Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed) · Lesson 2 of 72

The life of the predecessors between words and deeds | Episode (2) | Our duty towards the righteous predecessors

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0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:03 The Life of the salaf.
0:06 Between Speech and Action.
0:09 By Sheikh Ahmad ibn Nasir al-Tayyar.
0:13 Our Duty Toward the Righteous salaf.
0:18 It is incumbent upon us to prioritize, highlight, and care for the words and lives of the righteous salaf and the firmly grounded scholars.
0:27 For the following reasons:
0:29 First: Fulfilling our obligation to them and honoring the rights they hold over us.
0:34 For we have benefited from them, and our condition has improved—after Allah the Almighty—because of them.
0:40 Thus, it is their right upon us that we manifest and disseminate their knowledge and their noble legacies.
0:45 We ask Allah the Almighty to gather us with them in Paradise.
0:50 Second:
0:52 Caring for their words and biographies, and maintaining a connection to and love for them,
0:57 draws the believer closer to them and encourages him to emulate them.
1:02 By the measure of one’s closeness to the righteous salaf,
1:05 the believer improves and remains steadfast upon the Sunnah.
1:09 He becomes averse to and distances himself from whims and innovations.
1:13 He becomes less prone to error and slipping.
1:17 As for those who have deviated,
1:19 and whose errors have multiplied,
1:22 it is due to their distance from the guidance of their salaf,
1:25 and their lack of concern for their biographies.
1:28 If you wish to reach the people, follow their path;
1:32 for it has been made clear to those who travel it.
1:36 It is essential that the traversing of this path be done
1:39 behind the leaders of its people, whose guidance and discernment are unanimously agreed upon,
1:44 such as al-Shafi'i and Ahmad,
1:46 and Ishaq and Abu 'Ubayd,
1:48 and those who followed their way.
1:51 For whoever claims to follow this path while departing from their way
1:55 falls into wildernesses and perils.
1:58 He adopts what is not permissible to adopt,
2:01 and abandons what is mandatory to practice.
2:03 Third:
2:06 Highlighting their words and reviving their legacies
2:10 is a means by which Allah repels many innovations and deviations,
2:14 as well as doubts and base desires.
2:16 For there is nothing but truth or falsehood.
2:20 When the truth is weak, falsehood becomes strong.
2:23 The truth only gains strength through the strength of its people.
2:27 The people of truth are the righteous salaf from the Companions and the Tabi'un,
2:31 and those who followed them in goodness.
2:34 Those who hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah.
2:37 Therefore, highlighting their legacies, character, creeds, and methodologies
2:42 invites others to adopt what they were upon.
2:45 It corrects the course of those who affiliate themselves with Islam.
2:48 It increases their numbers.
2:50 This inevitably leads to their strength and the weakening of those who oppose them.
2:56 Fourth:
2:58 Highlighting their words and reviving their legacies
3:01 enables the Muslim to distinguish the one who is correct from the one who is mistaken,
3:05 among those who claim to be people of knowledge and da'wah.
3:08 Whoever is seen opposing the guidance of our righteous salaf in conduct or character,
3:13 or in creed or methodology,
3:16 then his error or misguidance is clear.
3:18 At that point, the Muslim is upon insight and guidance.
3:22 He is saved from misguidance, deviation, and being deceived by those who have strayed from the path of truth,
3:28 no matter how great their fame,
3:30 how eloquent their style, or how far-reaching their influence.
3:33 Fifth:
3:36 Making the guidance of the righteous salaf and their understanding of issues,
3:40 and their Tafsir of the legal texts, the judge in times of disagreement,
3:44 and the arbiter in times of conflict.
3:47 For when people differ—especially those who affiliate themselves with knowledge, da'wah, and goodness—
3:53 regarding issues related to creed, methodology, conduct, and character,
3:58 the guidance of our salaf is the judge.
4:01 None would disdain submitting to it except one who is deviant and misguided.
4:06 One might cite a verse or a hadith as evidence,
4:10 and another might oppose it with a verse or a hadith.
4:13 We say to them:
4:15 Let us look to the understanding of the Companions, the Tabi'un, and those who followed them,
4:19 for whom excellence has been established by definitive text.
4:23 We find comfort in the understanding of those who followed them among the firmly grounded scholars,
4:27 who possess a truthful tongue within the Ummah.
4:31 It is impossible for our understandings to be better than theirs,
4:35 nor our intellects superior to theirs,
4:37 nor our knowledge more firmly grounded than theirs.
4:41 So, if they agree upon a matter,
4:43 it is mandatory for us to submit to them.
4:46 For the Ummah will not unite upon misguidance.