The Shaykh’s mention of his discussion with Nasser al-‘Umar regarding his book *Fiqh al-Waqi’* at Al-Albani’s residence in Amman.

The Shaykh : Perhaps you have come across the book of our brother: Nasser al-‘Umar. What is his name?

The questioner : Yes, Dr. Nasser al-‘Umar.

The Shaykh : The one who titled it “Fiqh al-Waqi’” (Jurisprudence of Reality). I saw, by his grace, and perhaps that is also a sign of his fairness: he came to my home here, read this book to me, and discussed it with me. He admitted to many of the errors that occurred in it and promised to look into other matters in which he had hesitated to make a final decision at that time. However, the important point is that I told him, Professor: Fiqh al-Waqi’ is not suitable to be common among all Muslims. Fiqh al-Waqi’ is a collective obligation (fard kifayah), like other sciences, or most other sciences. When we stir up the masses with Fiqh al-Waqi’, as if we are obliging them all to become scholars of hadith, scholars of fiqh, scholars of tafsir, and so on, no scholar says this. How much less so for Fiqh al-Waqi’, which requires not only knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, but also knowledge of the current reality. What is the reality of Muslims today? Are they, as Muslims and as a nation gathering millions upon millions as they say, what is the jurisprudence of this? What is the reality of these Muslims, and what is their proximity to acting upon Islamic rulings?