What is the meaning of the scholars' statement on many occasions: "This is similar to the hadith of so-and-so"?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : All right, may Allah reward you. You previously asked me a question, and I want the answer to be repeated. The scholars say on many occasions: "This is similar to the hadith of so-and-so." You mentioned to me that this phrase may mean three possibilities, so I hope you will repeat the answer to this issue.
The Shaykh : As for now, I do not recall a specific response for every situation. Remind me what the answer was.
The questioner : I am not certain of the answer right now, so I want it repeated. All right.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : Let us take the general meaning. What does "This is similar to the hadith of so-and-so" mean?
The Shaykh : It means that the person whose hadith is being used as a comparison is either one whose hadith is authentic, or one whose hadith is good, meaning intermediate, or one whose hadith is weak. One looks at the person being compared to. If he is of the third rank, it means his hadith is weak. If he is of the second rank, it means his hadith is good. If he is of the first rank, it means his hadith is authentic. Generally, this first rank is not intended; rather, there is a discussion about the man, but this discussion either revolves around weakening his hadith once, or weakening it slightly, so that his hadith becomes good.
The questioner : And does this mean that the person being compared to will, based on this, be a man about whom there is at least agreement among the scholars on one point regarding him, so that he can be used as a measure?
The Shaykh : It is not required that there be agreement; rather, it is so in the view of the one speaking.
The questioner : But he will explain a matter to others and compare it to the hadith of so-and-so and so-and-so, meaning different people.
The Shaykh : Because it is assumed that this speaker spoke about so-and-so. In a phrase I just remembered, Ibn Abi Hatim uses it. He says, "So-and-so is from the category of so-and-so." What does "from the category of so-and-so" mean? It means he spoke about this person by weakening or improving his hadith, so he is of his weight. Therefore, it is assumed that the speaker does not mean that the scholars agreed, but rather that he has an opinion about the person being compared to. He attaches the listener to him because he knows what the speaker's opinion is about the person being compared to. It is not necessary that he is referring to the agreement of the scholars, and how could he obtain the agreement of the scholars in the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil? As you see, at that time, everyone had his own opinion and independent legal reasoning. He means only his own opinion.
The Shaykh : As for now, I do not recall a specific response for every situation. Remind me what the answer was.
The questioner : I am not certain of the answer right now, so I want it repeated. All right.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : Let us take the general meaning. What does "This is similar to the hadith of so-and-so" mean?
The Shaykh : It means that the person whose hadith is being used as a comparison is either one whose hadith is authentic, or one whose hadith is good, meaning intermediate, or one whose hadith is weak. One looks at the person being compared to. If he is of the third rank, it means his hadith is weak. If he is of the second rank, it means his hadith is good. If he is of the first rank, it means his hadith is authentic. Generally, this first rank is not intended; rather, there is a discussion about the man, but this discussion either revolves around weakening his hadith once, or weakening it slightly, so that his hadith becomes good.
The questioner : And does this mean that the person being compared to will, based on this, be a man about whom there is at least agreement among the scholars on one point regarding him, so that he can be used as a measure?
The Shaykh : It is not required that there be agreement; rather, it is so in the view of the one speaking.
The questioner : But he will explain a matter to others and compare it to the hadith of so-and-so and so-and-so, meaning different people.
The Shaykh : Because it is assumed that this speaker spoke about so-and-so. In a phrase I just remembered, Ibn Abi Hatim uses it. He says, "So-and-so is from the category of so-and-so." What does "from the category of so-and-so" mean? It means he spoke about this person by weakening or improving his hadith, so he is of his weight. Therefore, it is assumed that the speaker does not mean that the scholars agreed, but rather that he has an opinion about the person being compared to. He attaches the listener to him because he knows what the speaker's opinion is about the person being compared to. It is not necessary that he is referring to the agreement of the scholars, and how could he obtain the agreement of the scholars in the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil? As you see, at that time, everyone had his own opinion and independent legal reasoning. He means only his own opinion.