The well-known position among jurists is to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds; what is the correctness of this statement?
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The questioner : The well-known position among jurists is to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds; how correct is this statement?
The Shaykh : The well-known statement today that weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds is one of three positions regarding weak hadiths: are they acted upon in the virtues of deeds or not?
And we must, if we wish to be as our Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, said:[Yusuf 12:108]; if we wish to be upon clear insight, we must know whether the statements that are broadcast and spread sometimes have a basis in the Book and the Sunnah or not. And we must not be deceived by the well-known saying: "The well-known error is better than the neglected truth"!! This is a well-known saying!! "The well-known error is better than the neglected truth"; this is not Islamic speech at all; because the Messenger (peace be upon him) informed us that as time passes, corruption becomes more severe, and the strangeness of Islam in it becomes more intense; until a person becomes a stranger in his family, in his tribe, in his home with his family and his children; this is the neglected truth, and that is the well-known error; so is the well-known error better than the neglected truth?! If we thought about this a little, it would become clear that its mere mention is sufficient to refute it.
So this statement is well-known: "Weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds"; so in terms of it being one of three positions, we must know the other two positions:
A second position: the opposite on the entire line; weak hadiths are not acted upon in the virtues of deeds at all.
And a third position: weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds with three conditions:
The first condition: that its weakness is not severe.
The second condition: that it falls within a principle of the principles of the Shari'ah.
The third condition: that one does not persist in acting upon it, in order to distinguish between this deed which is not established by the Sunnah and the deed established in the Sunnah.
As for what I testify to Allah with, it is the second position, which is the opposite of the first position: weak hadiths are not acted upon in the virtues of deeds at all. I say this because the intent of acting upon them in the virtues of deeds... means that a hadith comes containing the explanation of the virtue of a certain deed, so we act upon this hadith; from where did we judge that this deed is among the virtues of deeds? From this weak hadith. It is not permissible to act upon this ever; why? Because our judgment that a certain deed is among the virtues of deeds is an announcement.
Another questioner : The doctrine.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner: Creed... recommended.
The Shaykh : The doctrine.
I hope that if I made a mistake and slipped in the wording, as happens sometimes, you will alert me.
Another questioner: May you be rewarded with good.
The Shaykh: As for what I am not sure about, leave it for later; because it cuts off my train of thought, and I fear that I may have made a mistake as is my habit, so we pause a bit without a reason.
If a weak hadith comes regarding the ruling of a deed in the virtues of deeds, I give you an example:
Reciting the seven long surahs after the Friday prayer, do you know this? Reciting the two protectors and[Al-Ikhlas 112:1] seven times, and reciting al-Fatihah after the Friday prayer; there is a weak hadith regarding this; so it is said: a weak hadith, no harm in acting upon it in the virtues of deeds...
From where did we know that it is among the virtues of deeds to recite these surahs in this exact place and with the exact number of seven, neither more nor less; from where did we know this? From this hadith, of course; well, our action means that we are announcing about Allah the Legislator, no legislator other than Him, that He made this virtue for this deed with this recitation; is it permissible to make this judgment with this weak hadith? It is not permissible at all; therefore those who utter this statement say: it is permissible to act upon weak hadiths in... deeds, meaning it is permissible to legislate in the virtues of deeds. It is not permissible to prohibit or to obligate or make fard with a hadith of a single narrator, but it is permissible to say: it is legislated to do such and such with a weak hadith; even though all the scholars agreed that the least of the legislated rulings is recommendation (mustahabb), and that recommendation is not established by a weak hadith; therefore for this reason and others as I will mention, we do not adopt this statement at all; because it means legislating something that is not established in the Shari'ah with a weak hadith, this is first.
