Why Scholars Prefer Omar's Ihsan Narration

Alhamdulillah.

[Silence]

Continuing authored by in the fifth chapter which is the chapter of is being vigilant constantly conscious and aware care of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his observation that he subhanahu wa ta'ala is observing the first narration mentions in this chapter is the very popular well-known narration of it's collected by Muslim It's also been narrated by Abdullahbn Omar who narrates it from his father. It's also been narrated by both Bkari and Muslim on the authority of Abi. Most of us have heard this narration. The question here is that when it comes to putting down evidence, when it comes to authoring a book and I wish to use a verse or use a narration, especially when it comes to narrations, when it comes to verses, I want to use the verse which is most immediately bolstering the point that I'm making in the chapter. Right? I don't want to use a verse that is unclear as an evidence for that particular thing that I am writing on. I want to use the most immediate verse which leads to that conclusion and bolsters what it is that is being said. And when it comes to the science of hadith, not only do we look for the most clear narration which most clearly states what it is that I'm trying to bolster and use it as an evidence for but also the highest grade of authenticity I can. All right. So for instance this narration here or we could give an example from the Quran. For instance, if I wanted to use a verse in the Quran as an evidence that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is merciful. I would use a verse that clearly says this. For instance, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says or he says subhanahua orman all of these are evidences which clearly state that word that I'm looking to use as an evidence. But that's not the only evidence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy. Any verse in the Quran which articulates the meaning of mercy is also an evidence. So for instance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends down the rain upon a dead piece of land and brings it back to life. Is that not from Allah's mercy? Yes, of course. That is that is the result of Allah's mercy and that is the interaction of Allah's mercy with his creation but that is indirect or it is less obvious than the pro previous verses that we mentioned which use the actual wording of alma. I think that's pretty clear. Now when it comes to narrations, this chapter is about what? It's about meaning the vigilance of Allah subhanahu Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that a person is aware that Allah is watching him that he is conscious of the fact that Allah is listening that he behaves in a way that someone who knows he is being watched by the almighty would behave this is it's a great act of worship Now the reason he mentions this narration first which is the narration of Omar I think every one of us here knows this narration or at least knows its meaning where Omar says a man entered while we were sitting with the prophet sallallahu alaii wasallam. He had very black hair, very white clothing. None of us recognized him nor did he have the appearance of a traveler. And he came in close and he sat very close to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He asked him what is Islam? What is iman? What is and this is the point of the narration here when he said he said tell me about he saidan is that you worship Allah as though he is watching you as though you can see him. And if you cannot then you worship him as though he sees you as that he sees you. And we will get into the intricacies of this inshallah. But the point is is that this this statement this sentence here this one sentence is the reason why this very long narration is in this chapter. Now when I go to use a a narration as evidence for something I am looking for the highest level of authenticity that's what I use as my evidence for anything. If there is an narration that is in Bkari and then there's an narration or if there's an narration that is in for instance and it's also in Bkari which one am I going to use which which one am I going to use Bkari right because that is a higher level of authenticity what is the highest level of authenticity in the science of hadith Huh? Exactly the opposite. You said, "Yeah, it's okay." They're they're antonyms, right? Means it's differed upon means it's been agreed upon by both and Muslim. That is the highest level of authenticity. There is no higher level of authenticity with respect to where the narration comes from. Now what's curious here is that this narration as I mentioned is collected by Bkari and Muslim but it's not on the authority of Omar. It's on the authority of Abi because there were lots of companions around when this occurrence happened when this took place. Abu Hurayra was there, Omar was there, many companions were there and so many companions narrate this incident. So we have the same narration collected by Bkari Muslim on the authority of Abi and then we have this narration collected by Muslim alone on the authority of Omar. The question, why would a Noahi who was a muhadith? Why would a Noahi use the narration of an im Muslim when there's another one which is the same incident but it's by Bkari and Muslim on the authority of why would you do that? We mentioned that if something is reported by Muslim alone and something is reported by Bkari and Muslim which one is higher level and Muslim even if it's in Muslim why would you go to what is only in Muslim and not the narration of and that's not just the 99% of the time when you find this incident narrated in books of the scholars they will use the narration of Omar which is only in Muslim they will more rarely use the narration of I know that the question here in our mind and and we will end with this is yeah just tell us what the narration is she and just explain it to us so we can go on with our day. This is this is an attitude we have to make sure that we fight against because my job isn't just to tell you this or that. It's also to make you aware of where these narrations come from. Who was Al Bkari? Who was Muslim? How did the scholars write their books? Why do they write their books in these ways? These are not this is not knowledge which should only be the sole domain of the scholars. This should be everyday Muslims should know this about their books. So back to that question, why would a know we do that? Anyone? No. Because because it's Omar interesting. That's not the answer, but it is interesting because of the narrator. But really that doesn't matter in the science of hadith. Why? Because narration is not based on opinion. It's based on what? It's based on something that you saw and you say what you saw. That's it. There is no opinion in it. There's no room for opinion in it. It's pure narration. That is why if we have a narration on the authority of Abu Bakr and a narration on the authority of on the authority of only has one narration in all the books of hadith. It's the same thing from the science of hadith aspect. Why? Because it's an issue of relating what you saw as a witness. He witnessed something. So what is another reason you guys think?

