Attributing what is in the books of the Hanbali school to Imam Ahmad and distinguishing between the narrations
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The questioner:
And he said: Because most of what is found in the later works of the Hanbalis, such as al-Muntaha and others, is free from the higher fear, what is the authenticity of this reading regarding him, and what was his intention (may Allah have mercy on him)?
The Shaykh:
The point of what we mentioned to you is that the statements of scholars are not to be taken in their absolute generality; rather, they must be presented to the evidence. Also, not everything attributed to one of the Imams is correct, so verification is necessary. The books of the school, whether among the Hanbalis or others, contain opinions of scholars who came after the Imam, who derive them from his statements, take them from his hints, or analogize them as independent legal reasoning. They call these derivations, they call them aspects, and they distinguish between what he says. If it is from Ahmad, they say he explicitly stated it, or Ahmad said such and such. If it is from the opinions of others among the men of the school, they say this is an aspect, or this is a derivation, or this is such and such. They distinguish this from that. The intention of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding al-Iqna' is not that it is all explicit texts from Ahmad; rather, it contains what is from his companions and from the senior scholars of the school.
We do not say that everything in al-Iqna' is from the words of Ahmad, or that everything in al-Muntaha is from the words of Ahmad. This is incorrect. It contains what is from the words of Ahmad, and it contains what is from the words of the jurists among his followers who derive rulings from it or analogize based on it.
The questioner:
The Shaykh's children.
The Shaykh:
As we mentioned, they do not leave this undistinguished; rather, they distinguish it and clarify what is from the statement of Ahmad and what is from the statement of others.
The questioner:
How is the Shaykh, Waleed?
The Shaykh:
The jurists are able to distinguish between the narrations. That one bears the burden of what is required by them, and the voice of this narration returns to itself. This is not possible except through expertise and study of the school, as the author of al-Insaf did, and as al-Zarkashi did in his commentary on al-Khiraqi. All of this is through expertise and knowledge of the Imam's statements, their earlier and later ones, and their connection to the evidence. It is not possible except through knowledge.
And he said: Because most of what is found in the later works of the Hanbalis, such as al-Muntaha and others, is free from the higher fear, what is the authenticity of this reading regarding him, and what was his intention (may Allah have mercy on him)?
The Shaykh:
The point of what we mentioned to you is that the statements of scholars are not to be taken in their absolute generality; rather, they must be presented to the evidence. Also, not everything attributed to one of the Imams is correct, so verification is necessary. The books of the school, whether among the Hanbalis or others, contain opinions of scholars who came after the Imam, who derive them from his statements, take them from his hints, or analogize them as independent legal reasoning. They call these derivations, they call them aspects, and they distinguish between what he says. If it is from Ahmad, they say he explicitly stated it, or Ahmad said such and such. If it is from the opinions of others among the men of the school, they say this is an aspect, or this is a derivation, or this is such and such. They distinguish this from that. The intention of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding al-Iqna' is not that it is all explicit texts from Ahmad; rather, it contains what is from his companions and from the senior scholars of the school.
We do not say that everything in al-Iqna' is from the words of Ahmad, or that everything in al-Muntaha is from the words of Ahmad. This is incorrect. It contains what is from the words of Ahmad, and it contains what is from the words of the jurists among his followers who derive rulings from it or analogize based on it.
The questioner:
The Shaykh's children.
The Shaykh:
As we mentioned, they do not leave this undistinguished; rather, they distinguish it and clarify what is from the statement of Ahmad and what is from the statement of others.
The questioner:
How is the Shaykh, Waleed?
The Shaykh:
The jurists are able to distinguish between the narrations. That one bears the burden of what is required by them, and the voice of this narration returns to itself. This is not possible except through expertise and study of the school, as the author of al-Insaf did, and as al-Zarkashi did in his commentary on al-Khiraqi. All of this is through expertise and knowledge of the Imam's statements, their earlier and later ones, and their connection to the evidence. It is not possible except through knowledge.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1 — youtube.com (1:14:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.