And secondly: the weak hadith, by the consensus of the scholars of the Muslims, does not benefit except with the weaker suspicion (marjuh), and the stronger suspicion (rajih) which must be acted upon is not established except by the established hadith, which is hasan and above. As for the weak hadith, it is not permissible to act upon it. As for the weaker suspicion, it is not permissible to act upon it by consensus; due to His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He):[Yunus 10:36], and His description of the polytheists by His saying: [An-Najm 53:23], and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed that: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1988Sahih (Darussalam), so glorified is Allah! If the scholars of the Muslims all agreed that the weak hadith does not benefit except with suspicion, and they also agreed that suspicion is of two types: a type that is stronger and must be acted upon, and a type that is weaker and it is not permissible to act upon it, and the weak hadith does not benefit except with the weaker suspicion; then acting upon the weak hadith falls within the generality of His saying (Exalted is He): إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ They follow not except assumption[Al-An'am 6:116], falls within the generality of His saying (Exalted is He): إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا Indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all[Yunus 10:36], falls within the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): إياكم والظَّنَّ ؛ فإن الظَّنَّ أكذبُ الحديث Beware of Zann (suspicion), for indeed Zann is the falsest of speech.Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1988Sahih (Darussalam).
And the majority today who say: weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds, they have no proof from the Book and the Sunnah at all, but rather it is ijtihad and opinion, and ijtihad and opinion are subject to correctness and error, and what is subject to correctness and error must be presented to the Book and the Sunnah, as is the principle in everything in which people have disputed and differed, فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.[An-Nisa 4:59]. We have found the condemnation of suspicion in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah when the suspicion is weaker, and we have found the scholars themselves saying that the weak hadith does not benefit except with the weaker suspicion; so it results from all these established premises that it is not permissible to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds, this is secondly.
And thirdly: this statement - that is: it is permissible to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds - had severe effects on this Ummah...
... from aspects:
Among them: that the eminent scholar who adopts this statement acts upon a hadith without researching it at all; is it authentic? Is it weak? Even if it is authentic, he adopts it as a Sunnah, and if it is weak, he adopts it as weak, and that it is acted upon in the virtues of deeds; so you find the people of knowledge who adopt this alleged rule, in addition to the general public, merely finding a hadith containing the virtue of a certain deed and acting upon it without knowing if this hadith is weak or authentic, so this alleged Sunnah; that is: what is established for them by the weak hadith, moves with the Ummah and becomes part of its life, and a necessary part of its worship, so when a man like me, who was given a little share of the knowledge of hadith, says to the honorable Shaykh: O my teacher, this hadith you act upon, this hadith is weak; immediately he answers you: weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds. You made it a continuing Shari'ah!! All your group does it, and none of them, nor you, knew before this moment that you were acting upon a weak hadith; so how can it be correct for a person to act upon a weak hadith without knowing its weakness, and make it a Shari'ah moving among the people, so that the later generations inherit it from the earlier ones?!
That is why we find today among the Muslims' acts of worship thousands and thousands of acts that have no basis whatsoever, absolutely no basis. What is the reason? This so-called rule. Why? Because when it is said: "A weak hadith is acted upon in the virtues of actions," the weak hadith that becomes strong when it comes from another route is included, whereas if it does not come from another route, it remains weak. A weak hadith is the first rank, below which is a very weak hadith, and the last and final rank is a fabricated hadith. So a scholar from among those who have no knowledge of hadith sees a hadith in the virtues of actions and takes it. He takes it, and it may be weak. He takes it, and it may be very weak. He takes it, and it may be fabricated. The practice proceeds from him to his students while he is dying, and tomorrow the students will become shaykhs, and they will produce other students, and so on, the later generations inheriting from the earlier ones. Acting upon what? A hadith that is not authentic, and its ruling fluctuates between being weak, very weak, or fabricated.
And so innovations spread among the Muslims in the ablution, in the prayer, in the fasting, in the Hajj, in all acts of worship and obedience.
