The Shaykh's opinion on the books of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and al-Tha'labi and the hadiths contained in them, and the Shaykh's warning about an error that some who transmit his takhrij fall into
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The questioner : He saysThe questioner: What is the opinionThe Shaykh : on the books of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and al-Tha'labi and the hadiths contained in them?
The Shaykh: It is well known that al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, in terms of his creed, is a Sufi, and that people have spoken about his creed, similar to the creed of Ibn 'Arabi, which is obscure, and that the chains of narration he transmits in his book "Nawadir al-Usul" rarely escape from a defect. Al-Tha'labi is the same. Perhaps you have noticed that in many of the hadiths that I extracted in "al-Silsilah al-Da'ifah," a large section was taken from the manuscript "Tafsir al-Tha'labi," which contains many weak and fabricated hadiths. It is known to scholars that the books of such people contain both authentic and weak hadiths, and the weak is the predominant feature of them. In this weak category, there is a large section of fabricated hadiths. If we all know that the four Sunan, which come after "al-Sahihayn," contain weak hadiths and some fabricated ones, then it is even more likely that some of that exists in the book of al-Tha'labi or the book of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and similar works that you mentioned.
Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes, regarding al-Tha'labi, regarding his hadiths. As for al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, it is from both matters. Yes.
Another questioner : He saysThe questioner .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: ... al-Tirmidhi ... or al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, and let us look at this to distinguish between the two men. This does not mean that the hadith has no other narrator from some books ... , this does not mean, but it means that al-Suyuti is not ... on this hadith, regarding this extractor, except for this one to whom he assigned a symbol. So when I authenticate or grade as good, I do not mean - also - that only so-and-so narrated it, but what concerns me is that this hadith is good.
And on this occasion, I say: It has become clear to me through experience, from some of the questions and discussions I have heard, that many people, when they take from my book "Sahih al-Jami'" - for example - they quote from me and say "such and such hadith" and put underneath: "Al-Albani graded its chain as good in 'Sahih al-Jami'." This expression is an error. I say: I do not know if I will ever be able to correct this that I am telling you now?
I say: If I were to face my future as I have faced my past, I would have done what I did in "Sahih Abu Dawud," and you are certainly aware of some examples. For I say there: "The chain of this hadith is authentic," sometimes I say: "The chain of this hadith is good and authentic," sometimes I say: "This is an authentic hadith," and sometimes I say: "This is a good hadith." And I pointed out in the introduction the difference between these four technical terms. If I say: "Its chain is authentic," then its chain is authentic. If I say: "Authentic," then it is authentic by the sum of its routes. If I say: "Its chain is good and authentic," then it is good in itself and authentic by other means. And if I say: "Good," I mean that it is weak in itself but good by other means. So those who quote from me that I graded the chain as good in such and such hadith, relying on the fact that I wrote most of the hadiths in "Sahih al-Jami'" as good; [saying] "Al-Albani said: 'Its chain is good,'" this is an error in many cases. And so that such an error does not occur in quoting from me, I should have said for the good hadith: "Its chain is good," and for the hadith that is good by other means: "Good only," and specify that in the introduction so that nothing is attributed to me that I do not see.
Likewise, I say at the end of the answer to this question: We should have drawn attention to the fact that al-Suyuti's attribution of a hadith to a person does not mean that it has no second [narrator]. It can have a second, and it can have a third and fourth, and so on. I tried to point this out sometimes in the authentic [hadiths] by saying - for example -: This is its takhrij: The authentic hadiths, two dots above each other: Narrated by ... from Ahmad, and so on. But I was not able to make this consistent in every hadith. And I do not say this except to clarify the reality, not as a defense. And each of us, as you know, is always and forever exposed to falling into error. And I think that bringing the book now is not necessary, because you have understood what we are saying. We are not saying that when al-Suyuti said "Narrated by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi," and we said underneath: "Good," that we mean the chain of al-Tirmidhi, this alleged al-Hakim himself. It is possible that this is an error on my part that occurred!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I did not understand.
Another questioner: It has another route, meaning.
