Lesson 5 — The Creed of Imaam al-Bukhari

All praises for Allah and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon Muhammad the son of Abdullah, the last messenger and upon his family and upon his companions.
Tonight, the night before Monday, and I would like to mention the date, and it is the 28th of the month Rabi’ al-Akhir.
And the year is 1439 after the Hijrah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and that which corresponds with the 15th of January 2018.
We will complete what we have started from these issues in this beneficial small book by Imam al-Bukhari.
And before that, before we continue, I would like to mention a point, something related to the third issue or the third point that we have covered.
And that is the Iman in the Qadar, the good and the bad.
So you should know that Allah the Mighty and Majestic is the one that has distributed the provisions among His servants.
And that you act upon the legislated means to achieve and earn those provisions so that you can attain those provisions.
And Allah the Mighty and Majestic due to His tremendous wisdom, He made among the people both those who are rich and those who are poor.
Just as Allah has distributed among the people their levels of intellect.
So from among the people are those who have great intelligence or great intellect.
They have a strong extent or a long extent of intelligence and very strong memory.
And from the people are at a middle level of intelligence or intellect.
And from the people are those who are less than that level of intellect or have a weak intellect.
So if you look, whomever Allah might have raised over yourself with knowledge or with their ability to memorize or with their wealth,
So upon you is to have Iman in the Qadar, in the pre-decreed.
And you must be aware of falling into sins, such as jealousy.
And that is to hope that the blessing be taken away from your brother.
And being upset or angry with the Qadar of Allah.
And that displeasure of Allah would be shown by you asking, why did Allah give this to somebody and he did not give it to me?
Why is that person in a better situation than me?
And this would lead you into great evil.
And the kuffar of Quraysh, once Allah chose Muhammad to be his messenger,
Some of the Quraysh said,
How could Allah possibly choose this poor orphan?
Why wouldn’t Allah choose one of the great ones from the people of Taif or Mecca?
So Allah said, what means?
Allah said, what means?
And they said,
If only Allah had sent down this Qur’an upon a great man from among these two villages.
So they make this suggestion to Allah.
And they go against what Allah chose.
And they said, If only Allah had sent down this Qur’an upon a great man from among these two villages.
So Allah said again,
If only Allah had sent down this Qur’an upon a great man from among these two villages.
So Allah refused their statement by saying,
Is it they who split and divide the mercy of their Lord, of your Lord?
We are the ones who distributed between them their livelihood in this worldly life.
And we raised some people over others in levels.
And Allah the Mighty and Majestic said, what means?
That Allah,
And your Lord creates what He wills and He chooses.
They do not have any choice.
So Allah is the one who created the creation.
And He is the one that chose from among them.
And He differentiated between them in many different aspects.
So He made males and females.
And He made from them the rich and the poor.
And He made the intelligent ones and those who are lower in understanding.
So upon you is to be pleased with whatever Allah has chosen and distributed for you.
Because some people,
If they see who has been given more than them from either wealth or knowledge,
Then they begin to become upset with that.
And they start to blame the one whom Allah chose over them.
And Ibn al-Qayyim said,
In the introduction of his book, Zab al-Ma’ad,
With tremendous speech about this issue.
Explaining this verse.
That which means, your Lord creates whatever He wills and He chooses.
So go back to what Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in the beginning.
And we ask Allah to bless us to be pleased with what He has distributed for us.
And that He blesses us to be thankful for what He has given us.
The second issue that I would like to point out,
And that is related to the issue we discussed of those who make Takfir or they declare to be a disbeliever,
Who is someone who has performed a major sin.
There is something else that people mention along with this making Takfir,
Along with this declaring them to be who they are.
And this involves going above Allah.
And this is swearing.
And this is if you were to swear that Allah will not forgive so and so.
Or if you were to swear that Allah would not have mercy upon someone.
Or if you say specifically that Allah will surely punish this specific person.
And in the authentic hadith, from the hadith narrated by Abu Huraira,
The Prophet ﷺ mentioned two men from the people that came before them.
One of them was righteous and he used to perform acts of obedience.