For example, we have the innovation of the prayer on the night of the middle of Sha'ban, which is celebrated in the lands of Islam today. What is the basis of this prayer? They claim that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: إذا كان ليلة النصف من شعبان فقوموا ليلها ، وصوموا نهارها When it is the night of the middle of Sha’ban, spend its night in prayer and observe a fast on that daySunan Ibn Majah 1388Maudu’ (Darussalam), and this is a fabricated hadith. So in the name of a weak hadith, we have come to enliven this night. Then, added to the enlivening are other things that are not permissible to add to the established Sunnahs; such as this prayer in congregation and in the mosques; announcing it in the mosques. The established prayer, the established night prayer in the Book and the Sunnah, it is not prescribed to gather to pray it in congregation by mutual agreement. And I say: by mutual agreement; so that we clarify the correct understanding and you understand the correct understanding likewise. It is not prescribed to gather for the night prayer except in Ramadan, or by chance by consensus. A man among you stands up in this night in this place to pray after he has slept a portion of the night, and another man who was sleeping senses him, so he stands up, performs ablution, and follows him; there is no harm in that. But "Hey, Ahmad, Muhammad, Zayd, Bakr, tomorrow we want to enliven it; tomorrow we want to enliven it tonight, we will pray a prayer"; this is not permissible. You pray, you pray for yourselves in the house, in the mosque, there is no obstacle.
Another questioner : What if it is i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque)?
The Shaykh : As for the congregation, and i'tikaf likewise, except in Ramadan. As for gathering for these established Sunnahs, gathering is not prescribed. Why? Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not do that. Therefore, the scholars said: It is not permissible to pray the voluntary prayers in congregation except by chance, not by mutual agreement. And this is regarding the standing in night prayer. As for the Sunnahs of the day, it is not permissible to gather for them at all, except the eclipse prayer, except the prayer for rain. These are legal rulings that must be adhered to.
If someone were to say to us: "We enter the mosque and we want to pray the Zuhr (the midday prayer), and before the Zuhr prayer there are two or four rak'ahs of a confirmed Sunnah. Why don't we pray them in congregation just as we pray the obligatory prayer after them?" The answer from the people of knowledge, especially those who affiliate themselves to the righteous Salaf, when they are asked: "Why don't you pray the pre-Zuhr Sunnah in congregation just as you pray the obligatory prayer?" The answer is: Because that is how the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed it. As for the people, they do not know why. Why? They are not cultured, and they do not understand the Salafi jurisprudence based on the Book and the Sunnah.
We do not pray the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib) in congregation; because the one who clarified their legitimacy for us did not clarify that gathering in them is part of their legitimacy. So why don't we pray in congregation? Because the Messenger did not pray in congregation. So what do you think if we pray the prayer of the night of the middle of Sha'ban, which is not established as a Sunnah with an authentic hadith like the regular voluntary prayers? And whoever prays in congregation will have innovated two innovations at the same time, unfortunately. The first innovation: that we established a Sunnah for the people with a fabricated hadith; إذا كان ليلة النصف من شعبان فقوموا ليلها ، وصوموا نهارها When it is the night of the middle of Sha’ban, spend its night in prayer and observe a fast on that daySunan Ibn Majah 1388Maudu’ (Darussalam).
And the second innovation is that we gathered them, and a third and fourth innovation, and so on without end, of the shouting and wailing in the mosques and disturbing the worshippers, and so forth. And this, as it is said, is attributed to the Messenger (peace be upon him), and its chain is weak. Rather, it is a saying of some of the Salaf: "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." And we touch this with our hands in the reality of the Muslims today. "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." Therefore, the Salaf were strict in rebuking the innovators, even for the simplest things. Imam Malik once entered the Prophet's Mosque and found a person, one of the distinguished scholars or rulers of his time, who had spread a carpet like a prayer mat. So he sent some of his followers to this person and said to him: So-and-so, Malik, says to you: Do not innovate in our mosque; remove this carpet. And what is wrong with it? A carpet he placed. Out of fear of what? That people will follow him and it will become a Sunnah over time. And how many of these things there are, and how many of them there are!!
I said: We touch with our hands that an innovation is revived and a Sunnah opposite it dies. And I give you a simple example, and my purpose from that is to kill two birds with one stone; to prove my claim that "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed," and to point you to an innovation that is widespread among the people. And if it is said: "This is an innovation," they will say to you: "What is wrong with it?" I want to show you what is wrong with it.
