Originally published on 31 Aug 2016 by DuSunnah.com
TRANSLATOR: Ṣalaḥ al-Irānī
SOURCE: Ithāf al-Qāriī fī Sharh us-Sunnah of Al-Barbahārī, 1/102-109 of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān al Fawzān
The author, (Imām al-Barbahārī) may Allah have mercy upon him said; “Examine! May Allah
ﷻ have mercy
upon you, the speech of every person that you hear, practically in your
day and age. Do not act in haste and do
not enter into anything from it until you ask and see – Did any of the
companions of the Prophet ﷺ speak
concerning it or any of the scholars? For if you find a narration from them
concerning it then hold tightly onto it and do not exchange it for anything nor give anything precedence over it and consequently
fall into the Hell-Fire.”
The Explanation:
Do not be hasty in (holding to be correct) that which you
hear from the people, particularly in recent
times as there are many of those who speak, legislate Islamic rulings,
stand to lecture and pass on religious knowledge, especially now with the expansion of media [technology].
It has reached the point that everyone talks foolishly and speaks in the name
of knowledge and religion. It has even come to the point that the people of
misguidance and deviated groups speak in the name of the religion on cable and
satellite channels, therefore the dangers are extremely great.
It is an obligation upon you O’ Muslim and especially upon
you O’ Student of Knowledge that you confirm and verify (the affairs) and you
are not hasty in everything you hear. It is obligatory upon you to verify and
know the one who uttered this (speech), and to (ask) from where did this
ideology generate from, to know it’s source, it’s proof from the Qur’ān and
sunnah, where does (this lecturer) study and from whom did he take knowledge?
Therefore these matters are in need of verification
– particularly in this time. We do not accept
(the speech of) anyone even if he be a person who is articulate in
speaking, well expressed, has the ability to manipulate words and capture the ears of the people. Do
not be deceived by it until you see the depth of knowledge and understanding of the religion he has. For it could be
possible that a person’s speech be little,
yet he is an expert of Islamic jurisprudence or it could be possible that a person’s speech is abundant, yet he is
ignorant and no understanding of the religion. Rather he has captivating
speech, deceiving the people (with it)
and appearing to them as though he is a scholar, and someone who has
understanding (of the religion), someone
who is intellectual and other than that, doing so until he deceives the people
and misguides them from the truth.
The statement of the author, “Examine! May Allah ﷻ have mercy upon you, the speech of
every person that you hear, practically in your day and age. Do not act in
haste and do not enter into anything from it…” This (was said) at the time of
the author and he was almost present during the time of Imām Aḥmad (ibn Ḥanbal)
since he was from the students of his students. He mentions not to hasten in
(accepting and following) the speech of the people in your time until you have
verified it, so where is this compared to our time now!? A time of desires and ignorance, and a time where the parts of
the world mix together, to the point that waves of tribulations (fitan), evils
and ideologies have occurred. The enemy now desires to turn the religion upside
down. He desires us to be dependant on him, to obligate upon us his ideology and
obligate upon us his political beliefs.
So it is upon us to
verify and authenticate this affair and withhold (from speaking and entering
into) many of the affairs. It is upon us to understand the speech of Allah ﷻ (the Qur’ān) and the
speech of his Messenger ﷺ (the sunnah) and
to gain comprehension of the religion of Allah. Having understanding (of the
religion) includes within it a protection from tribulations, and fiqh refers to
the understanding of the religion.
It could be that a person has memorised a great amount,
however he doesn’t have understanding (of that which he has memorised). It may
even be that (even though he has memorised much) he is just like a layman,
rather it may even be the case that the layman is better than him due to
withholding (from speaking and entering into affairs) since he acknowledges and
is aware of his ignorance, whereas the latter does not acknowledge his is ignorant. Thus the issue (of concern) is not about memorising a great deal or
speaking abundantly; rather the issue is a matter of understanding and
comprehending, and for this reason the Prophet ﷺ said “Perhaps
one who has it conveyed to him will understand it better than the one who heard it.”1 Meaning
there could be that an individual who memorises, reports and narrates, yet
there could be a person other than him who understands it better than him. The
Prophet ﷺ said, “Perhaps the one who
conveys knowledge does not understand it
himself.”2 He could memorise it and narrate it yet he doesn’t
understand it. Therefore the understanding of the religion is a bounty from
Allah, and he gives it to whomever he wills from his servants, if he takes
advantage of it and develops it then he would benefit from it but if he
neglects it then it will be lost.
