1 00:00:00,820 --> 00:00:03,819 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:00:03,819 --> 00:00:06,259 The Life of the salaf. 3 00:00:06,259 --> 00:00:09,259 Between Speech and Action. 4 00:00:09,259 --> 00:00:13,519 By Sheikh Ahmad ibn Nasir al-Tayyar. 5 00:00:13,519 --> 00:00:18,920 Our Duty Toward the Righteous salaf. 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:27,620 It is incumbent upon us to prioritize, highlight, and care for the words and lives of the righteous salaf and the firmly grounded scholars. 7 00:00:27,620 --> 00:00:29,620 For the following reasons: 8 00:00:29,620 --> 00:00:34,619 First: Fulfilling our obligation to them and honoring the rights they hold over us. 9 00:00:34,619 --> 00:00:40,619 For we have benefited from them, and our condition has improved—after Allah the Almighty—because of them. 10 00:00:40,619 --> 00:00:45,619 Thus, it is their right upon us that we manifest and disseminate their knowledge and their noble legacies. 11 00:00:45,619 --> 00:00:50,619 We ask Allah the Almighty to gather us with them in Paradise. 12 00:00:50,619 --> 00:00:52,939 Second: 13 00:00:52,939 --> 00:00:57,939 Caring for their words and biographies, and maintaining a connection to and love for them, 14 00:00:57,939 --> 00:01:02,939 draws the believer closer to them and encourages him to emulate them. 15 00:01:02,939 --> 00:01:05,939 By the measure of one’s closeness to the righteous salaf, 16 00:01:05,939 --> 00:01:09,939 the believer improves and remains steadfast upon the Sunnah. 17 00:01:09,939 --> 00:01:13,939 He becomes averse to and distances himself from whims and innovations. 18 00:01:13,939 --> 00:01:17,170 He becomes less prone to error and slipping. 19 00:01:17,170 --> 00:01:19,170 As for those who have deviated, 20 00:01:19,170 --> 00:01:22,170 and whose errors have multiplied, 21 00:01:22,170 --> 00:01:25,170 it is due to their distance from the guidance of their salaf, 22 00:01:25,170 --> 00:01:28,230 and their lack of concern for their biographies. 23 00:01:28,230 --> 00:01:32,230 If you wish to reach the people, follow their path; 24 00:01:32,230 --> 00:01:36,620 for it has been made clear to those who travel it. 25 00:01:36,620 --> 00:01:39,620 It is essential that the traversing of this path be done 26 00:01:39,620 --> 00:01:44,620 behind the leaders of its people, whose guidance and discernment are unanimously agreed upon, 27 00:01:44,620 --> 00:01:46,620 such as al-Shafi'i and Ahmad, 28 00:01:46,620 --> 00:01:48,620 and Ishaq and Abu 'Ubayd, 29 00:01:48,620 --> 00:01:51,870 and those who followed their way. 30 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:55,870 For whoever claims to follow this path while departing from their way 31 00:01:55,870 --> 00:01:58,870 falls into wildernesses and perils. 32 00:01:58,870 --> 00:02:01,870 He adopts what is not permissible to adopt, 33 00:02:01,870 --> 00:02:03,870 and abandons what is mandatory to practice. 34 00:02:03,870 --> 00:02:06,189 Third: 35 00:02:06,189 --> 00:02:10,189 Highlighting their words and reviving their legacies 36 00:02:10,189 --> 00:02:14,189 is a means by which Allah repels many innovations and deviations, 37 00:02:14,189 --> 00:02:16,189 as well as doubts and base desires. 38 00:02:16,189 --> 00:02:20,189 For there is nothing but truth or falsehood. 39 00:02:20,189 --> 00:02:23,189 When the truth is weak, falsehood becomes strong. 40 00:02:23,189 --> 00:02:27,189 The truth only gains strength through the strength of its people. 41 00:02:27,189 --> 00:02:31,189 The people of truth are the righteous salaf from the Companions and the Tabi'un, 42 00:02:31,189 --> 00:02:34,189 and those who followed them in goodness. 43 00:02:34,189 --> 00:02:37,189 Those who hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah. 44 00:02:37,189 --> 00:02:42,189 Therefore, highlighting their legacies, character, creeds, and methodologies 45 00:02:42,189 --> 00:02:45,189 invites others to adopt what they were upon. 46 00:02:45,189 --> 00:02:48,189 It corrects the course of those who affiliate themselves with Islam. 47 00:02:48,189 --> 00:02:50,189 It increases their numbers. 48 00:02:50,189 --> 00:02:56,800 This inevitably leads to their strength and the weakening of those who oppose them. 49 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:58,800 Fourth: 50 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,800 Highlighting their words and reviving their legacies 51 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,800 enables the Muslim to distinguish the one who is correct from the one who is mistaken, 52 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,800 among those who claim to be people of knowledge and da'wah. 53 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,800 Whoever is seen opposing the guidance of our righteous salaf in conduct or character, 54 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,800 or in creed or methodology, 55 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:18,800 then his error or misguidance is clear. 56 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,800 At that point, the Muslim is upon insight and guidance. 57 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:28,800 He is saved from misguidance, deviation, and being deceived by those who have strayed from the path of truth, 58 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:30,800 no matter how great their fame, 59 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,800 how eloquent their style, or how far-reaching their influence. 60 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,310 Fifth: 61 00:03:36,310 --> 00:03:40,310 Making the guidance of the righteous salaf and their understanding of issues, 62 00:03:40,310 --> 00:03:44,310 and their Tafsir of the legal texts, the judge in times of disagreement, 63 00:03:44,310 --> 00:03:47,310 and the arbiter in times of conflict. 64 00:03:47,310 --> 00:03:53,439 For when people differ—especially those who affiliate themselves with knowledge, da'wah, and goodness— 65 00:03:53,439 --> 00:03:58,439 regarding issues related to creed, methodology, conduct, and character, 66 00:03:58,439 --> 00:04:01,439 the guidance of our salaf is the judge. 67 00:04:01,439 --> 00:04:06,439 None would disdain submitting to it except one who is deviant and misguided. 68 00:04:06,439 --> 00:04:10,659 One might cite a verse or a hadith as evidence, 69 00:04:10,659 --> 00:04:13,659 and another might oppose it with a verse or a hadith. 70 00:04:13,659 --> 00:04:15,659 We say to them: 71 00:04:15,659 --> 00:04:19,660 Let us look to the understanding of the Companions, the Tabi'un, and those who followed them, 72 00:04:19,660 --> 00:04:23,660 for whom excellence has been established by definitive text. 73 00:04:23,660 --> 00:04:27,660 We find comfort in the understanding of those who followed them among the firmly grounded scholars, 74 00:04:27,660 --> 00:04:31,660 who possess a truthful tongue within the Ummah. 75 00:04:31,660 --> 00:04:35,759 It is impossible for our understandings to be better than theirs, 76 00:04:35,759 --> 00:04:37,759 nor our intellects superior to theirs, 77 00:04:37,759 --> 00:04:40,759 nor our knowledge more firmly grounded than theirs. 78 00:04:41,790 --> 00:04:43,790 So, if they agree upon a matter, 79 00:04:43,790 --> 00:04:46,790 it is mandatory for us to submit to them. 80 00:04:46,790 --> 00:04:49,790 For the Ummah will not unite upon misguidance.