One of you enters the mosque and finds his companion at the ablution area performing wudu' (the ablution for prayer). He says to him: "From Zamzam." A Sunnah as important as the obligatory prayer has fallen due to this innovation. Do you know what this obligatory prayer that has fallen is?
Those present: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : "Peace be upon you," because your Prophet (peace be upon him) says: حقُّ المسلم على المسلم خمس The rights of a Muslim on the Muslims are fiveSahih al-Bukhari 1240 - and in a narration: six - , among them: إذا لقيتَه فسلِّم عليه When you meet him, offer him greetingsSahih Muslim 2162b. Here you are, a Muslim, you met him and did not greet him. Who prevented you from this greeting that is obligatory upon you? The innovation that people exchanged with each other while they never feel its evil and harm. What did it take the place of? The obligatory, not just the Sunnah. So the innovation, do not address it from the angle of ... itself; but address it - also - from the angle that it invalidates for you matters that are prescribed, which may be recommended, may be a confirmed Sunnah, may be, and so on.
Among the evils of innovation - and this means a fundamental danger - is that the acts of worship that Allah has obligated us with, He obligated them within the limits of human capacity, on the basis that the wisdom of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) necessitated لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity[Al-Baqarah 2:286]. So if we assume that the non-obligatory prescribed acts of worship are one hundred acts, and that the most pious and most worshipful of people is Dawud (peace be upon him), he cannot rise to ... if he rises to sixty, seventy, eighty, and Allah knows best, and from the perspective of the impossible - my brother - he would perform one hundred acts. What do you think if another one hundred acts were added to these one hundred acts by way of either a good innovation or acting upon a weak hadith, which may be very weak as we mentioned, or a fabricated hadith? We barely even agreed that he can perform one hundred prescribed acts. If one hundred non-prescribed acts are added to them; and he takes fifty of them; at the expense of whom are the fifty? At the expense of the one hundred prescribed acts. So he will perform fifty prescribed acts and fifty non-prescribed innovations. So innovation is preventing people from the prescribed Sunnahs, my brothers. Why? Because the most worshipful of people cannot encompass all the Sunnahs. And take the adhkar (the remembrance of Allah) as an example, the simplest thing in the adhkar. The adhkar narrated from the Messenger (peace be upon him) in eating, in drinking, in entering the mosque, in standing in night prayer, and the like. Who is able to encompass them? I almost say: scientifically, I almost say: who is the one who can encompass them scientifically? So who is the one who can encompass them in application and action? No one, ever.
I am giving you a simple example. Not to show you that, by Allah, I have mastered a great deal; no, but I have mastered a little. وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."[Al-Isra 17:85] The narrated dhikr: when a person is full from food, there are three or four authentic dhikr, and other things that are not authentic. So a person says: الحمد لله الذي أطعَمَنا وسقانا وآوانا Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi at’amana wa saqanaSunan Ibn Majah 3283Da’if (Darussalam) ... He says: الحمد لله الذي أطعَمَ وسقى ... وجعل له مخرجًا ، الحمد لله حمدًا كثيرًا طيِّبًا مباركًا فيه مباركًا عليه ، غير مستكفى ربَّنا ولا مستودع Praise be to Allah who fed and gave drink ... and made for him an exit. Praise be to Allah, much praise, good, blessed in it, blessed upon it, not being self-sufficient, O our Lord, nor being entrusted.. Three dhikr after finishing eating are narrated from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Who, I ask you, is practicing these sunnahs? And who, after becoming full, wants to praise his Lord? No one, or very few, and very few indeed. So what about all the narrated dhikr? The book "Al-Adhkar" by Imam al-Nawawi, the book "Al-Adhkar" by Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, and how many books are there on Prophetic dhikr? Who is able to encompass them in knowledge and then in action? No one, and if there are, they are few, and the few have no ruling.
After that comes, for example, "Dala'il al-Khayrat." "Dala'il al-Khayrat" is of the type that is an innovation in Islam. It diverts Muslims from knowing the dhikr of the Master of the Messengers, and they focus on this which was compiled by a person like my story, or better than me in righteousness and knowledge, but he is not the Messenger of Allah who does not speak from desire; it is only a revelation revealed. So we find that these innovations, one of whose causes is taking weak hadith, have diverted Muslims from the authentic sunnahs. If a person wanted to write a book under the title: "Diverting Innovations from the Sunnahs," including diverting weak hadith from authentic hadith, a large volume would come out with him.
