If a person hears a hadith for the first time, whether it is authentic or weak, when should he believe it and act upon it?

The questioner : Your Eminence the Shaykh—may Allah preserve you—if you hear a hadith for the first time, is it authentic until its weakness is established, or the opposite? I ask for clarification. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Neither this nor that. If a Muslim hears a hadith, it is not permissible for him to believe it nor to deny it until he verifies its status with the scholars of knowledge. If they inform him of its authenticity, it is obligatory for him to adopt it and act upon it first. Then, if he memorizes it and masters it, he should convey it secondly to those among the people for whom it is easy, in accordance with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . The verse here is not only from the Qur'an; rather, the intended meaning is: the statement. So whether this statement he memorized is from the Noble Qur'an or from the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he must convey it to the people, acting in accordance with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. This is if the Muslim is informed that the hadith is authentic.
As for if he is informed by the scholars of knowledge that the hadith is weak, it is not permissible for him to narrate it, being content with the authentic hadiths which, if they were widespread among the Muslims, they would be on guidance from their Lord. As for if no one is made available to him or facilitated for him who can explain to him the status of the hadith, then at that time it is not permissible for him to narrate it, in accordance with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This is a very important hadith that encompasses social life in all its aspects; that is, it is not only the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him), but the speech of all people. Because if a person transmits from some people that they said such and such, and it is his habit to transmit frequently, he will inevitably fall into lying, whether the transmission is from the hadiths attributed to the Messenger (peace be upon him) or from the sayings attributed to some people. So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): means that it is not permissible for a Muslim to narrate except what is verified, even if it is not a Prophetic hadith. It is not befitting for him to say "So-and-so said such and such" until he verifies the truth of the news. Therefore, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: , and in the other reading: Is this news true or is it not true? : likewise, with the same meaning. This is more comprehensive than the previous hadith. The previous hadith says: . This hadith has come in the *Introduction to Sahih Muslim*, and another hadith is mentioned there: . So the verse mentioned above: whatever news it may be. And we have experienced in this present age news that is published which is very strange. How many a scholar has been killed while still alive, and perhaps you have heard something of that. And how many false jurisprudential reports have also been attributed to some of those who claim affiliation with knowledge, and it was also revealed that that was a lie. And on this journey, I heard questions: "Did you say such and such?" I say: No, by Allah, I did not say this. "Did you say such and such?" I did not say this. Why? Because we were not raised upon the Book of Allah or the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And therefore they said in the past, so what about today: "The only affliction of news is its narrators".