Is the hadith: (The one I envy most among my relatives is a believer of light circumstances) a suitable example of a hadith that may not be strengthened by its routes?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : I have a witness that supports what Ibn Hajar said about the work of your excellence in some of the hadiths.
The Shaykh : May Allah will it, but it is not that witness; it is truly the witness of al-Mawdudi.
The questioner : No, no, it is not that witness; it is the witness of al-Mawdudi.
The Shaykh : Here, how is it?
The questioner : As I recall, the hadith of Abu UmamahJami` at-Tirmidhi 2347Da'if (Darussalam) to the end of the hadith. This hadith is narrated from Abu Umamah, as far as I remember, through two routes, and both routes are weak. Your excellence mentioned it in *Dha'if al-Jami'* and ruled it weak, and you graded it hasan in *al-Mishkat*.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : Does this not mean that, in Ibn Hajar's statement, it has only two weak routes, and yet you did not grade it hasan?
The Shaykh : Now you have established the proof against yourself.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Is this an example of what Ibn Hajar said, in your opinion?
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Fine, which hadith is hasan and weak, and which is weak and hasan? This is logic.
The questioner : And that is why I said, O Shaykh, that...
The Shaykh : No, my brother, I am asking you, may Allah bless you. You said: "And that is why". Is this an explanatory clause explaining your words or my words? I am asking you: do you say "and that is why" with no connection? You are returning to support your words which I refuted and said, "I have established the proof against yourself." Is this hadith an example of what you understood from the Hafiz's statement? You said yes. And this means that the weak hadith is hasan and the hasan hadith is weak, because the example is one. Who says this?
The questioner : This is your doing, O Shaykh. Once you ruled it hasan and once you ruled it weak.
The Shaykh : This is my doing. I answered the professor there earlier when we spoke about what we spoke about. This is a relative matter; we did not speak about the hasan hadith.
The questioner : Hasan in itself.
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother, and al-Hasan, may Allah guide us and you. This haste is very strange for us in Syria, like "Who is as hasty as I am, so that it is used as a proverb, saying he is hasty". But you, may Allah will it, have dark and black beards, and so on. Why this haste? I am saying: if the Hafiz al-Dhahabi says about the hasan hadith in itself "that it is one of the subtleties of hadith sciences", fine. Do you think the hasan hadith other than in itself is clearer or more difficult?
The questioner : More difficult.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is the truth. So what is the benefit of your statement? It is the statement of the Hafiz al-Dhahabi about the hasan hadith. This is, as it is said, a *qiyas awla* (argument a fortiori)[Al-Isra 17:23]. So a fortiori, it should forbid you from striking them with your palm. We hold to the wording because it is a *qiyas awla*.
So if the statement of the Hafiz al-Dhahabi about the hasan hadith is more difficult than the hasan hadith other than in itself, then my statement remains valid. The example you brought is the hasan hadith, and the opinion differed on it.
I am the one who said in one place it is hasan and in another place it is weak. I say this is an error, because it is combining two opposites, as I said earlier: weak equals hasan and hasan equals weak. This requires a mind other than our minds; it does not accommodate that.
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise, I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.
The Shaykh : May Allah will it, but it is not that witness; it is truly the witness of al-Mawdudi.
The questioner : No, no, it is not that witness; it is the witness of al-Mawdudi.
The Shaykh : Here, how is it?
The questioner : As I recall, the hadith of Abu Umamah
Indeed the best of my friends to me is the one of meager conditions
إن أغبط أوليائي عندي لمؤمن خفيف الحالThe Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : Does this not mean that, in Ibn Hajar's statement, it has only two weak routes, and yet you did not grade it hasan?
The Shaykh : Now you have established the proof against yourself.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : Is this an example of what Ibn Hajar said, in your opinion?
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Fine, which hadith is hasan and weak, and which is weak and hasan? This is logic.
The questioner : And that is why I said, O Shaykh, that...
The Shaykh : No, my brother, I am asking you, may Allah bless you. You said: "And that is why". Is this an explanatory clause explaining your words or my words? I am asking you: do you say "and that is why" with no connection? You are returning to support your words which I refuted and said, "I have established the proof against yourself." Is this hadith an example of what you understood from the Hafiz's statement? You said yes. And this means that the weak hadith is hasan and the hasan hadith is weak, because the example is one. Who says this?
The questioner : This is your doing, O Shaykh. Once you ruled it hasan and once you ruled it weak.
The Shaykh : This is my doing. I answered the professor there earlier when we spoke about what we spoke about. This is a relative matter; we did not speak about the hasan hadith.
The questioner : Hasan in itself.
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother, and al-Hasan, may Allah guide us and you. This haste is very strange for us in Syria, like "Who is as hasty as I am, so that it is used as a proverb, saying he is hasty". But you, may Allah will it, have dark and black beards, and so on. Why this haste? I am saying: if the Hafiz al-Dhahabi says about the hasan hadith in itself "that it is one of the subtleties of hadith sciences", fine. Do you think the hasan hadith other than in itself is clearer or more difficult?
The questioner : More difficult.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is the truth. So what is the benefit of your statement? It is the statement of the Hafiz al-Dhahabi about the hasan hadith. This is, as it is said, a *qiyas awla* (argument a fortiori)
say not to them [so much as], "uff,"
فلا تقل لهما أفSo if the statement of the Hafiz al-Dhahabi about the hasan hadith is more difficult than the hasan hadith other than in itself, then my statement remains valid. The example you brought is the hasan hadith, and the opinion differed on it.
I am the one who said in one place it is hasan and in another place it is weak. I say this is an error, because it is combining two opposites, as I said earlier: weak equals hasan and hasan equals weak. This requires a mind other than our minds; it does not accommodate that.
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise, I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.