And the second one, then he transgressed against himself by committing sins.
And whenever they met each other, the righteous one would give advice to the one who sinned.
And that sinner did not used to accept the advice.
And he continued upon his sins.
And one day, the righteous man found that sinner upon a terrible sin.
So he tried to advise him again and warn him.
So that sinner said to him,
Leave me alone with my Lord.
Indeed you were not sent to be a watcher over me.
This is how the sinner refuted and replied back to that righteous man.
So we’ll correct ourselves and we won’t describe him as somebody righteous,
but we’ll say he is a worshiper.
But he was a worshiper.
So he became angry at the reply of that sinner.
So he swore by Allah that Allah will not forgive you.
So Allah took both of them.
And he said to that righteous one that he wants the worshiper.
Who is that that tries to go over me or go over my ruling?
That he swears that I will not forgive so and so.
So Allah said, Are you somebody that knows more about me?
Are you somebody that is able to do what I do?
So indeed I have forgiven that sinner and I have negated or wiped out your good deeds.
So then that slave, that one who was known for worship, he was the one taken to the hellfire.
So Abu Hurairah said about that man who was known as a worshiper.
He spoke a single statement.
And that statement destroyed him.
It destroyed both his worldly life and his hereafter.
So absorb your tongue.
And what should be mentioned also related to this issue is that we testify about any specific individual.
That he would be in the Jannah or the hellfire.
So we don’t do that to anyone except whom Allah or his messenger would be in those places.
So if Allah or his messenger mentioned that then we testify that they would be in Jannah.
And whereas other than those people, no matter how righteous they are or what level of knowledge they reach,
if that person was to die, then we do not say that so and so is in Jannah or will be in Jannah.
But we are hopeful for him and we ask Allah to grant him that.
And if a sinner was to die, that used to waste away his own life by committing innovations and sins,
then we do not testify that he will be in the fire.
But rather we fear for him and we recognize that his affair is with Allah.
So this is an affair which is for Fani.
It is a clear distinction between the people of Sunnah and the people of Bida.
Rather this is a clear distinction between the people of Sunnah and all of the types of religions or sects in the world.
So every religion or every sect that believes in the last day,
then you find that they will always claim that their scholars and their righteous ones are in Jannah.
And what they consider to be righteous men, religious men.
And you find like wise sects of the people of innovation and desires,
you find that they mention about their leaders and the work that they consider to be righteous and from their scholars,
they say that they are in Jannah.
And this is against the proofs.
And this is against what the Imams of the Sunnah work on.
So these two points, we wanted to begin with them,
before we take the next issue, which is the fifth one.
And it is the issue of the rights of the Sahaba.
So we will read the speech of Imam al-Bukhari.
So he said,
So he said,
He said,
He didn’t see a single one of them speak badly about one of the companions of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Meaning he didn’t see anyone say even a single word bad about them.
But rather they were all agreed upon,
having pure hearts for them.
And their hearts were clean, and their tongues were clean from speaking about them.
From speaking about or feeling bad in their heart about any of the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
He said,
And from the beliefs of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama’ah,
He said,
From the foundations of the Sunnah and Jama’ah,
That their hearts and tongues are pure from speaking against them.
From speaking about or feeling bad in their hearts about the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And withholding about what happened between them.
Meaning not going into depth speaking about what happened between them.
And this is what the people of Sunnah have agreed upon in all places for Allah.
And there are many ahadith and verses of the Qur’an about it.
So Allah said,
In Surah Al-Hadid,
La yastawi minkum man anfaqa min qabli al-fatihi wa qatan
La yastawi minkum man anfaqa min qabli al-fatihi wa qatan
Those who spent their wealth before the opening of Mecca and fought in it.
Those are more greater in level than those who spent after that and fought afterwards.
So the companions that fought and spent and accepted Islam before the opening of Mecca.
They are better and greater in level than those who did those actions afterwards.
But be careful.
Don’t think that those who accepted Islam after the opening of Mecca.
Don’t think about them any deficiency or anything blameworthy.