In summary: there is no evidence in the Sunnah, let alone the Book, that it is permissible to take weak hadith in the virtues of deeds, which necessitates establishing a virtue without a correct, established text from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, there is a prohibition against acting on the weaker opinion, and a weak hadith only provides the weaker opinion; the prohibition against acting on the weaker opinion invalidates this rule. And in what is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the correct and good Sunnah, there is sufficiency for the worshipping Muslim from acting on weak hadith.
Other than that?
The Shaykh : The well-known statement today that weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds is one of three positions regarding weak hadiths: are they acted upon in the virtues of deeds or not?
And we must, if we wish to be as our Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, said:
This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me
قُلْ هَذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِيSo this statement is well-known: "Weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds"; so in terms of it being one of three positions, we must know the other two positions:
A second position: the opposite on the entire line; weak hadiths are not acted upon in the virtues of deeds at all.
And a third position: weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds with three conditions:
The first condition: that its weakness is not severe.
The second condition: that it falls within a principle of the principles of the Shari'ah.
The third condition: that one does not persist in acting upon it, in order to distinguish between this deed which is not established by the Sunnah and the deed established in the Sunnah.
As for what I testify to Allah with, it is the second position, which is the opposite of the first position: weak hadiths are not acted upon in the virtues of deeds at all. I say this because the intent of acting upon them in the virtues of deeds... means that a hadith comes containing the explanation of the virtue of a certain deed, so we act upon this hadith; from where did we judge that this deed is among the virtues of deeds? From this weak hadith. It is not permissible to act upon this ever; why? Because our judgment that a certain deed is among the virtues of deeds is an announcement.
Another questioner : The doctrine.
The Shaykh : Yes?
Another questioner: Creed... recommended.
The Shaykh : The doctrine.
I hope that if I made a mistake and slipped in the wording, as happens sometimes, you will alert me.
Another questioner: May you be rewarded with good.
The Shaykh: As for what I am not sure about, leave it for later; because it cuts off my train of thought, and I fear that I may have made a mistake as is my habit, so we pause a bit without a reason.
If a weak hadith comes regarding the ruling of a deed in the virtues of deeds, I give you an example:
Reciting the seven long surahs after the Friday prayer, do you know this? Reciting the two protectors and
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌFrom where did we know that it is among the virtues of deeds to recite these surahs in this exact place and with the exact number of seven, neither more nor less; from where did we know this? From this hadith, of course; well, our action means that we are announcing about Allah the Legislator, no legislator other than Him, that He made this virtue for this deed with this recitation; is it permissible to make this judgment with this weak hadith? It is not permissible at all; therefore those who utter this statement say: it is permissible to act upon weak hadiths in... deeds, meaning it is permissible to legislate in the virtues of deeds. It is not permissible to prohibit or to obligate or make fard with a hadith of a single narrator, but it is permissible to say: it is legislated to do such and such with a weak hadith; even though all the scholars agreed that the least of the legislated rulings is recommendation (mustahabb), and that recommendation is not established by a weak hadith; therefore for this reason and others as I will mention, we do not adopt this statement at all; because it means legislating something that is not established in the Shari'ah with a weak hadith, this is first.
And secondly: the weak hadith, by the consensus of the scholars of the Muslims, does not benefit except with the weaker suspicion (marjuh), and the stronger suspicion (rajih) which must be acted upon is not established except by the established hadith, which is hasan and above. As for the weak hadith, it is not permissible to act upon it. As for the weaker suspicion, it is not permissible to act upon it by consensus; due to His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He):
Indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all
إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًاThey follow not except assumption and what [their] souls desire
إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُBeware of Zann (suspicion), for indeed Zann is the falsest of speech.
