Adherence to the Prophet’s Sunnah and Its effects
We are pleased - and I believe that you are too - to meet on this blessed night with a great scholar who has devoted much of his effort and time to serving knowledge and its seekers, pursuing nothing but the reward and pleasure of the Almighty Lord. He is the Eminent Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-‘Uthaymīn, member of the Council of Senior Scholars, Imām and Preacher of the Grand Mosque of ‘Unayzah, and Professor at Imām Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Al-Qasīm branch.
We thank him dearly for accepting the invitation of the committee of the first Festival of Madīnah to attend and deliver a lecture on "Adherence to the Prophet’s Sunnah and Its Effects" on the campus of this great university, the Islamic University in Madīnah, which is co-hosting this lecture along with the cultural committee of the first Festival of Madīnah.
It gives me pleasure to invite His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-‘Uthaymīn to deliver his lecture and kindly answer the written questions after the lecture. May Allah benefit Islam and Muslims with his knowledge.
Praise be to Allah; we praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our selves and from our bad deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no true god but Allah, alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger; Allah sent him with guidance and the religion of truth. He delivered the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the Ummah, and duly strove for the sake of Allah. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them rightly until the Day of Judgment.
On this night; the night of Thursday, the 9th of Rajab of the year 1419 Hijri, I am pleased to meet with my brethren, the people of Madīnah - the people of Taybah - in the lecture hall at the Islamic University. I ask Allah Almighty to make this gathering a blessed and beneficial one.
Our lecture, as you have heard, is about the effects of adhering to the Prophet’s Sunnah. The Sunnah is the partner of the Qur’an in its being an argument established against people, and they are obligated to act upon the Sunnah just as they are obligated to act upon the Qur’an.
The Sunnah is any statement, action, or tacit approval that is authentically reported from the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). Adhering to it is as obligatory as adhering to the Qur’an. However, he who cites the Qur’an as evidence for a certain view or ruling needs to look into one thing, but the one who cites the Sunnah as evidence needs to look into two things.
When a person cites the Qur’an as evidence, he needs to look into the meaning of the text and its indication of the ruling for which he seeks proof. Undoubtedly, people differ greatly in this respect, according to their levels of knowledge and understanding.
People differ in their understanding of the indications of the Qur’an according to their level of knowledge, comprehension, belief in Allah Almighty, and the extent to which they honor His sanctities.
First: the authenticity of the Hadīth at hand, because many weak and fabricated reports that have found their way into the Sunnah. Hence, one needs to ascertain a Hadīth before using it as proof.
It is for this reason that the scholars (may Allah have mercy upon them) authored books about Hadīth narrators and terminology in a bid to separate the sound narrations from the unsound ones.
Second: just like in the case of using Qur’an as evidence, the one who uses Sunnah as evidence needs to look into the indication of the text and how it serves as proof for the relevant ruling, and people differ greatly in this regard. Addressing His Prophet, Allah Almighty says:
The command to obey the Messenger entails that his Sunnah should be treated as legitimate proof that must be acted upon.