Because of that Allah said,
And for all of them Allah has promised goodness.
And this goodness is Jannah.
So those who accepted Islam before the opening of Mecca and thereafter, all of them will be in Jannah.
And Allah Almighty and Majestic said what it means in surah Al-Fatiha
Muhammad, the messenger of Allah, and those who are with him.
And this wording, those with him, this encompasses both the muhajireen and the ansar.
And so those who accepted Islam before the opening of Mecca and those who came after them.
And everyone who was with the Prophet SAW, he described them as severe upon the kuffar.
And merciful between themselves.
So who would you be to try and enter yourself between the sahaba?
And Allah said what it means?
Allah SAW means for those who are poor among the muhajireen and those who were expelled from their lands and from their wealth.
And they did that seeking virtue from Allah and His pleasure.
And seeking to aid Allah and His messenger.
Indeed they are the truthful ones.
So this verse is about the muhajireen.
And Allah said after that,
That which means, and those
And those who are in Medina and had Iman before that.
And love those who made hijrah to them.
And they don’t find any difficulty in their hearts from what they were given.
And they withheld things from their own selves in order to give their brothers.
Even if they were in a state themselves of downright and in a state of great need.
And He would give precedence to His brother over Himself.
And He would give to His brother the one who made hijrah even if he himself needed.
And Allah said what it means?
And Allah said what it means?
When whoever holds back his stinginess,
Whoever Allah protects from stinginess,
Then indeed they are the ones who are successful.
So in these verses Allah mentioned both the muhajireen and the ansar.
Then Allah said what it means?
And those will come after them.
So this encompasses everyone that comes after the muhajireen and the ansar.
Up until the day of resurrection.
So they say these that came after the muhajireen and the ansar, they say,
Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who came before us in iman.
So the description of these people is they seek forgiveness for the sahaba.
They don’t speak against the sahaba.
They don’t speak badly against a single one of them.
Then Allah said what it means?
He said this about those who come after the sahaba.
That they would say and don’t make in our hearts any dislike for those who have iman.
Our Lord indeed you are the most kind and merciful.
And from the most filthy type of heart,
Is a heart that has dislike and hatred towards the companions.
And whoever’s heart has this dislike for the sahaba,
Is it possible that his heart would be pure and clean towards you?
If somebody hates Abu Bakr and Umar,
And Uthman and Ali,
So is it possible that he would love you?
So be careful of this.
And Allah said what it means?
In Surah Al-Tawbah,
And those who proceeded in the beginning,
From the muhajireen and the ansar.
So these are two types of people.
And those who followed them upon goodness.
Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with him.
And Allah prepared for them,
Jannat, gardens under which rivers flow.
Lasting therein forever.
Indeed that is the tremendous reward.
So this is the second verse,
That Allah mentions both the muhajireen and ansar,
And Allah mentions whoever follows them upon goodness or correctly.
So they are correct in their statements about the sahaba.
And they are correct in how they follow the sahaba.
And Allah said what it means?
In Surah Al-Anfal,
And this is the third place,
As Allah said,
And those who have iman and made hijrah,
And strived in the path of Allah,
Who are these?
These are the muhajireen.
As Allah said,
And those who protected them and aided them.
Indeed they are the people of iman and truth.
For them is forgiveness and generous reward.
So Allah testified for them as having iman.
And Allah promised them with forgiveness for what has come from them.
So upon you is to withhold your tongue.
And then Allah said,
And those who have iman after them.
So this encompasses,
Whoever comes after them up until the establishment of the hour.
Just as has come in the previous two verses,
The verse in Surah Al-Hashr,
And the verse in Surah Al-Tawbah.
So Allah said what it means?
And those who have iman.
And those who make hijrah and strive with you.
Then they are from you.
So Allah made,
Whoever follows the way of the sahaba,
That they are with them.
And ahadith from the Prophet ﷺ are many.
So Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their authentic books,
From the Prophet ﷺ that he said,
Do not curse my companions.
For by the one whose hand my soul is in,
If one of you was to spend,
The likes of Mount Uhud in gold.