إياكم والظَّنَّ ؛ فإن الظَّنَّ أكذبُ الحديثAnd the majority today who say: weak hadiths are acted upon in the virtues of deeds, they have no proof from the Book and the Sunnah at all, but rather it is ijtihad and opinion, and ijtihad and opinion are subject to correctness and error, and what is subject to correctness and error must be presented to the Book and the Sunnah, as is the principle in everything in which people have disputed and differed, فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.[An-Nisa 4:59]. We have found the condemnation of suspicion in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and the consensus of the Ummah when the suspicion is weaker, and we have found the scholars themselves saying that the weak hadith does not benefit except with the weaker suspicion; so it results from all these established premises that it is not permissible to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds, this is secondly.
And thirdly: this statement - that is: it is permissible to act upon weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds - had severe effects on this Ummah...
... from aspects:
Among them: that the eminent scholar who adopts this statement acts upon a hadith without researching it at all; is it authentic? Is it weak? Even if it is authentic, he adopts it as a Sunnah, and if it is weak, he adopts it as weak, and that it is acted upon in the virtues of deeds; so you find the people of knowledge who adopt this alleged rule, in addition to the general public, merely finding a hadith containing the virtue of a certain deed and acting upon it without knowing if this hadith is weak or authentic, so this alleged Sunnah; that is: what is established for them by the weak hadith, moves with the Ummah and becomes part of its life, and a necessary part of its worship, so when a man like me, who was given a little share of the knowledge of hadith, says to the honorable Shaykh: O my teacher, this hadith you act upon, this hadith is weak; immediately he answers you: weak hadiths in the virtues of deeds. You made it a continuing Shari'ah!! All your group does it, and none of them, nor you, knew before this moment that you were acting upon a weak hadith; so how can it be correct for a person to act upon a weak hadith without knowing its weakness, and make it a Shari'ah moving among the people, so that the later generations inherit it from the earlier ones?!
That is why we find today among the Muslims' acts of worship thousands and thousands of acts that have no basis whatsoever, absolutely no basis. What is the reason? This so-called rule. Why? Because when it is said: "A weak hadith is acted upon in the virtues of actions," the weak hadith that becomes strong when it comes from another route is included, whereas if it does not come from another route, it remains weak. A weak hadith is the first rank, below which is a very weak hadith, and the last and final rank is a fabricated hadith. So a scholar from among those who have no knowledge of hadith sees a hadith in the virtues of actions and takes it. He takes it, and it may be weak. He takes it, and it may be very weak. He takes it, and it may be fabricated. The practice proceeds from him to his students while he is dying, and tomorrow the students will become shaykhs, and they will produce other students, and so on, the later generations inheriting from the earlier ones. Acting upon what? A hadith that is not authentic, and its ruling fluctuates between being weak, very weak, or fabricated.
And so innovations spread among the Muslims in the ablution, in the prayer, in the fasting, in the Hajj, in all acts of worship and obedience.
For example, we have the innovation of the prayer on the night of the middle of Sha'ban, which is celebrated in the lands of Islam today. What is the basis of this prayer? They claim that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: إذا كان ليلة النصف من شعبان فقوموا ليلها ، وصوموا نهارها When it is the night of the middle of Sha’ban, spend its night in prayer and observe a fast on that daySunan Ibn Majah 1388Maudu’ (Darussalam), and this is a fabricated hadith. So in the name of a weak hadith, we have come to enliven this night. Then, added to the enlivening are other things that are not permissible to add to the established Sunnahs; such as this prayer in congregation and in the mosques; announcing it in the mosques. The established prayer, the established night prayer in the Book and the Sunnah, it is not prescribed to gather to pray it in congregation by mutual agreement. And I say: by mutual agreement; so that we clarify the correct understanding and you understand the correct understanding likewise. It is not prescribed to gather for the night prayer except in Ramadan, or by chance by consensus. A man among you stands up in this night in this place to pray after he has slept a portion of the night, and another man who was sleeping senses him, so he stands up, performs ablution, and follows him; there is no harm in that. But "Hey, Ahmad, Muhammad, Zayd, Bakr, tomorrow we want to enliven it; tomorrow we want to enliven it tonight, we will pray a prayer"; this is not permissible. You pray, you pray for yourselves in the house, in the mosque, there is no obstacle.