The Shaykh : And praise be to Allah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Good, so there is another source?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This is it. Fine, but I still say: I do not justify myself from ... , and may Allah reward you with good if you point it out to us, for this is a benefit we gain.
Please.
The Shaykh: It is well known that al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, in terms of his creed, is a Sufi, and that people have spoken about his creed, similar to the creed of Ibn 'Arabi, which is obscure, and that the chains of narration he transmits in his book "Nawadir al-Usul" rarely escape from a defect. Al-Tha'labi is the same. Perhaps you have noticed that in many of the hadiths that I extracted in "al-Silsilah al-Da'ifah," a large section was taken from the manuscript "Tafsir al-Tha'labi," which contains many weak and fabricated hadiths. It is known to scholars that the books of such people contain both authentic and weak hadiths, and the weak is the predominant feature of them. In this weak category, there is a large section of fabricated hadiths. If we all know that the four Sunan, which come after "al-Sahihayn," contain weak hadiths and some fabricated ones, then it is even more likely that some of that exists in the book of al-Tha'labi or the book of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and similar works that you mentioned.
Yes.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes, regarding al-Tha'labi, regarding his hadiths. As for al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, it is from both matters. Yes.
Another questioner : He saysThe questioner .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: ... al-Tirmidhi ... or al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, and let us look at this to distinguish between the two men. This does not mean that the hadith has no other narrator from some books ... , this does not mean, but it means that al-Suyuti is not ... on this hadith, regarding this extractor, except for this one to whom he assigned a symbol. So when I authenticate or grade as good, I do not mean - also - that only so-and-so narrated it, but what concerns me is that this hadith is good.
And on this occasion, I say: It has become clear to me through experience, from some of the questions and discussions I have heard, that many people, when they take from my book "Sahih al-Jami'" - for example - they quote from me and say "such and such hadith" and put underneath: "Al-Albani graded its chain as good in 'Sahih al-Jami'." This expression is an error. I say: I do not know if I will ever be able to correct this that I am telling you now?
I say: If I were to face my future as I have faced my past, I would have done what I did in "Sahih Abu Dawud," and you are certainly aware of some examples. For I say there: "The chain of this hadith is authentic," sometimes I say: "The chain of this hadith is good and authentic," sometimes I say: "This is an authentic hadith," and sometimes I say: "This is a good hadith." And I pointed out in the introduction the difference between these four technical terms. If I say: "Its chain is authentic," then its chain is authentic. If I say: "Authentic," then it is authentic by the sum of its routes. If I say: "Its chain is good and authentic," then it is good in itself and authentic by other means. And if I say: "Good," I mean that it is weak in itself but good by other means. So those who quote from me that I graded the chain as good in such and such hadith, relying on the fact that I wrote most of the hadiths in "Sahih al-Jami'" as good; [saying] "Al-Albani said: 'Its chain is good,'" this is an error in many cases. And so that such an error does not occur in quoting from me, I should have said for the good hadith: "Its chain is good," and for the hadith that is good by other means: "Good only," and specify that in the introduction so that nothing is attributed to me that I do not see.
Likewise, I say at the end of the answer to this question: We should have drawn attention to the fact that al-Suyuti's attribution of a hadith to a person does not mean that it has no second [narrator]. It can have a second, and it can have a third and fourth, and so on. I tried to point this out sometimes in the authentic [hadiths] by saying - for example -: This is its takhrij: The authentic hadiths, two dots above each other: Narrated by ... from Ahmad, and so on. But I was not able to make this consistent in every hadith. And I do not say this except to clarify the reality, not as a defense. And each of us, as you know, is always and forever exposed to falling into error. And I think that bringing the book now is not necessary, because you have understood what we are saying. We are not saying that when al-Suyuti said "Narrated by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi," and we said underneath: "Good," that we mean the chain of al-Tirmidhi, this alleged al-Hakim himself. It is possible that this is an error on my part that occurred!
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : I did not understand.
Another questioner: It has another route, meaning.
The Shaykh : And praise be to Allah.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Good, so there is another source?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This is it. Fine, but I still say: I do not justify myself from ... , and may Allah reward you with good if you point it out to us, for this is a benefit we gain.
Please.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.