And whoever of you who have visited Medina,
Then he knows the size of Mount Uhud.
And whoever has not visited it,
Then we ask a lot that he makes it easy for you to visit it.
And now you can see it easily in pictures or in videos.
And you can see what a great large mountain it is.
If one of you was to spend,
The likes of Mount Uhud,
In gold,
Okay, finish?
You would not reach,
You would not reach with Allah and in pleasing Allah,
Accepting of Allah,
The amount of two hands caught together,
Of one of the sahaba,
And not even half of it.
Meaning, if somebody who came after the companions,
Like Mount Uhud,
Gave the amount of a mountain of pure gold,
It would not reach with Allah,
The amount as if one of the companions,
Gave the amount of one handful,
One, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, here did not specify gold,
Rather is,
Like flour or rice,
Or sugar,
Or dates,
Because the Prophet, peace be upon him, left it general,
Just by saying the two hands of one of them,
Or half of it.
So with this you can clearly see the virtue of the companions,
The virtue of the companions,
Those whom not a single person after them can reach their level,
And they are better than anyone that comes after them,
Even if somebody that comes after them does all of the righteous actions,
And Ibn Taymiyyah said what means,
In his Aqidah,
And this is the meaning of his speech,
The one who looks into the biographies of the companions,
With knowledge and fairness,
He will never that,
He will never that,
That there never was and never will be after them anyone as good as them,
They had Iman in the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
And they believed in him,
And their people waged war against him,
And they were thrown out or they were expelled from their lands,
And their property and their wealth was taken away,
And their blood was spilled in their efforts to try and aid the Prophet, peace be upon him,
And they defended the Prophet, peace be upon him,
And they defended the Prophet, peace be upon him, with every means that they had,
And they carried the revelation and the message,
And they spread to the different lands of the earth teaching the religion of Allah,
So every righteous action that anyone from the ummah does,
Then for the companions is the reward just like the rest of the ummah gets,
So no one can possibly count or measure the amount of the rewards except Allah,
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
Like Abu Hurairah narrated from him in Sahih Muslim,
Whoever calls to guidance,
For him is the reward like the rewards of everyone who follows him in that guidance up until the Day of Resurrection,
And their rewards will not be deficient in anything,
And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
That the one who guides to goodness is just like the one who does the goodness,
So who are the ones who called this ummah,
And who guided them towards goodness,
And who taught this ummah,
And who conveyed the Qur’an and Sunnah after the Prophet, peace be upon him,
Indeed it was only the Sahabah that did this,
So for them is the rewards with the likes of this ummah,
And I have indeed gone long about this topic,
And it deserves to be studied for a long time and even longer than this,
Because it is a tremendous foundational principle of the religion,
And the innovative misguided sects they speak against the noble sahabahs,
Whether they are the Rawafid or the Qawarij,
Or the Abna al-Jama’at al-Hizbiyyah siyasiyyah al-Mu’asirah,
So they have many taunts and parties today,
So they have many attacks against the companion,
And in Al-Mughirah ibn Shurban,
And they speak against Amr ibn Al-As,
And even against Uthman ibn Affan,
Like Sayyid Qutb and others have done,
So upon us is to be careful,
As far as the Rawafid then their affair is clear,
But Qawars and those who are considered to be Islamic thinkers,
And we find that these people they speak against the companions of the Prophet,
And the evil words come out of their mouths,
So we be careful of that,
And here is a question,
Who is a Sahabi?
