The Muslim's Position on Weak Hadiths
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Shaykh Salih, what is the Muslim's actual position regarding these weak hadiths that are circulated, and why do people circulate such hadiths, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Weak hadiths are not all the same. Some have corroborating narrations (shawahid) that support them, and these are acted upon in light of the corroboration. A weak hadith may also be elevated from being weak to being good (hasan) due to other supporting evidence, in which case it is acted upon. As for weak hadiths that have no corroborating narrations, these are not acted upon and are not relied upon, except for what the scholars have mentioned regarding their use as auxiliary evidence in matters of the virtues of deeds. However, no legal rulings are established based on them—no ruling of permissibility or prohibition, no obligation, and no recommendation of a sunnah practice—as long as they remain weak. Yes.
The questioner:
What do you mean by having corroborating narrations? You said they have corroborating narrations, yes?
The Shaykh:
If there are many hadiths that convey the same meaning, and they are either authentic (sahih) or good (hasan), then they support it, and it is acted upon.
Shaykh Salih, what is the Muslim's actual position regarding these weak hadiths that are circulated, and why do people circulate such hadiths, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Weak hadiths are not all the same. Some have corroborating narrations (shawahid) that support them, and these are acted upon in light of the corroboration. A weak hadith may also be elevated from being weak to being good (hasan) due to other supporting evidence, in which case it is acted upon. As for weak hadiths that have no corroborating narrations, these are not acted upon and are not relied upon, except for what the scholars have mentioned regarding their use as auxiliary evidence in matters of the virtues of deeds. However, no legal rulings are established based on them—no ruling of permissibility or prohibition, no obligation, and no recommendation of a sunnah practice—as long as they remain weak. Yes.
The questioner:
What do you mean by having corroborating narrations? You said they have corroborating narrations, yes?
The Shaykh:
If there are many hadiths that convey the same meaning, and they are either authentic (sahih) or good (hasan), then they support it, and it is acted upon.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 6319- موقف المسلم من الأحاديث الضعيفة - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.