[Arabic recitation]

He's mentioning that the chain of narration is shorter between Muslim and the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. When we look at chains of narration from chains of narration perspective, we want the highest level of senate because if you imagine the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is at the top of this mountain and the companions are a peg below him and the below them, right? We want the narration that has the least amount of people between us and the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. But that would be correct if he were compiling a book on hadith. But when it comes to using an evidence, that's not really the factor, the defi determining factor. But that is a factor in some cases Malik has some of the highest levels of authenticity, the shortest chains of narration because he was before Bkari and Muslim. But a narration collected by Malik and a narration collected by Bkari, we would still favor Al Bkari because of his conditions. You had a Very good. That's the answer. Yeah, that's the answer. What is the answer? Narration is more detailed. Is more detailed. Why would it be more detailed? Didn't they all witness the same thing? Yes. But maybe Abu came into the masid a little bit after. Or maybe he left early. Or maybe he didn't hear the whole thing. Or maybe when he narrated the narration to his students, he narrated it summarized rather than the the the details. I'll give you an example and we will end with this inshallah. Imagine someone is in a car accident. There's a big event, right? You pull them aside right after the car accident. They've still got that adrenaline in their body. They're still right. What will give you the most accurate detailed account of what happened after he's told that story 500 times or the first time he tells that story? The first time. All right. It's going to give you all the details. It's fresh. And it just happened. Yes, I everything was in slow motion and I thought this and he thought that and our eyes locked and blah blah blah and all this detail, right? But after 5 days, every time he meets somebody, oh, I heard you were in a an accident. What happened? Tell me what happened. He's told the story a hundred times now. What's going to happen by the end of that? He's going to say, "Yeah, I was in an accident, but alhamdulillah, everything worked out." That's the same narration, isn't it? That's the same narration, but one is more detailed and one is less. This happens in the science of hadith, right? Zi is known for this. Zi has narrations in almost every single book ever written on hadith. He was one of the imams of the entire dunya when it came to narrating. Not only that, but he died over the age of 80 and he narrated all the way till the end. it. He did not experience any sil skew his narration. He narrated all the way till the end. And so as Zui, he has narrations that were taken from him at the end of his life and he has narrations that were taken from him when he was 25 and 30 years old. Which one which one of those narrations is more detailed? the one that when he was younger, we always look for the younger students of Azuri, the first students of Azori because that is when he was most active. That is when he was most detailed. That is when at at the end of his life, he even said to some of his students that came to take narration from him, take from my students. He said, "I would direct you to some of my students." And he directed to some of his students who by this time were muddled and said, "Because I am burnt out with respect to narrating." He had narrated for 50 years, 60 years. And so this sometimes we would take the narrations of his students over his own narrations because they're less detailed. This narration of Omar is the one that's used all the time. Even though it's not as strong narrationwise, but it is far more detailed. This is the most comprehensive account of the incident. Whereas the narration of Ebra is less detailed and there are things missing. And this sentence is one of those things missing in some of the narrations of we went usually we go just five or 10 minutes after fud but I think we you know kind of enjoyed this little u u side quest here that we did today. We will end with that. We'll continue and pick this up tomorrow inshallah.

[Arabic recitation]