What is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ahmad, Ibn Mahdi, and Ibn al-Mubarak: "When we narrate regarding what is lawful and forbidden, we are strict"?

The questioner : What is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ahmad, Ibn Mahdi, and Ibn al-Mubarak: "When we narrate regarding what is lawful and forbidden, we are strict, and when we narrate regarding virtues and the like, we are lenient"?

The Shaykh : I understand from this that their narrations were by chains of transmission, as is well known, and chains of transmission are composed of men. So, if a hadith relates to rulings, they were strict in narrating these chains of transmission. If it was regarding virtues, they were lenient in that. The intention is not what comes to the minds of later scholars, that it is permissible for a hadith scholar, especially the Imam of the Sunnah, Ahmad, to say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said such and such," when the hadith is not authentic according to him, and then act upon it. Rather, he presents the hadith with a chain of transmission that indicates its weakness. As for if the chain of transmission is omitted, it is necessary to clarify... this chain of transmission which is the weakness of the hadith. And the leniency at that time brings in the rule: "A weak hadith is acted upon in the virtues of deeds." This is another aspect with extreme precision; it is that the weak hadith which the hadith scholar narrated in the past, like Ahmad, with its chain of transmission, the chain of transmission indicates its weakness. And if the chain of transmission is abbreviated, it is necessary to present the summary; which is that the chain of transmission is weak. And this is related to narration. As for acting upon it, that is another matter, and we have elaborated on that more than once. So, acting upon a weak hadith, if the intention is to derive a legal ruling, and its minimum is recommendation in a weak hadith; then this is not permissible by the consensus of the scholars of the Muslims, as Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted in his book "Majmu' al-Fatawa." And if the intention is that acting upon a weak hadith is permissible in the virtues of deeds, that the virtues of deeds are not established in this hadith, but the lawfulness of the deed is established by an authentic hadith, but in this prescribed deed, other than the weak hadith, a weak hadith came in which specifies a virtue for that well-known deed, then it is said here: There is no harm in acting upon a weak hadith in the virtues of deeds, meaning: There is no harm in narrating it, on the condition of clarifying its weakness.