is to be treated as a command for the whole kind and binding upon every member of it. The Prophet ﷺ also made clear that whenever a ruling in the Sacred Law was intended for one person or for a particular group, he explicitly stated its exclusivity and informed the addressee that it applied only to him. A case in point is his acceptance from Abū Burda ibn Niyār of a jadhʿa (a young sheep) and his declaration that such an animal would not suffice for anyone after him. Likewise, his instruction to the mustaḥāḍa (a woman with persistent, non-menstrual bleeding) is an instruction for every woman in that condition, and his placing Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir on his right during prayer is a ruling for every Muslim man or woman who finds himself or herself praying alone with the imam. There is no disagreement whatsoever that any order he gave to his Companions while they were present is an order for every person who will come until the Day of Resurrection. He then went on to refute those who opposed this principle—whether at the level of fundamentals or subsidiary issues—so refer to his discussion.

This is the last of the ḥadith- and fiqh-based maxims that it is presently useful to mention, and it is regrettable that the author of “Fiqh al-Sunnah” did not adhere to them, or at the very least did not give them the consideration they deserve, despite their close relevance to the subject of his book, as you have seen.

All of this will be explained in its proper places in the present commentary, God willing. I ask Allah to make it correct and to render it beneficial to my Muslim brothers in every land. He is indeed All-Hearing, Responsive to supplication.

The Author
Damascus, 3 Shawwal 1373 AH