Another questioner : What if it is i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque)?
The Shaykh : As for the congregation, and i'tikaf likewise, except in Ramadan. As for gathering for these established Sunnahs, gathering is not prescribed. Why? Because the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not do that. Therefore, the scholars said: It is not permissible to pray the voluntary prayers in congregation except by chance, not by mutual agreement. And this is regarding the standing in night prayer. As for the Sunnahs of the day, it is not permissible to gather for them at all, except the eclipse prayer, except the prayer for rain. These are legal rulings that must be adhered to.
If someone were to say to us: "We enter the mosque and we want to pray the Zuhr (the midday prayer), and before the Zuhr prayer there are two or four rak'ahs of a confirmed Sunnah. Why don't we pray them in congregation just as we pray the obligatory prayer after them?" The answer from the people of knowledge, especially those who affiliate themselves to the righteous Salaf, when they are asked: "Why don't you pray the pre-Zuhr Sunnah in congregation just as you pray the obligatory prayer?" The answer is: Because that is how the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed it. As for the people, they do not know why. Why? They are not cultured, and they do not understand the Salafi jurisprudence based on the Book and the Sunnah.
We do not pray the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib) in congregation; because the one who clarified their legitimacy for us did not clarify that gathering in them is part of their legitimacy. So why don't we pray in congregation? Because the Messenger did not pray in congregation. So what do you think if we pray the prayer of the night of the middle of Sha'ban, which is not established as a Sunnah with an authentic hadith like the regular voluntary prayers? And whoever prays in congregation will have innovated two innovations at the same time, unfortunately. The first innovation: that we established a Sunnah for the people with a fabricated hadith; إذا كان ليلة النصف من شعبان فقوموا ليلها ، وصوموا نهارها When it is the night of the middle of Sha’ban, spend its night in prayer and observe a fast on that daySunan Ibn Majah 1388Maudu’ (Darussalam).
And the second innovation is that we gathered them, and a third and fourth innovation, and so on without end, of the shouting and wailing in the mosques and disturbing the worshippers, and so forth. And this, as it is said, is attributed to the Messenger (peace be upon him), and its chain is weak. Rather, it is a saying of some of the Salaf: "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." And we touch this with our hands in the reality of the Muslims today. "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed." Therefore, the Salaf were strict in rebuking the innovators, even for the simplest things. Imam Malik once entered the Prophet's Mosque and found a person, one of the distinguished scholars or rulers of his time, who had spread a carpet like a prayer mat. So he sent some of his followers to this person and said to him: So-and-so, Malik, says to you: Do not innovate in our mosque; remove this carpet. And what is wrong with it? A carpet he placed. Out of fear of what? That people will follow him and it will become a Sunnah over time. And how many of these things there are, and how many of them there are!!
I said: We touch with our hands that an innovation is revived and a Sunnah opposite it dies. And I give you a simple example, and my purpose from that is to kill two birds with one stone; to prove my claim that "No innovation is introduced except that a Sunnah is killed," and to point you to an innovation that is widespread among the people. And if it is said: "This is an innovation," they will say to you: "What is wrong with it?" I want to show you what is wrong with it.
One of you enters the mosque and finds his companion at the ablution area performing wudu' (the ablution for prayer). He says to him: "From Zamzam." A Sunnah as important as the obligatory prayer has fallen due to this innovation. Do you know what this obligatory prayer that has fallen is?
Those present: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : "Peace be upon you," because your Prophet (peace be upon him) says: حقُّ المسلم على المسلم خمس The rights of a Muslim on the Muslims are fiveSahih al-Bukhari 1240 - and in a narration: six - , among them: إذا لقيتَه فسلِّم عليه When you meet him, offer him greetingsSahih Muslim 2162b. Here you are, a Muslim, you met him and did not greet him. Who prevented you from this greeting that is obligatory upon you? The innovation that people exchanged with each other while they never feel its evil and harm. What did it take the place of? The obligatory, not just the Sunnah. So the innovation, do not address it from the angle of ... itself; but address it - also - from the angle that it invalidates for you matters that are prescribed, which may be recommended, may be a confirmed Sunnah, may be, and so on.
