Fabricating Hadiths, Lying About the Messenger of Allah, and Their Impact on People and Beginner Students of Knowledge
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The questioner:
Once again, Shaykh Salih, we return to the topic of fabrication and the fabricators, and the problems they have caused for some people, especially those who are beginners in seeking knowledge. Do you have a word on this? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah. The scholars of the Sunnah and the preservers of hadith have fulfilled their obligation toward the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They established the criteria for authentic and inauthentic narration, something for which there is no equivalent in any other religion. This is how Allah has preserved this religion, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Hijr 15:9] The chain of narration is among the distinctive features of this matter.
The presenter:
All right.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, the preservers (may Allah have mercy on them) and may He reward them well for Islam and the Muslims, concerned themselves with identifying fabricated hadiths. They gathered them and compiled them in well-known books, such as *Al-Mudhakirat* by Ibn al-Jawzi, *Al-Fawa'id al-Majmu'ah fi al-Ahadith al-Mawdu'ah* by Ibn 'Irra, and other books that deal with this matter and clarify these fabricated hadiths.
Some of the Imams established criteria by which a fabricated hadith can be identified, as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim did in his book *Al-Manar al-Munif fi Bayan al-Hadith al-Da'if*, and other Imams did the same. So praise be to Allah, the scholars have addressed this issue, and the hadiths have been served with exceptional care.
As for the beginner students, male and female, they must consult the scholars of knowledge. They should not go to books indiscriminately and read everything in them, assuming that every book is authentic or that everything written and composed is correct. This is a mistake on their part. It is obligatory for them to return to the scholars of knowledge and consult them about the books they wish to read, presenting them to the scholars or mentioning their names to them. The scholars will then, if Allah wills, clarify for them the authentic books that are recommended for reading, and the suspicious or harmful books from which they should be warned.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you well. Our sister has done well and asked a good question. Do you have a word for her and her brothers and sisters? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Yes, we pray for her success. This is a noble act that she asked, and that she did not proceed with this matter except after raising a question to be answered, so that she would benefit and the listeners would benefit from it. We thank her for this action and advise her to continue with this noble caution and prudence regarding her religion. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good. If she has acted upon these hadiths, what is the opinion of Shaykh Salih?
The Shaykh:
She should repent to Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and abandon this practice based on these hadiths. Because specifying prayers at certain times and assigning rewards for them is not done unless it is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) through an authentic narration, and by referring to the trusted sources of the Sunnah, in the two Sahihs.
The presenter:
Mm.
The Shaykh:
And the four Sunan, and the well-known and trusted collections of Islam. What is the question of the scholars of knowledge about what is unclear? Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Once again, Shaykh Salih, we return to the topic of fabrication and the fabricators, and the problems they have caused for some people, especially those who are beginners in seeking knowledge. Do you have a word on this? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Praise be to Allah. The scholars of the Sunnah and the preservers of hadith have fulfilled their obligation toward the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They established the criteria for authentic and inauthentic narration, something for which there is no equivalent in any other religion. This is how Allah has preserved this religion, as Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَThe presenter:
All right.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, the preservers (may Allah have mercy on them) and may He reward them well for Islam and the Muslims, concerned themselves with identifying fabricated hadiths. They gathered them and compiled them in well-known books, such as *Al-Mudhakirat* by Ibn al-Jawzi, *Al-Fawa'id al-Majmu'ah fi al-Ahadith al-Mawdu'ah* by Ibn 'Irra, and other books that deal with this matter and clarify these fabricated hadiths.
Some of the Imams established criteria by which a fabricated hadith can be identified, as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim did in his book *Al-Manar al-Munif fi Bayan al-Hadith al-Da'if*, and other Imams did the same. So praise be to Allah, the scholars have addressed this issue, and the hadiths have been served with exceptional care.
As for the beginner students, male and female, they must consult the scholars of knowledge. They should not go to books indiscriminately and read everything in them, assuming that every book is authentic or that everything written and composed is correct. This is a mistake on their part. It is obligatory for them to return to the scholars of knowledge and consult them about the books they wish to read, presenting them to the scholars or mentioning their names to them. The scholars will then, if Allah wills, clarify for them the authentic books that are recommended for reading, and the suspicious or harmful books from which they should be warned.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you well. Our sister has done well and asked a good question. Do you have a word for her and her brothers and sisters? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
Yes, we pray for her success. This is a noble act that she asked, and that she did not proceed with this matter except after raising a question to be answered, so that she would benefit and the listeners would benefit from it. We thank her for this action and advise her to continue with this noble caution and prudence regarding her religion. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good. If she has acted upon these hadiths, what is the opinion of Shaykh Salih?
The Shaykh:
She should repent to Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and abandon this practice based on these hadiths. Because specifying prayers at certain times and assigning rewards for them is not done unless it is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) through an authentic narration, and by referring to the trusted sources of the Sunnah, in the two Sahihs.
The presenter:
Mm.
The Shaykh:
And the four Sunan, and the well-known and trusted collections of Islam. What is the question of the scholars of knowledge about what is unclear? Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، وضع الأحاديث والكذب على رسول الله وتأثيرها على الناس وطلاب العلم المبتدئين. الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.