The statement of the one who says regarding a certain hadith

The questioner: Regarding a hadith in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, from Abu al-Gharif, that a person in a state of major ritual impurity should not touch the Qur'an; and the narrators of this hadith are all trustworthy, and in al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, and the books of narrators, it is stated that all its narrators are trustworthy. So what is your ruling on it?

The Shaykh: My brother, when the one who says regarding a certain hadith that its narrators are trustworthy, that does not mean it is authentic. You must learn that when a hadith scholar says of the chain of a certain hadith that its narrators are trustworthy, it does not mean that its chain is authentic; why? Because their definition of a hadith is what is narrated by a just, precise narrator from a like him, from a like him, to its end, without being anomalous and without being defective. So what is narrated by a just, precise narrator from a like him, this is what it means that its narrators are trustworthy. But the rest of the definition, "without being anomalous and without being defective," means that there may be a break in the chain and it is said that its narrators are trustworthy, and there may be concealment of a defect in the chain and its narrators are trustworthy. And there may be concealment of a defect in the chain and it is said that its narrators are trustworthy.

The questioner: The Shaykh : Ahmad Muhammad Shakir

The Shaykh: I do not care about the names now as much as I care that you understand me. Did you understand me?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : If he saysThe Shaykh : Ahmad, no.The Shaykh : Muhammad, who is Ahmad, and I am Muhammad, if I say in a chain that its narrators are trustworthy, I do not mean that it is authentic. When it is authentic, I say its chain is authentic; and peace be upon you.