The Importance of Referring to Specialists in the Science of Hadith

The Shaykh : Now we ask a question: Who memorizes the Qur'an, the common Muslims or the memorizers of the Muslims? The memorizers of the Muslims, of course. Most Muslims do not recite it well, and take this as a lesson, for you are among those about whom my words are true. Most Muslims today do not recite Surat al-Fatihah well, the Surat al-Fatihah which is a pillar of the pillars of prayer, and the prayer is not valid without it, as he (peace be upon him) said: . If this is the state of the majority of Muslims, then who memorizes the Qur'an from its beginning to its end, and as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed it? Who memorizes the Qur'an as Allah revealed it to the heart of Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Is it the masses of Muslims and the common people, or the specialists? There is no doubt that the answer will be: the specialists. This is a self-evident matter. Now we come to the Sunnah: Who memorizes the Sunnah, the common Muslims or the specialists? Again, the answer is: the specialists. Who distinguishes the authentic hadith from the weak one? The specialists of the Muslims, or the specialists of the specialists? The specialists of the specialists. These are facts that must be firmly established in your minds so that you do not go astray with those who are astray.
And among this going astray is that one of them hears a hadith and applies it to the culture he has; if it agrees with it, he accepts the hadith, and if not, he rejects it. This is what proceeds in this science which we have outlined for you in a way that does not accept discussion at all. Who treats the diseases of the bodies? The doctor or the blacksmith? Of course, the doctors, not the blacksmiths. It is all a matter of specialization, and the issue of specialization today has had its value recognized more than in any time that has passed before, even though this was known among the scholars of the Muslims. Among them are the exegetes, among them are the hadith scholars, among them are the jurists, and none of them encroaches upon the other. Imam al-Shafi'i, and what do you know about Imam al-Shafi'i?! A rarity of his time in his understanding of Islam with a correct understanding. But the matter is a matter of specialization. He said to his student Ahmad ibn Hanbal: "O Ahmad, you are more knowledgeable than I am about hadith. So if a hadith comes to you as authentic, inform me of it. If a hadith comes to you as authentic, inform me of it; whether it is Hijazi, Iraqi, Shami, or Egyptian." This is sound reasoning. The man does not have bias. He was originally Iraqi, then he moved to Egypt, and he had another jurisprudence there in Egypt. So when he was there in Iraq and in Baghdad, he said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal: "You are more knowledgeable than I am about hadith," and he was his student. So if a hadith comes to you as authentic, inform me of it, whether it is from the Hijaz, or from Iraq, or from Sham, or from Egypt. So the issue is an issue of specialization.