Not Every Question Deserves an Answer
Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
Categorized under: Daʿwah and Teaching, Dealing with People, Principles, Qurʿān, Seeking Knowledge, Tafsīr
Shaikh Muḥammad Naṣir Al-Dīn Al-Albānī, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:
The people of knowledge say: “Not every question deserves an answer.” A person ought to be wise; take, for example, His, the Most High’s, saying—and this is from the proofs they cite to support this principle—:
﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ﴾.
They ask you, [O Prophet], about the new moons [and the changes in the moon’s phases] …. [Al-Baqarah: 189]
[W]hat was their question: Why does [the moon] become a crescent, grow bigger and bigger, and then become a full moon?
This is an astronomical matter. What does it matter to the one asking this question, knowing the precise details of this movement [of phases] that Allāh has [simply] made as one of ways things happen in this worldly life? But what is important is that you all know the wisdom behind that, out of which legal rulings come about.
So the answer [in the Qurʾān] comes contrary to what the one asking the question had been seeking: [Allāh has made the new moons signposts by which people get to know the times for various acts of worship such as fasting and Ḥajj, as well as the times for their various dealings.]
And thus, we too should take note of this Qurʾānic etiquette by not giving an answer to every question [we’re asked]; instead, we should direct [the one asking] to that which is more important or important.
Silsilah Al-Hudā wa-l-Nūr, tape 137.