Imam al-Bukhari answered that,
In his Sahih,
In the book which is chapter headed,
The virtues of the companions of the Prophet,
So he said,
And whoever accompanied the Prophet,
Or saw him,
From among the Muslims,
Then he is from his companions,
From his companions,
So he mentioned,
So he mentioned,
This is a general accompaniment,
A general companionship,
Whether it was 20 years,
Or 10 years,
Or 2 years,
Or 2 months,
Or 2 weeks,
Any length of time that he accompanied him,
This is the first type,
The second type is even if someone only saw the Prophet,
If he saw him in Medina,
Or during the Feral Hajj in Mecca,
Anyone that saw the Prophet,
Or met him,
Or accompanied him,
Then he is from his companions,
For him is the virtue of being a companion,
And it is necessary that we recognize his status,
And that we withhold from speaking against anything bad about them,
And that we only mention the good things about them,
And this is likewise how Imam Ahmad,
Defined what is a Sahabi in his book,
Wasood al-Sunnah,
And likewise Imam Ali ibn al-Madini,
In his small book of Aqida,
That al-Lalika’i narrated in the book,
And other than them from the Imams,
Defined the companions in this way,
So if we know this,
Then there are different affairs,
The first affair we will discuss is the virtues of the Sahaba,
The second is the differing of levels of virtue between the companions,
So Allah mentioned the prophets and messengers,
And he said,
Those are the messengers and we have given some of them virtue over others,
From them are those whom Allah spoke to directly and raised them in levels,
And all of them are prophets,
To disbelieve in one of the prophets is the same as disbelieving in all of them,
And to speak badly against one of the prophets is like speaking bad against all of them,
So the companions,
They all have virtue,
And between them are different levels of virtue,
So the best of them is Abu Bakr,
And he is the best man after the prophets and messengers,
And due to the appropriateness dimension,
There is a book with this title,
The life of the most tremendous greatest man after the prophets and messengers,
And it is authored by our brother Abu Uthman Muhammad Al-Anjari, may Allah preserve him,
And then there after Abu Bakr was Umar Ibn Al-Khattab,
And then after him Umar Ibn Al-Khattab,
And then after him Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
May Allah be pleased with all of them,
Then the last of the ten who were promised Jannah,
We say the remaining ten,
And from those we don’t give them a specific order from those six,
Because the order of giving virtue is not based on our intellect,
It’s not based on our desires,
But rather it’s based upon the Sunnah and the proofs,
So who among you can mention the rest of the ten,
And that’s okay to cooperate,
Who are the remaining six to complete the Jannah,
Who are the remaining four to complete the Jannah,
Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas,
This is a good news for Jannah,
There are the ten and there are the good news,
There are many good news in Jannah,
But the ten came in a single hadith,
We’re mentioning these ten because they came in one hadith together,
And all of them are from the Muhajireen,
So the sixth is Abdulrahman Ibn A’odh,
Abu Ubaid Ibn Al-Jarah,
Sa’id Ibn Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nufayl,
Abdullah Az-Zubayr Ibn Al-Awwam,
Talha Ibn Ur Baylillah,
So we say,
So we say the best Sahaba,
Are those four in that order,
And then the rest of the ten which are those six,
And then the people of Badr,
Then the people of the tree,
So Allah said what means,
Indeed Allah is pleased with the believers,
When they pledged allegiance to you under the tree,
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
No one who gave the pledge of allegiance under the tree will enter the fire,
So all of those will be in Jannah,
And they were approximately 1500 men,
Sorry 1500 people,
1500 people,
They were 1500 people,
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said about the people of Badr,
Oh Omar,
What will you realize,
Perhaps Allah has looked upon the people of Badr,
And said,
And said,
So Allah will forgive them,
So we’ll say again,
The first issue is the virtue of the Sahaba generally,
So this encompasses,
Everyone even who has saw the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for only a moment,
The second issue we’re talking about is the virtues of the Sahaba between themselves,
Based upon what we have explained so far,
The third is virtues of specific,
Meaning those ahadith which have come mentioning the individuals among them,
Which are authentic,
Such as the different virtues of Abu Bakr,
And the different virtues of both men,
And the virtues of Zubair,
And the virtues of Omar bin al-Aas and his brother,
So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
The two sons of Ibn Aas are believers, Omar and Hisham,
So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam will witness that they have Iman,
And then we find that Sayed Qutb comes,
And whoever follows him,
From the Arabs and the non-Arabs,
So they describe Omar bin al-Aas that he had hypocrisy,
And Allah’s refuge is sought,
This is the fifth issue in the book,
The fifth issue from the book of Imam al-Bukhari,
And before we continue we’ll mention the fourth point here,
What is the ruling of who speaks against a single companion,
Imam Ahmed clarified and answered this in his book,
That whoever speaks bad about a single one of them,
Then he is a misguided innovator,
The fifth issue about the Sahaba,
What is required from us,
We must love them,
We must praise them,
We must spread their virtues and what’s good about them,
We must withhold from speaking about what happened between them,
Is this enough?
