or benefit in doing so, then the speech of people must be conveyed to the rulers out of fear of harm.
For example, if one of the people speaks about the rulers in gatherings, saying such and such about them and cursing them, then it is better not to convey this to the rulers so that the harm I mentioned does not occur, which is aggression against this person and the rulers imagining that people hate them, so they hate the people and do not bring about what they should bring about from the interests of the Muslims. However, if there is a need to convey the speech of people to the rulers to repel harm or achieve a benefit, then it is necessary to convey it to them. If we see a man speaking about the rulers regarding their sins and open sinfulness and the like, and spreading it among the people, then it is necessary to inform the rulers of this, because this is advice. It is advice to this person so that he does not persist in his tyranny and his attacks on the rulers, and it is advice to the rulers as well so that they do not cause people to hold hatred in their hearts against the rulers. As for leaving the corrupter to corrupt and speak as he pleases without restraining or deterring him, this is contrary to the benefit; rather, it contains great harm.
In summary, al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned in this chapter that it is not permissible to convey to the rulers the speech and talk of people unless the benefit requires it. If the benefit requires it to stop evil, corruption, and tyranny, then it is obligatory to convey it to the rulers after verifying and confirming the matter, so that the rulers may restrain the people of evil and corruption. Otherwise, if people are left to speak as they please, great harm will result from this.
Then the author provided evidence for this with a verse and a hadith. As for the verse, it is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
but do not cooperate in sin and aggression
ولا تعاونوا على الإثم والعدوانAs for the hadith, it is the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: