The Shaykh’s discussion with the students regarding the phrase

The Shaykh : I say, may Allah reward you, this matter is very serious. According to what is known among the scholars of hadith, you all know that a narrator of hadith, especially in the later periods, if he does not memorize the text of the hadith, the scholars of hadith advise that he follow his narration of the hadith with the phrase: "or as he said." This is known to you all, if Allah wills. So here is a question: and the answer is what resolves the issue. Is it permissible for a Muslim to say "or as he said" after every hadith? Let us give an example. I say, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Am I obligated to say "or as he said"? Answer me this question?
The student : I do not know.

The Shaykh : So the matter is concluded.
The student : No, I will answer you: The answer, first, is that the Prophetic hadiths have been recorded and settled in their proper sources, and there is no longer any room for saying: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him). Because if one is not a memorizer, he returns to the sources of the texts, and he has no excuse for deviating from this text if he is able to return to the book in which this hadith was recorded, because this matter has ended and its status has settled. But now, I am a layman and I do not have the ability to research the sources of the Prophetic hadiths. So what can I say if I mean to convey a hadith after it has settled, and I am an illiterate layman who neither reads nor writes? Perhaps I say to someone who thinks that: "The head of wisdom is the fear of Allah" or as he said (peace and blessings be upon him), because he thinks that this hadith or this phrase is from the speech of the Prophethood. And this, of course, we say regarding the one who is unable, for example, someone like me, a student of knowledge, or like AliAl-Halabi : or like Salim al-Hilali, or like any student of the students of knowledge, it is not sufficient for him to say: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him) for every hadith. As for the hadiths whose attribution or wording is known to every Muslim on the face of the earth, when I say, for example: , do I say: "or as he said"? This is a hadith that has become famous on the tongues and circulated in the minds since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it, until the Hour stands, with this wording that cannot change or alter. So in that case, it is not permissible for me to say: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him). But a long hadith, for example, you just narrated a hadith for us, which is the hadith of the man who went with Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "There was a dispute between me and my father, and he swore at me not to stay with him this night, so do you permit me to stay with you?" This hadith, in reality, when I read it or convey it from my memory, I might be unable to memorize it, and therefore it is necessary in the end to say: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him). There is another matter: It is also permissible, for example, our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you and reward you, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has given you from the abundance of knowledge and the ability to memorize hadiths what He has not given to any one of us in this time. So with what you have of abundance of knowledge, we often hear you say: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him), and you are narrating the hadith and you are certain that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it as you said it, but out of caution for the religion, and so that a person does not fall into the contradiction and the prohibition in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , so you, may Allah reward you, as long as we have heard you saying: "or as he said" (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : I say the same: when I do not recall the text. But the research is not here. The research is if we are transmitting a hadith from a book, from the most authentic books after the Book of Allah, and I mentioned to you earlier the clear example: was narrated by six with this wording, neither more nor less. The question was: do we say "or as he said"? The answer was: I do not know. Do you know that they say: it is recommended to say: "or as he said"? Do you know?
The student : I do not know.

The Shaykh : You do not know, neither negatively nor positively. Okay, now we move the topic to what is more dangerous than what came before. Before I mention what I pointed to just now, I want to remind you: "For every occasion there is a speech." We say, as mentioned about me personally: "or as he said," when we do not remember the text. But my research is not in this type. My research is in what we remember the wording to be in the books of hadith: do we say: "or as he said"? In my opinion, we do not say it. Why? Because we believe that the hadith, as the professor explained earlier, was received by the later generations from the earlier generations without any difference. So the hadiths related to our topic are divided into two categories: a category in which a person must say "or as he said," because he does not know the text. But another category in which he knows it, memorizes it, or recites it, it is not important. Here, as you said earlier, it is recommended to say in every hadith: "or as he said." Is this correct or not? Yes. No doubt, I return to clarify to you the importance: : The Muslims have practiced not saying behind every hadith: "or as he said," but only when the narrator doubts, he says: "or," and they sometimes explicitly state that so-and-so doubted, and so on.