Prioritizing the Affirmative over the Negative

The questioner:
This questioner asks: Is the affirmative prioritized over the negative?

The Shaykh:
The remainder.

The questioner:
Or is it prioritized over the negative.

The Shaykh:
This is a legal maxim. If one person says, "Zayd heard it or it was transmitted," and another says, "No," the affirmative is prioritized. The one who says, "The hadith is elevated to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the narrator is trustworthy," is prioritized over the one who stops it at the Companion. The one who connects it to the Companion is prioritized over the one who cuts it off and stops it at the Successor. This is the rule, provided the narrator is trustworthy. So, if someone says, "I heard so-and-so, the shaykh of so-and-so, say such and such," and another says, "We did not hear it," the first one is not prioritized. Yes.

Another questioner:
You mean, it is a fatwa, and we acted upon it.

The Shaykh:
The affirmative is prioritized; this is a rule.

Another questioner:
I am telling you, you did not.

The Shaykh:
Yes, the affirmative is prioritized over the people.

Another questioner:
It hurts.

The Shaykh:
The problem is prioritized over the negatives.

The questioner:
Even if it were from your students, Yahya, or even if the people were from your students.

The Shaykh:
Yes, even if it were from the Companions, two Companions: 'Umar says, "I heard the Prophet," and al-Siddiq says, "I did not hear it," and 'Umar is prioritized. 'Umar says, "I heard it," and 'Uthman says, "I did not hear it," and 'Umar is prioritized. 'Uthman says, "I heard it," and 'Ali says, "I did not hear it," and 'Uthman is prioritized. This is the rule. Yes? Did we understand? Yes.

Another questioner:
Abu Juna, the sitting, brothers.

The Shaykh:
Yes, yes.