Is there a limit to the number of ways a weak hadith can be strengthened?
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The questioner : Following up on the question about the multitude of chains, Shaykh, is there, I mean, a limit to the number of chains?
The Shaykh : A limit? Do you mean a legal limit or a historical research limit?
The questioner : I mean, according to the researcher's research; that is, according to your research on strengthening the hadith; does the hadith become good based on the number of chains, I mean, three?
The Shaykh : It is not correct to fix a number of chains as was said completely regarding mass transmission (tawatur). They differed greatly on the number for mass transmission with many opinions. It is not correct to impose a specific number, because the issue varies depending on the characteristics of the narrators in terms of integrity and precision. The same applies completely to the weak hadith that is strengthened by the multitude of chains. I may see that a weak hadith rises to the level of good (hasan) by coming through only two chains, because the men in both chains are trustworthy, except that one of them has a weakness that does not place his hadith in the level of good, nor in the level of severely weak. This weakness is matched by another chain in the same first hadith, so one strengthens the other. This is because it is very far-fetched, given the observation I mentioned earlier from Ibn Taymiyyah, if these narrators are from different lands such that it is not conceivable that they conspired, or if their generations are different such that they could not have been contemporaries. In that case, the hadith can be strengthened by the sum of the two chains, because the weakness present in the memory of each of the two narrators in the two chains is a weakness that does not make the chain severely weak.
Now, moving to another example, the weakness in another hadith may be in each of the narrators more severe than in the first example. In that case, the soul needs to be reassured of the establishment of this hadith by a third chain, and perhaps a fourth, and so on. Therefore, it is a clear error to set a specific, rigid percentage of chains to say that with this number, in every hadith that has chains, it rises to the level of good or does not rise. It is not correct to say either this or that.
Yes.
The Shaykh : A limit? Do you mean a legal limit or a historical research limit?
The questioner : I mean, according to the researcher's research; that is, according to your research on strengthening the hadith; does the hadith become good based on the number of chains, I mean, three?
The Shaykh : It is not correct to fix a number of chains as was said completely regarding mass transmission (tawatur). They differed greatly on the number for mass transmission with many opinions. It is not correct to impose a specific number, because the issue varies depending on the characteristics of the narrators in terms of integrity and precision. The same applies completely to the weak hadith that is strengthened by the multitude of chains. I may see that a weak hadith rises to the level of good (hasan) by coming through only two chains, because the men in both chains are trustworthy, except that one of them has a weakness that does not place his hadith in the level of good, nor in the level of severely weak. This weakness is matched by another chain in the same first hadith, so one strengthens the other. This is because it is very far-fetched, given the observation I mentioned earlier from Ibn Taymiyyah, if these narrators are from different lands such that it is not conceivable that they conspired, or if their generations are different such that they could not have been contemporaries. In that case, the hadith can be strengthened by the sum of the two chains, because the weakness present in the memory of each of the two narrators in the two chains is a weakness that does not make the chain severely weak.
Now, moving to another example, the weakness in another hadith may be in each of the narrators more severe than in the first example. In that case, the soul needs to be reassured of the establishment of this hadith by a third chain, and perhaps a fourth, and so on. Therefore, it is a clear error to set a specific, rigid percentage of chains to say that with this number, in every hadith that has chains, it rises to the level of good or does not rise. It is not correct to say either this or that.
Yes.
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