The Ruling on Adhering to Al-Albani’s Unqualified Authentication of a Hadith

Question:
We have heard it reported from you regarding the *Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah wa al-Da'ifah* (Chain of Authentic and Weak Hadiths) that what Al-Albani authenticated is not to be taken as an absolute rule; it may be weak, whereas what he deemed weak is indeed weak.

Answer:
I say that this applies to what Al-Hakim, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Khuzaymah, and others have said; it is not to be taken as an absolute rule. Some of what they have included may be weak, having been hidden from the authenticator and overlooked by him. Conversely, some of what is considered weak may actually be authentic. Therefore, not all weak hadiths are weak in an absolute sense, nor are all authentic hadiths authentic in an absolute sense, whether by him or his peers. This is a principle among the scholars of knowledge. However, in any case, may Allah reward him with good. He exerted effort and did his best, and he cleared away much of the impurity from the Ummah. I do not know of anyone in his era like him for those who are accustomed to the Sunnah and who exert effort in distinguishing its authentic from its defective. He is our brother and our companion, may Allah bless him. But the point is that it is not befitting for a student of knowledge to be rigid about what the scholars of hadith said, or what Ibn Abbas, or Ibn al-Hakam, or Ibn Ghaziyah, or the hadith, or the opinion, or that he says we have reached the end. No, we have not reached the end. One must review the hadith. The student of knowledge must pay attention to this. The general public have no part in this; it is sufficient for them to say what the scholar said and refer them to him. It is the student of knowledge to whom Allah has granted insight and knowledge of what the scholars said in the terminology of hadith and the principles of jurisprudence. It is not sufficient for him to be a follower without knowledge; rather, he must look and reflect on whether what was said conforms to the criteria established by the scholars of knowledge, or if there is a deficiency?
It may be that in a hadith there is a narrator who practiced concealment of defects (tadlis) and it was hidden from him, or he was negligent about it. It may be that a hadith is broken in its chain and he did not notice it. It may be that a hadith is anomalous, contradicting an authentic hadith, and he did not notice it. This happens to him and to others, and it does not harm him or diminish him, given his knowledge, his effort, and his zeal for good. It does not harm him. But he is not infallible, nor is anyone else. It may happen that he authenticates what is weak, and it may happen that he deems weak what is authentic, but, by the praise of Allah, he is close to the truth.