Is it obligatory for every Muslim to distinguish between an authentic hadith and a weak one, or not?
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The questioner : Regarding the hadiths in Sahih al-Jami', you usually attribute them to one of your books in which you have traced the hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : Such as al-Silsilah al-Sahihah and al-Adwa' and the like. If a student of knowledge wants to act upon a hadith from these hadiths in al-Jami', for example Sahih al-Jami', is he required to refer to the book in which the hadith was traced, or is it sufficient for him to rely on the authentic status?
The Shaykh : This varies depending on the student. This example can be illustrated or developed in another way.
Is it obligatory for every Muslim to distinguish between an authentic hadith and a weak one, or not?
There is no doubt that the answer is that he must know the difference between the authentic and the weak.
At that point, the second question, which is the crux of the matter, is: Is it obligatory for this questioner to refer to the means of knowing whether this statement—meaning whether the hadith is authentic or weak—by tracing the principles and paths by which a Muslim is usually able to know the authenticity of a hadith, or is it not obligatory?
The answer is very obvious. If he is one of the people of this knowledge and this discipline, it is obligatory for him; otherwise, it is not. The answer in this and that case is like many issues in Islamic jurisprudence.
Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, says in the Noble Qur'an:[An-Nahl 16:43] The verse divides people into two categories: the knowledgeable and the ignorant. It obligates each of them to do something that it does not obligate the other to do. It obligates the one who is not knowledgeable to ask the people of knowledge, and it obligates the scholars to answer.
So the questioners in every era, even in the era of Prophethood and the Message, most of them are unable to know the validity of the answer they received from the scholar. Did he take it from the Book of Allah, or from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or from scholarly consensus?
Then, did he take it from the first category of consensus, in which the Ummah does not differ, namely what the Ummah has agreed upon as authentic, or from the second category, which is the consensus of the scholars of the Ummah, where it is not required that the entire Ummah agrees, and so on, regarding the definitions of consensus by which the argument is established? There is no doubt that most people cannot reach these details. So these people are satisfied with the scholar's answer: permissible, not permissible, obligatory, recommended, and so on. Likewise, this type of person is satisfied with the statement of a scholar whose knowledge is trusted: this is authentic, this is good, this is weak. But it may be that this questioner or that reader in Sahih al-Jami' thinks that this hadith is authentic. He may be able to refer to the source to which I referred, or he may not be able to. If he is unable to refer to the source, he may be able to refer to the paths I followed, for example, in reaching the judgment of authenticity for this hadith. If he is able to do so, he is not in need of referring to a source that is beyond his reach, especially since the reality is that some of the sources to which I attribute the authentication or weakening are still in the realm of manuscripts and have not yet been printed for us. This is the answer to what you asked.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good
The Shaykh : And you likewise
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : Such as al-Silsilah al-Sahihah and al-Adwa' and the like. If a student of knowledge wants to act upon a hadith from these hadiths in al-Jami', for example Sahih al-Jami', is he required to refer to the book in which the hadith was traced, or is it sufficient for him to rely on the authentic status?
The Shaykh : This varies depending on the student. This example can be illustrated or developed in another way.
Is it obligatory for every Muslim to distinguish between an authentic hadith and a weak one, or not?
There is no doubt that the answer is that he must know the difference between the authentic and the weak.
At that point, the second question, which is the crux of the matter, is: Is it obligatory for this questioner to refer to the means of knowing whether this statement—meaning whether the hadith is authentic or weak—by tracing the principles and paths by which a Muslim is usually able to know the authenticity of a hadith, or is it not obligatory?
The answer is very obvious. If he is one of the people of this knowledge and this discipline, it is obligatory for him; otherwise, it is not. The answer in this and that case is like many issues in Islamic jurisprudence.
Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, says in the Noble Qur'an:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فاسألوا أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمونSo the questioners in every era, even in the era of Prophethood and the Message, most of them are unable to know the validity of the answer they received from the scholar. Did he take it from the Book of Allah, or from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or from scholarly consensus?
Then, did he take it from the first category of consensus, in which the Ummah does not differ, namely what the Ummah has agreed upon as authentic, or from the second category, which is the consensus of the scholars of the Ummah, where it is not required that the entire Ummah agrees, and so on, regarding the definitions of consensus by which the argument is established? There is no doubt that most people cannot reach these details. So these people are satisfied with the scholar's answer: permissible, not permissible, obligatory, recommended, and so on. Likewise, this type of person is satisfied with the statement of a scholar whose knowledge is trusted: this is authentic, this is good, this is weak. But it may be that this questioner or that reader in Sahih al-Jami' thinks that this hadith is authentic. He may be able to refer to the source to which I referred, or he may not be able to. If he is unable to refer to the source, he may be able to refer to the paths I followed, for example, in reaching the judgment of authenticity for this hadith. If he is able to do so, he is not in need of referring to a source that is beyond his reach, especially since the reality is that some of the sources to which I attribute the authentication or weakening are still in the realm of manuscripts and have not yet been printed for us. This is the answer to what you asked.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good
The Shaykh : And you likewise