Distinguishing Between Mutawatir and Ahad in Definitive and Probabilistic Evidence
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, some scholars of the principles of jurisprudence say that mutawatir hadiths are among the definitive proofs, whereas ahad hadiths are probabilistic.
Answer:
The scholars of theology do not speak the language of the hadith scholars at all. This is the language of the scholars of logic. They are the ones who say that the proofs of the Book and the Sunnah are probabilistic, while the proofs of logic are definitive. Therefore, they prioritize logic over the proofs of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is because Allah has led them astray. They are the ones who hold this view.
As for the people of the Sunnah, they say that everything that is authentic from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), everything that is authentic from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it yields certainty, it yields knowledge, everything that is authentic, yes. They do not distinguish between mutawatir and ahad. Mutawatir hadiths are few; you will see they are not many. The vast majority of hadiths are ahad. If we reject them and say they do not yield certainty, nothing remains for us. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, some scholars of the principles of jurisprudence say that mutawatir hadiths are among the definitive proofs, whereas ahad hadiths are probabilistic.
Answer:
The scholars of theology do not speak the language of the hadith scholars at all. This is the language of the scholars of logic. They are the ones who say that the proofs of the Book and the Sunnah are probabilistic, while the proofs of logic are definitive. Therefore, they prioritize logic over the proofs of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is because Allah has led them astray. They are the ones who hold this view.
As for the people of the Sunnah, they say that everything that is authentic from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), everything that is authentic from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it yields certainty, it yields knowledge, everything that is authentic, yes. They do not distinguish between mutawatir and ahad. Mutawatir hadiths are few; you will see they are not many. The vast majority of hadiths are ahad. If we reject them and say they do not yield certainty, nothing remains for us. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، بداية من الوجه العاشر : أن غالب الخالق إنما يريدون قضاء حاجاتهم منك، وإن أضر ذلك بدينك ودنياك — islamhouse.com (50:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.