What is required of one who wants to advise others but does not have the wording of the hadith at hand, or is not certain of its authenticity?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : My lord, when a person has a neighbor, for example, who does not pray, or any brother I speak with, they tell me that when I come to speak with them about prayer, I am doing good by warning them. So they say to me: "Okay, quote a sound hadith," and then they blame me. So I do not speak to them about hadith, or if I visit them, for example, and remind them, I do not have a sound hadith or something like that. So what do I do, meaning as a call to Islam?
The Shaykh : I did not understand what you mean by "sound hadith." What does it mean?
The questioner : I mean, they tell me.
The Shaykh : Do not repeat the whole story to me; I understood it, but I did not understand what the word "sound hadith" means.
The questioner : I mean, they tell me: "Quote a sound hadith," for example, I might not know how to pronounce it, or I do not have the chain of narration for a specific hadith with me.
The Shaykh : I mean, they are telling you: Do not advise unless you know the hadith.
The questioner : Yes, the sound one.
The Shaykh : This is a correct statement.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, first of all, you must know that the hadith you want to speak about is a sound hadith. And if you do not know that it is sound, it is not permissible for you to speak about it.
The questioner : Okay, I sit with my neighbor.
The Shaykh : Listen.
The Shaykh : This is first. Second: If you know that the hadith you want to speak about is a sound hadith, but you are unable to convey it as it was mentioned in the books, then say: "The meaning is such and such." Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So here there are two conditions: The first condition is that you do not speak about the hadith unless you know its authenticity. The second condition is that if you speak about it, you speak about it as it came in the books. If you are unable to do so, you say: "The meaning is such and such." Is that clear?
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : I did not understand what you mean by "sound hadith." What does it mean?
The questioner : I mean, they tell me.
The Shaykh : Do not repeat the whole story to me; I understood it, but I did not understand what the word "sound hadith" means.
The questioner : I mean, they tell me: "Quote a sound hadith," for example, I might not know how to pronounce it, or I do not have the chain of narration for a specific hadith with me.
The Shaykh : I mean, they are telling you: Do not advise unless you know the hadith.
The questioner : Yes, the sound one.
The Shaykh : This is a correct statement.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, first of all, you must know that the hadith you want to speak about is a sound hadith. And if you do not know that it is sound, it is not permissible for you to speak about it.
The questioner : Okay, I sit with my neighbor.
The Shaykh : Listen.
The Shaykh : This is first. Second: If you know that the hadith you want to speak about is a sound hadith, but you are unable to convey it as it was mentioned in the books, then say: "The meaning is such and such." Do you understand?
The questioner : Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So here there are two conditions: The first condition is that you do not speak about the hadith unless you know its authenticity. The second condition is that if you speak about it, you speak about it as it came in the books. If you are unable to do so, you say: "The meaning is such and such." Is that clear?
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.