The Ruling on Acting Upon a Weak Hadith

The questioner:
Yes. It is said that weak hadiths are cited as evidence in all areas except the area of transactions. Is this correct?

The Shaykh:
Weak hadiths are of two types. The first type is fabricated, not authentic. You liars, those who are judged to be liars, meaning fabricated and false. These are not cited as evidence, neither in preaching, nor in encouraging or warning, nor in rulings. As for the other weak hadiths that are not fabricated but have weakness because their narrator is very poor in memory, or there is a break in the chain, or there is concealment of a defect, these are mentioned in the context of encouraging and warning, not in the context of rulings. There is no harm in that. A weak hadith is of two kinds: one that is weak and cannot be strengthened due to its invalidity or because it is false. This is not attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The other is weak but has strengthening and strength, yet it is not valid for rulings. This is attributed in the context of encouraging and warning. Yes.