What is the ruling on the hadith that al-Dailami and Ibn Asakir narrated uniquely?
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The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... al-Dailami narrated it uniquely, so it is weak. What does this mean?
The Shaykh : The rule regarding what al-Dailami narrated uniquely, and what Ibn Asakir and those like them narrated uniquely—those whose rank has dropped, meaning: there are many intermediaries between them and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—is that what those like them narrate uniquely is weak. However, this does not mean that there are no exceptions to such a rule; every rule has exceptions. For this reason, some scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) say: "There is no general statement that has not been specified". This is a well-known generality, and the first person we know of who explicitly stated this text was al-Hafiz al-Suyuti in the introduction of his book *al-Jami' al-Kabir*. He mentioned there that the indicator of a hadith's weakness is the unique narration of Ibn Asakir, al-Dailami, and those like them. But as I told you, this is the rule, yet every rule has exceptions. Therefore, if it is possible for a researcher to examine the isnad (chain of narration) of Ibn Asakir or al-Dailami in any hadith, he should not declare it weak as long as he has examined its chain; rather, he must judge the hadith based on that. However, if it is not possible for him to examine the chain of such a hadith narrated by Ibn Asakir or al-Dailami, the original rule, as we mentioned, is that it is weak. This is because al-Hafiz Ibn Asakir and al-Dailami are close to the era of the scholars who preceded them by a rank and in elevation, and it is unlikely that such hadiths, which al-Dailami or Ibn Asakir narrate uniquely, would have been missed by those earlier scholars. From this, some scholars of knowledge have said that their unique narration of a hadith means that it is weak. But every rule has exceptions, otherwise.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... al-Dailami narrated it uniquely, so it is weak. What does this mean?
The Shaykh : The rule regarding what al-Dailami narrated uniquely, and what Ibn Asakir and those like them narrated uniquely—those whose rank has dropped, meaning: there are many intermediaries between them and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—is that what those like them narrate uniquely is weak. However, this does not mean that there are no exceptions to such a rule; every rule has exceptions. For this reason, some scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) say: "There is no general statement that has not been specified". This is a well-known generality, and the first person we know of who explicitly stated this text was al-Hafiz al-Suyuti in the introduction of his book *al-Jami' al-Kabir*. He mentioned there that the indicator of a hadith's weakness is the unique narration of Ibn Asakir, al-Dailami, and those like them. But as I told you, this is the rule, yet every rule has exceptions. Therefore, if it is possible for a researcher to examine the isnad (chain of narration) of Ibn Asakir or al-Dailami in any hadith, he should not declare it weak as long as he has examined its chain; rather, he must judge the hadith based on that. However, if it is not possible for him to examine the chain of such a hadith narrated by Ibn Asakir or al-Dailami, the original rule, as we mentioned, is that it is weak. This is because al-Hafiz Ibn Asakir and al-Dailami are close to the era of the scholars who preceded them by a rank and in elevation, and it is unlikely that such hadiths, which al-Dailami or Ibn Asakir narrate uniquely, would have been missed by those earlier scholars. From this, some scholars of knowledge have said that their unique narration of a hadith means that it is weak. But every rule has exceptions, otherwise.