What is the response to those who say that the hasan hadith was not known to the early scholars, but was rather an innovation of the later scholars?

The questioner : The second question is that, regarding what Your Eminence mentioned, that the question has no value in terms of benefit, but they derive consequences from it.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Those whose understanding of these rules is confused derive from this the conclusion that the methodology of the early scholars was that there was no such thing as a hasan hadith, but rather that the later scholars invented this, thereby contradicting the early scholars. They mean, from the perspective of who first introduced the concept of hasan in this regard.

The Shaykh : What are the consequences, may Allah bless you? You have already clarified earlier what the consequences are of knowing who used the term sahih. And I return after this to those who used the term hasan: what is the benefit?

The questioner : Sahih or hasan? They are speaking about hasan.

The Shaykh : Explain to me, explain to me. I am now placing myself in their position.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : I am not with them, but let us establish the argument against them. Who was the first to use the term sahih? Who was the first to use the term mustafid? Who was the first to use what comes after that? Between mutawatir.

The questioner : Mashhur.

The Shaykh : Mashhur. And who used the term mutawatir? They will never be able to say so-and-so was the first to use the term mutawatir, so-and-so was the first to use mashhur, so-and-so used... and so-and-so was the first to use sahih. Then what is the benefit? Suppose we knew, in all these usages, who first used this, who first used that... what is the benefit? What is the fruit? There is no god but Allah. I said earlier, may Allah bless you, suppose we knew who used a technical term, but the scholars abandoned it and rejected it, what is the benefit? Now, you are afflicted by people like these innovators. It is not only in jurisprudence and worship that there are innovators; no, there are many innovators, and now there are many innovations in the science of hadith. So you are afflicted by these innovators. So tell me now: if we know a scholar who used a technical term... but the scholars did not accept it, did not acknowledge it, and abandoned it, is there any benefit?

The questioner : There is no benefit in it.

The Shaykh : Fine. The opposite of what we said: we did not know who first used the term mutawatir, and you are descending the known ranks, from which comes the hasan hadith. We did not know who first used it, but the scholars used it. What harm is there to us?