That we spread their virtues,
Is this enough?
There’s a very important thing,
And that is taking them as examples and following them,
Due to that Imam Ahmed said in his usul al-sunnah,
The foundations of the sunnah with us,
Is clinging to what the companions of the Prophet ﷺ were like,
And taking them as an example,
So you might find people who give khutbahs and speeches about the virtues of the companions,
And they might refute those that speak against the companions,
And they might write books about this topic,
But this person still might not take the Sahaba as an example,
They don’t follow them,
Not in their understanding of the Quran,
And not in their worship,
And not in following the sunnah,
And not in following the sunnah,
And not in their stance towards innovation,
So the Sahaba is widely narrated from them,
With many narrations,
The displays of bid’ah,
And the displays of the people of bid’ah,
And there are many narrations about them,
So the one that is lax and doesn’t give correct attention to bid’ah,
Then he has not followed the Sahaba,
The one who speaks about the Quran or the sunnah based on his own opinion,
And he doesn’t return back to the understanding of the Sahaba,
Then he has not followed the Sahaba,
So it’s not sufficient that someone just loves the companions,
Or they just praise the companions,
But rather it’s necessary that they follow the companions and take them as examples,
And that they understand the Quran and the sunnah,
How the companions understood it,
And because of that Imam al-Bukhari mentioned in the sixth point that he spoke about in his book,
And they used to prohibit innovation,
And Imam Ahmad said in his usul al-sunnah,
The foundations of the sunnah with us are,
Clinging to that which the companions of the Prophet were upon and taking them as an example,
And the second point, abandoning innovation and every innovation is misguidance,
So this is how the Imams agreed upon in clarifying and explaining the truth,
So they used to prohibit innovation,
Because the Prophet prohibited bid’ah,
As the Prophet said,
And beware of the innovated matters,
Because indeed every newly invented matter is a bid’ah,
And he said as has come in Sahih Muslim,
Indeed the most evil of affairs are the newly invented matters,
And many many narrations have come from the Sahaba about this,
Then Imam al-Bukhari clarified and defined what is bid’ah,
After he said and they used to prohibit innovation bid’ah,
So it is as if somebody is asked now what is bid’ah,
So Imam al-Bukhari explained,
Whatever the Prophet and his Sahaba were not upon,
Notice that Imam al-Bukhari,
Didn’t say whatever the Prophet and his Sahaba were not upon,
Rather he said and his Sahaba,
And by him saying that and specifying that detail he is following the Qur’an and the Sunnah,
As for his following of the Qur’an then we can see that in the statement of Allah which means,
And whoever splits away and goes against the messenger after the guidance has been clear to him,
And follows about other than that of the believers,
So Allah mentioned two affairs,
The Sunnah of the Prophet and the path of the believers and their companions,
And from the Sunnah,
We have as a proof the statement of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
In the same hadith of Ibn Saria which has come already,
Where he said upon you is to follow my Sunnah,
And the Sunnah of the rightly guided upright Khulafa,
So here Imam al-Bukhari,
So here Imam al-Bukhari,
In his definition of bid’ah he is following the Qur’an and the Sunnah,
Because he mentioned what the companions were upon,
Along with what the messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was upon,
And this is the same sect,
When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was asked,
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
When he was asked Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
He answered that those who are upon,
When he was asked about the spirit of the Najia,
The same sect,
He described them,
Those who are upon what I am upon today and my companions,
And then Imam al-Bukhari mentions two groups,
He mentioned the statement of Allah which means,
And cling to the rope of Allah,
All of you together and do not split,
And we will continue speaking about the verse,
And the rest of the issues,
After the Isha prayer insha’Allah.