Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Āl Ash-Shaykh: A Child of Eight or Ten Years of Age Has Begun Debating You Concerning Major Issues
We see today that most people are impressed with their own opinions.
A child of eight or ten years of age has begun debating you concerning major issues, just as the Prophet said when describing what would occur towards the end of time:
وَإِعْجَابَ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْيٍ بِرَأْيِهِ
“….And every person holding an opinion will be impressed with his own opinion.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhī, no. 3058)
The signs of everyone being impressed with their own opinion have already begun to appear.
The ignorant person has begun debating you concerning major issues, even in religious matters. Young children have begun arguing, daughters have begun arguing, and women have begun arguing. Thus, everyone has become impressed with their own opinion.
This places an extremely great responsibility upon the people of knowledge, the students of knowledge and those who ascribe themselves to knowledge, for they have a tremendous role to fulfil within this Ummah.
Today is a time for striving.
Among their responsibilities is to spread the knowledge that Allah has bestowed upon them by placing it within their hearts. They must spread it through the spoken word, spread it through the written word, and spread it by meeting with people, opening their hearts to them and mixing with them.
References
- At-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH/892 CE), Sunan at-Tirmidhī, ḥadīth nos. 2417 and 3058.
Source: Adapted from Your Ummah Needs You, a lecture by Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Āl ash-Shaykh, published on DuSunnah.
