The Shaykh’s remarks on the categories of the Sunnah and the necessity of adhering to it

The Shaykh: This digression leads me to draw your attention to the importance of the Sunnah, meaning the Muhammadan Sunnah, of course. It is divided by the scholars into three categories: speech, action, and approval. That is, whatever the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said is Sunnah, whatever he did is Sunnah, and whatever he witnessed with his own eyes and did not do or say, but witnessed with his own eyes and approved, that is also Sunnah. This is called the Sunnah of approval. This Sunnah, in its three categories, is what our Prophet (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) referred to in his famous and authentic hadith. When I say “famous and authentic hadith,” I mean to point out that not every famous hadith is actually authentic; it may have no basis or be fabricated. Some of you may have seen in some mosques, above the door of the pulpit, when one of you enters the mosque, may Allah forgive us, This hadith is written above the door of the pulpit in many mosques: This hadith is not authentic. The authentic hadith is what al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated: There it says: “When the imam ascends the pulpit, there is no prayer.” This is not authentic. The authentic hadith says: .
The point is: The hadith I was about to mention is, first, famous and also authentic. It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , ; that is, it is impossible for you to go astray . This hadith grants the Muslims protection from going astray with two conditions, or with one condition that combines two matters, namely: adhering to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then, since the journey has been long, I fear I may forget to return to what I was doing, so I seek refuge in Allah. I remind you to remind me if I forget. I say that when he (peace be upon him) said: There is no doubt that the ruling regarding the obligation of adhering to the Sunnah is like the ruling regarding the obligation of adhering to the Book. They are twins that cannot be separated from one another. It is necessary to adhere to both: the Book and the Sunnah. However, in reality, there is a difference between the Qur'an and the Sunnah in terms of how they were transmitted. The Qur'an came to us as mass-transmitted (mutawatir), as you know, and is confined between the two covers of the noble Mushaf. As for the Sunnah, first, due to its vast scope, it is scattered in hundreds of books, namely the books of the Sunnah. And among them is what is authentically attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and what is not authentically attributed to him. Therefore, it is not easy for Muslims to adhere to the Sunnah unless their scholars guide them to it, those who know the authentic Sunnah from the weak Sunnah. I have presented to you two examples, one of which is not authentic: . Many people, when they enter the mosque and the imam is delivering the sermon, see this person who wants to pray and tell him, “Sit down, sit down, the imam is preaching.” Instead of guiding him to the Sunnah, they divert him from it. Why? Because he himself has turned away from it, having been entangled by this inauthentic hadith: and being ignorant of, or at least neglecting, the authentic hadith: . Then, let him sit, but on the condition that he be brief; that is, he shortens them. So, the Sunnah realizes the guarantee that the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned: . This protection is only for the one who adheres to the authentic Sunnah along with the Qur'an, and not to everything that is claimed to be Sunnah. Because in reality, if a Muslim adheres to every statement he hears or reads, he will fall into lying about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without knowing or realizing it. Therefore, it is reported in "Sahih Muslim" from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , ; that is, the hadith is known by the people of knowledge to be a lie. So this narrator who narrates what he does not know to be authentic, but the scholars know is not authentic, this narrator who is ignorant of what he narrates, becomes one of the two liars. The first liar is the one who fabricated it, and the second liar is the one who spread it. So, in summary, this is the conclusion of this speech.