Warning Against Books Containing Weak Hadiths
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, one of the students of knowledge says: He warns me against the books of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, *Kitab al-Ruh* (The Book of the Soul) and *Ahad al-Arwah* (The Singular Souls), and *Kitab al-Kabair* (The Book of Major Sins) by Imam al-Dhahabi. He says that they contain weak hadiths. Do you support him in this, Honorable Shaykh?
Answer:
First, let him clarify to you these weak hadiths and the nature of their weakness, so that he knows whether they are authentic or not. As for saying, "They contain weak hadiths, so leave them," without specifying which hadiths these are or explaining the nature of their weakness, that is not to be heeded.
Second, weak hadiths are acted upon in the realm of admonition, reminder, encouraging good, and warning against evil, but no ruling of permissibility, prohibition, or obligation is established based on them. Rather, they are acted upon in encouraging good and warning against evil, provided that their weakness is not extreme; that is, their weakness is not to the point of being fabricated. Weak hadiths are not all the same; some have corroborating narrations, while others do not. This is the domain of the hadith scholars.
It is not permissible for any person to declare hadiths weak or authentic if he does not know, for this is the domain of the hadith scholars who are well-versed in the science of hadith. As for everyone saying, "This is weak," or "This is authentic," or "This," or "That," without having a rule or knowledge, but merely saying that so-and-so says it is weak, his statement is not to be heeded.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Honorable Shaykh, one of the students of knowledge says: He warns me against the books of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, *Kitab al-Ruh* (The Book of the Soul) and *Ahad al-Arwah* (The Singular Souls), and *Kitab al-Kabair* (The Book of Major Sins) by Imam al-Dhahabi. He says that they contain weak hadiths. Do you support him in this, Honorable Shaykh?
Answer:
First, let him clarify to you these weak hadiths and the nature of their weakness, so that he knows whether they are authentic or not. As for saying, "They contain weak hadiths, so leave them," without specifying which hadiths these are or explaining the nature of their weakness, that is not to be heeded.
Second, weak hadiths are acted upon in the realm of admonition, reminder, encouraging good, and warning against evil, but no ruling of permissibility, prohibition, or obligation is established based on them. Rather, they are acted upon in encouraging good and warning against evil, provided that their weakness is not extreme; that is, their weakness is not to the point of being fabricated. Weak hadiths are not all the same; some have corroborating narrations, while others do not. This is the domain of the hadith scholars.
It is not permissible for any person to declare hadiths weak or authentic if he does not know, for this is the domain of the hadith scholars who are well-versed in the science of hadith. As for everyone saying, "This is weak," or "This is authentic," or "This," or "That," without having a rule or knowledge, but merely saying that so-and-so says it is weak, his statement is not to be heeded.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
لقاء مفتوح — alfawzan.live (53:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.