The questioner reports that you consider a hadith to be good due to the multiplicity of its chains; how is that?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. O Shaykh,The questioner : [It is reported] that you consider a hadith to be good due to the multiplicity of its chains.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : How do you mean?

The Shaykh : If you have read the terminology of hadith, you have spared me the trouble; otherwise, I will answer you. Or, if you have a doubt—for example—about the rule presented in the science of hadith terminology, we will listen; otherwise, we will answer you.

The questioner : I am just asking you...

The Shaykh : The scholars of hadith say that a weak hadith—meaning a hadith whose weakness is not severe—if it comes from other chains, these chains strengthen one another. This is an intuitive matter; a person feels reassured by this ruling established by the scholars of hadith, especially when one notes their aforementioned statement that the condition is that its weakness not be severe.
The Shaykh: However, this issue is not settled among all scholars of hadith; rather, this is the well-known and practiced view in the science of hadith terminology. I say this because the Imam al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held the view—without explicitly stating it—that his words indicate this. He said: If a hadith comes from multiple chains, and the narrators are from different lands, such that it is unlikely they conspired to narrate a hadith and insert it among the people, then the hadith is strengthened by the multiplicity of its chains, without regard to the condition mentioned in the science of hadith terminology, which is that its weakness not be severe. This is one point. Opposing this, we find that some hadiths cited as examples of the category of weak hadiths with many chains were exemplified by Ibn al-Salah in his "Introduction" with the hadith: . He (may Allah have mercy on him) acknowledged that this hadith has many chains, but they do not strengthen the hadith. From this, he stated that it is a condition for a hadith that the weakness of its chains not be severe. However, upon investigation, we found that this hadith has many chains, and some of them strengthen one another because the weakness is not severe, while another chain is strong on its own. Thus, the hadith falls outside the scope of being cited as an example of a weak hadith with many chains. Therefore, the matter remains—as I mean from this and the aforementioned statements—that the ruling on a weak hadith as being good, authentic, or weak is a relative issue that varies among scholars in terms of knowledge, understanding, research, breadth of comprehension, and familiarity with the chains of the hadith.
The Shaykh : This is the answer to what you asked.