What is your answer to the statement of some scholars that if a Companion contradicts what he narrated, the criterion is his narration, not his opinion?
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The questioner : What is your answer to this? Some scholars say that a narrator, who is a Companion, may narrate a hadith and then contradict it, as happened to some of the Companions?
The Shaykh : This issue is not the one you mentioned. The issue you are asking about is: if the narrator of a hadith contradicts his own narration with his opinion, is the criterion his narration or his opinion? The answer according to the majority is: "The criterion is his narration, not his opinion", contrary to the Hanafis, who reverse it and say "The criterion is his opinion, not his narration".
This issue is not the one we were discussing. We said earlier: "The narrator of a hadith is more aware of his narration than anyone else". This is not the case of when his opinion contradicts his narration; is his opinion preferred or his narration? No, his narration.
The example of this is that Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the well-known hadith in al-Bukhari:As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 64:468 Then it was reported from Abu Hurayrah that he said: This is his statement, and that is his narration. His narration says seven times, and he also says three times. So, according to the previous disagreement, whoever says his narration takes precedence over his opinion says that washing seven times is obligatory, and this is the correct view.
And whoever says his opinion takes precedence over his narration says: wash the vessel three times, not seven. This contradicts the authentic hadith, and it is sufficient to weaken this rule that it contradicts the authentic hadith.
The Shaykh : This issue is not the one you mentioned. The issue you are asking about is: if the narrator of a hadith contradicts his own narration with his opinion, is the criterion his narration or his opinion? The answer according to the majority is: "The criterion is his narration, not his opinion", contrary to the Hanafis, who reverse it and say "The criterion is his opinion, not his narration".
This issue is not the one we were discussing. We said earlier: "The narrator of a hadith is more aware of his narration than anyone else". This is not the case of when his opinion contradicts his narration; is his opinion preferred or his narration? No, his narration.
The example of this is that Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the well-known hadith in al-Bukhari:
If a dog licks in the vessel of any of you, let him wash it seven times, one of which is with soil.
إذا ولغ الكلب في إناء أحدكم فليغسله سبعاً إحداهن بالترابWash it three times.
يغسله ثلاثاًAnd whoever says his opinion takes precedence over his narration says: wash the vessel three times, not seven. This contradicts the authentic hadith, and it is sufficient to weaken this rule that it contradicts the authentic hadith.