The statement of the author, “Do not act in haste and do
not enter into anything from it until
you ask and see; did any of the companions of the Prophet speak concerning it…”
this is great advice regarding speech that amazes you in relation to the religion, but as for
speech which is related to the worldly affairs, then it isn’t a matter of
seeking it’s authenticity. However if you are impressed with some speech
regarding the religion then do not be hasty (in accepting it) until you have
looked and examined it; “Is this speech founded upon the truth and evidence or
is it from intellect and philosophy?” if so, then it is nothing but scum of the
sea, so keep away from it. As for speech that is built and founded upon the Qur’ān and sunnah then this is the truth. So beware and do not rush
into accepting speech upon false value even if you are impressed and carried
away by his eloquent speech, ability to manipulate words and lectures, do not hasten to it until you
have looked into it and examined it against the Qur’ān and sunnah. Look to see
who said (this speech), is he a person
of understanding or not? Ask the people of knowledge about him and examine to
see if any of the salaf had preceded him in his speech. I have warned against
this on many occasions, do not introduce opinions, views, statements that have
not been mentioned before (from any of the salaf).
Take from
the examples of the salaf and the statements of the salaf and if you come with
something, which has no salaf for it then it could be a deviation and the
danger in this would be more than the benefit. The speech of the Companions is
(used as) the scale (to examine these affairs) because they were the
students of the Messenger of Allah,
their statement are looked to with
regards to the verses of the Qur’ān and how they explained it and with regards
to the ḥadīth. So take from their
statements and their explanation because they are the closest to the
truth from those who came after them.
They were the students of the Messenger ﷺ; they heard the interpretation and the explanation (of the Qur’ān and aḥadīth) from the Messenger ﷺ, and
they took this from him, they are the closest from the people to the truth. No
attention is paid to those who speak with statement such as “The Companions are
not given any special attention. They were men who had their views and we are
men and we have our views. The time has changed.” The religion will remain
upright until the establishment of the
Hour and it does not change with the changing of time, rather the religion is
included in every time and place . That which changes is human jurisprudence
which may sometimes be correct and sometimes incorrect, but as for the religion
in itself then it does not change since it is safe-guarded in every era and
every place since it has been revealed by the All-Wise and worthy of All-Praise.
It is for this reason that they (the salaf used to ) advise and say, “Upon you
is the book of Allah ﷻ and
the sunnah of the Messenger upon the understanding of the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ” So do not
narrate from yourself or from others.
The statement of the author, “or any of the
scholars?..” meaning; was it said by any one of the
prominent scholars who traversed upon the methodology of the Companions of the
Messenger ﷺ since they
narrated from the Companions and the Companions narrated from the Messenger.
The statement of the author, “For if you find a narration
from them concerning it then hold tightly onto it..” if you find it in
agreement to the methodology of the companions then hold onto it. The statement
of the author, “and do not exchange it for anything..” and do not exchange the
statement of the salaf for the statements of so and so from those who came
after them.
The statement of the author, “nor give anything precedence
over it and consequently fall into the
Hell-Fire.” and do not give precedence over anything which came from the salaf
with that which came after, consequently falling into the Hell-Fire because you
would have opposed the path leading to paradise, and the path leading to
paradise is that which is upon it, Allah said;
الَّذِينَ
أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ
وَالصَّالِحِي وَحَسُنَ أُولَـٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا ۞
“.. those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace, of the
Prophets, the Siddiqūn (those followers of the Prophets
who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abū Bakr As-Siddiq), the
martyrs, and the righteous and how excellent these companions are!” (Q 4:69)
This is the path to
paradise and whatever opposes this then it is the path to the hellfire and
Allah, The Most High said:
And He ﷻ said;
وَأَنَّ
هَـٰذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ
بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ۞
“And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and
follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This
He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Muttaqūn”
(Q 6:153)
The path of Allah ﷻ is one path, as for other than it then
there are many paths and every devil has for itself a path and it is a path
from the devil from mankind and Jinn. So there are many paths that lead to
confusion, however the straight path is one, it does not contain any
disagreements and you will never become lost if you embark upon it.
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1
See al-Bukhārī (2/1654).
2
See Abū Dāwūd (1679).
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