Conditions for acting upon weak hadiths
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The questioner:
The questioner asks the Shaykh: What is the detail regarding acting upon weak hadiths in matters of worship? Is it absolute, or is it subject to specific conditions?
The Shaykh:
Regarding weak hadiths, there are conditions for acting upon them. First, they must not be extremely weak; they must not be extremely weak.
Second, they must be in the category of virtues of actions, and no rulings are established based on them; they do not independently establish rulings, but they are acted upon in the virtues of actions. Third, one must not assert with certainty that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke them; rather, it is said, "It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah" or "It is reported from the Messenger of Allah such and such," and it is not said, "The Messenger of Allah said such and such." One uses the form of caution (tamrid) and does not use the form of certainty. Yes.
The questioner:
Naturally, the matter.
The Shaykh:
As for what some beginner students of knowledge now hold, that weak hadiths are left and not acted upon, and that every hadith described as weak is abandoned and disparaged, this is contrary to the position of the scholars of knowledge, and many virtues and many hadiths are thereby neglected. It may be that some scholars said a hadith is weak, while others said it is good or authentic. There is no consensus on its weakness; there may be those who graded it good, there may be those who graded it authentic, it may have corroborating narrations that strengthen it, it may have corroborating narrations that strengthen it, or it may be good due to other supporting evidence. These matters require caution; haste is not permissible in them, and it is not the case that every weak hadith is disparaged and rejected. No. Yes.
The questioner asks the Shaykh: What is the detail regarding acting upon weak hadiths in matters of worship? Is it absolute, or is it subject to specific conditions?
The Shaykh:
Regarding weak hadiths, there are conditions for acting upon them. First, they must not be extremely weak; they must not be extremely weak.
Second, they must be in the category of virtues of actions, and no rulings are established based on them; they do not independently establish rulings, but they are acted upon in the virtues of actions. Third, one must not assert with certainty that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke them; rather, it is said, "It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah" or "It is reported from the Messenger of Allah such and such," and it is not said, "The Messenger of Allah said such and such." One uses the form of caution (tamrid) and does not use the form of certainty. Yes.
The questioner:
Naturally, the matter.
The Shaykh:
As for what some beginner students of knowledge now hold, that weak hadiths are left and not acted upon, and that every hadith described as weak is abandoned and disparaged, this is contrary to the position of the scholars of knowledge, and many virtues and many hadiths are thereby neglected. It may be that some scholars said a hadith is weak, while others said it is good or authentic. There is no consensus on its weakness; there may be those who graded it good, there may be those who graded it authentic, it may have corroborating narrations that strengthen it, it may have corroborating narrations that strengthen it, or it may be good due to other supporting evidence. These matters require caution; haste is not permissible in them, and it is not the case that every weak hadith is disparaged and rejected. No. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، تابع باب المواقيت - 3 — islamhouse.com (51:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.