The Evidentiary Value of Ahad Hadiths in Matters of Creed and Rulings

The Shaykh : The disagreement on this issue is well known from old times.
I heard, O Shaykh Abdullah.

The questioner : Yes, but if you please...

The Shaykh : Okay...
Shaykh Abdullah... his home.

Another questioner : It is sufficient that it is a home of knowledge.

The Shaykh : ... In any case.
Yes, I say: The scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) did not agree on the condition of tawatur (mass transmission) in a hadith for us to derive creed from it; they differed. Imam Ahmad says that an authentic hadith establishes creed and proves certainty, even if it is an ahad report. Likewise, Imam Ibn Hazm, in his book Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, has a very long chapter supporting Imam Ahmad’s view, and he relates this from a group of other imams whose names do not come to my mind now.
And if the matter is so, it is obligatory for everyone who wants to be clear in their religion to return to His saying—Blessed and Exalted is He: ; so as long as the dispute on this issue is still ongoing, one must return to the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah to be, as we said, clear in their religion.
There is no need to...

Another questioner : ...the report of a single narrator.

The Shaykh: Yes.
There is no need for us to be cautious in saying that this is the duty of the scholars of knowledge above all else, and the duty of others is to ask the scholars of knowledge, as our Lord—Blessed and Exalted is He—said explicitly in the Qur'an. The student of the Book and the Sunnah finds that the distinction between creed and rulings in ahad hadiths is a recent development in Islam that the earliest generations (Salaf) did not know at all. Indeed, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in sending messengers from among them to the outlying regions to teach people the religion indicates decisively that this distinction was not customary with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and consequently, not with those whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) sent.
So we know, for example, that Mu'adh, Abu Musa, and Ali, who were sent to Yemen as bringers of good news and teachers, taught the people of Yemen, of course, both what they received from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in hadiths relating to creed, and hadiths relating to rulings, morals, and recommended practices, and so on. Did the argument become established by this Prophetic mission over the people of Yemen, for example? Over the people of the village to whom Mu'adh came, saying to them: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commands you, for example, in zakah (the obligatory alms) to give zakah on four of what the earth grows"? Did the argument become established by that? Certainly. Did Mu'adh limit his teaching to the people of Yemen, who had recently entered Islam, to only rulings without creed, or was the matter exactly the opposite? If it were permissible for a Muslim to separate creed from rulings—meaning, if separation were permissible—by what would a Muslim begin teaching people? He would begin with creed, without doubt. But this separation is not of Islam at all, ever. Without doubt, he focuses on teaching people creed, but this does not mean, for example, that he teaches them prayer, zakah, and the morals a Muslim must possess, and the opposite morals a Muslim must avoid, and so on.
So Mu'adh ibn Jabal was one person; his report is a report of one person. He taught the people of Yemen the entire religion without distinguishing between creed and rulings. And so it was with all the missions and messengers whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) sent as individuals. Therefore, Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him), who investigated this issue and excelled in it as is his custom and habit, says: "If the argument were not established by the report of a single person in everything related to the Shari'ah—whether in transactions or in theoretical matters—as he says—then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have sent a group by whom the report of tawatur (mass transmission) that establishes certainty would be verified. The restriction of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in sending a single person means that this person, as long as he is trustworthy and a memorizer who is precise, his report establishes certainty, and consequently establishes certainty. So it is obligatory to act upon his report, whether it is in creed, or in rulings, or in morals."
And this is a long and very long research. Perhaps this indication to the practical Sunnah on which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) proceeded is the greatest argument in convincing the opponent that this distinction is foreign to Islam and has no basis. And if he says the opposite, and if he held to this distinction—namely, this distinction—though he has weight in knowledge, we have already stated that as long as the issue is disputed among the imams, one must return to the Book and the Sunnah. And we found the Qur'an saying, yes, in His saying—Mighty and Majestic: "a group."

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : .

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : "From among you" .

Another questioner : .

The Shaykh : Or ...

Another questioner : .

The Shaykh, yes.
This group, in the text of the dictionary: a group is a single individual and upwards. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to send, as we mentioned, and the Qur'an encourages that. These people return to their people, so the freshness (of knowledge) is obtained by their conveying it. Is it only in rulings without conveying the verses and without conveying the hadiths? All of that is included in this conveying and in this deep understanding of the religion.
And the later scholars of hadith have a detail regarding the distance of Muslims today from the first era, and the multitude of narrators in the chains of transmission. Their detail is as follows...
...it is authentic with the hadith scholars and the imams received it with acceptance, so it establishes certainty; whether it is ahad, or widespread, or famous. And this condition I see as a scientific condition; because the issue becomes personal or relative in many cases regarding our time. A person may authenticate a hadith that another weakens. But the hadith that was authenticated previously, and then the Muslims, with their different specializations in the sciences—exeggetes, hadith scholars, jurists, and others—all received the hadith with acceptance; this means that the Ummah (the Muslim community) agreed that this hadith is authentic. And true consensus is protected from error; due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
So this is what can be said now regarding that question; if it is sufficient, then fine, otherwise...
Please proceed.