Among the evils of innovation - and this means a fundamental danger - is that the acts of worship that Allah has obligated us with, He obligated them within the limits of human capacity, on the basis that the wisdom of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) necessitated لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity[Al-Baqarah 2:286]. So if we assume that the non-obligatory prescribed acts of worship are one hundred acts, and that the most pious and most worshipful of people is Dawud (peace be upon him), he cannot rise to ... if he rises to sixty, seventy, eighty, and Allah knows best, and from the perspective of the impossible - my brother - he would perform one hundred acts. What do you think if another one hundred acts were added to these one hundred acts by way of either a good innovation or acting upon a weak hadith, which may be very weak as we mentioned, or a fabricated hadith? We barely even agreed that he can perform one hundred prescribed acts. If one hundred non-prescribed acts are added to them; and he takes fifty of them; at the expense of whom are the fifty? At the expense of the one hundred prescribed acts. So he will perform fifty prescribed acts and fifty non-prescribed innovations. So innovation is preventing people from the prescribed Sunnahs, my brothers. Why? Because the most worshipful of people cannot encompass all the Sunnahs. And take the adhkar (the remembrance of Allah) as an example, the simplest thing in the adhkar. The adhkar narrated from the Messenger (peace be upon him) in eating, in drinking, in entering the mosque, in standing in night prayer, and the like. Who is able to encompass them? I almost say: scientifically, I almost say: who is the one who can encompass them scientifically? So who is the one who can encompass them in application and action? No one, ever.
I am giving you a simple example. Not to show you that, by Allah, I have mastered a great deal; no, but I have mastered a little. وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."[Al-Isra 17:85] The narrated dhikr: when a person is full from food, there are three or four authentic dhikr, and other things that are not authentic. So a person says: الحمد لله الذي أطعَمَنا وسقانا وآوانا Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi at’amana wa saqanaSunan Ibn Majah 3283Da’if (Darussalam) ... He says: الحمد لله الذي أطعَمَ وسقى ... وجعل له مخرجًا ، الحمد لله حمدًا كثيرًا طيِّبًا مباركًا فيه مباركًا عليه ، غير مستكفى ربَّنا ولا مستودع Praise be to Allah who fed and gave drink ... and made for him an exit. Praise be to Allah, much praise, good, blessed in it, blessed upon it, not being self-sufficient, O our Lord, nor being entrusted.. Three dhikr after finishing eating are narrated from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Who, I ask you, is practicing these sunnahs? And who, after becoming full, wants to praise his Lord? No one, or very few, and very few indeed. So what about all the narrated dhikr? The book "Al-Adhkar" by Imam al-Nawawi, the book "Al-Adhkar" by Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, and how many books are there on Prophetic dhikr? Who is able to encompass them in knowledge and then in action? No one, and if there are, they are few, and the few have no ruling.
After that comes, for example, "Dala'il al-Khayrat." "Dala'il al-Khayrat" is of the type that is an innovation in Islam. It diverts Muslims from knowing the dhikr of the Master of the Messengers, and they focus on this which was compiled by a person like my story, or better than me in righteousness and knowledge, but he is not the Messenger of Allah who does not speak from desire; it is only a revelation revealed. So we find that these innovations, one of whose causes is taking weak hadith, have diverted Muslims from the authentic sunnahs. If a person wanted to write a book under the title: "Diverting Innovations from the Sunnahs," including diverting weak hadith from authentic hadith, a large volume would come out with him.
In summary: there is no evidence in the Sunnah, let alone the Book, that it is permissible to take weak hadith in the virtues of deeds, which necessitates establishing a virtue without a correct, established text from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, there is a prohibition against acting on the weaker opinion, and a weak hadith only provides the weaker opinion; the prohibition against acting on the weaker opinion invalidates this rule. And in what is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the correct and good Sunnah, there is sufficiency for the worshipping Muslim from acting on weak hadith.
Other than that?
Source
www.al-albany.com
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