What is the status of Ibn Hazm? And should one be warned against him?
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The questioner : Another question: Is Ibn Hazm to be warned against, for example...?
The Shaykh : This Ibn Hazm, your neighbor here, is in your mind, right?
The questioner : In terms of speaking about the narrators, in terms of declaring them ignorant only, or in terms of what?
The Shaykh : In terms of what?
The questioner : I mean, declaring the narrators ignorant, like jarh (criticism).
The questioner: Another: Declaring the narrators ignorant.
The Shaykh : Declaring them ignorant, right?
The questioner : I mean, like his statement that al-Tirmidhi is unknown, or in the general sense, everything, I mean.
The Shaykh : Ibn Hazm is not a specialist scholar in hadith; he is a noble, distinguished scholar, and in what he understands from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nothing affects him at all. However, he has exaggeration in this field. And something has become apparent to me; I hope that if I mention this thing, it will not be a cause for people to understand from me that I am belittling the knowledge of Ibn Hazm. But the truth is more deserving to be spoken. He is a scholar with very broad knowledge, and as I said at the beginning of the speech, he is keen on adhering to the Book and the Sunnah, and he fights the imams in the path of this adherence. It is known that he is harsh in speech, to the point that some of his biographers said that the sword of al-Hajjaj and the tongue of Ibn Hazm are twins, meaning he transgresses. But if we leave this aside, I believe that Ibn Hazm is not a Salafi, neither in creed nor in the branches. In creed, as Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi described him rightly, he is a stubborn Jahmi. As for the branches and acts of worship, he is an innovator, but he is rewarded. This is the difference between him and others, because he applies the general texts in the specific branches, which we know that the righteous Salaf did not act upon. That is contrary to the principle I keep repeating: "That acting upon a part of a general text that has not been acted upon" — he does not pay attention to this. So he permits, for example, supplication after the prayer and raising the hands after the prayer, adhering to the general text. Then he expands in this application, where he gives no weight to the Salafi athar (reports). He says the hadith is explicit, in terms of its general indication. Therefore, what the one interested in reading his book *Al-Muhalla* should note is that we do not advise beginner students of knowledge to start with him. But not every piece of advice is accepted, so we advise that whoever is afflicted with reading Ibn Hazm's book *Al-Muhalla* or *Al-Fasl* — and what is its name?
The questioner : *Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal*
The Shaykh : *Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal*, yes, that he should not adopt what he reads until he finds a witness for it in the views of the distinguished scholars who are attested to for their knowledge and sound creed. This is my answer to your question.
The Shaykh : This Ibn Hazm, your neighbor here, is in your mind, right?
The questioner : In terms of speaking about the narrators, in terms of declaring them ignorant only, or in terms of what?
The Shaykh : In terms of what?
The questioner : I mean, declaring the narrators ignorant, like jarh (criticism).
The questioner: Another: Declaring the narrators ignorant.
The Shaykh : Declaring them ignorant, right?
The questioner : I mean, like his statement that al-Tirmidhi is unknown, or in the general sense, everything, I mean.
The Shaykh : Ibn Hazm is not a specialist scholar in hadith; he is a noble, distinguished scholar, and in what he understands from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nothing affects him at all. However, he has exaggeration in this field. And something has become apparent to me; I hope that if I mention this thing, it will not be a cause for people to understand from me that I am belittling the knowledge of Ibn Hazm. But the truth is more deserving to be spoken. He is a scholar with very broad knowledge, and as I said at the beginning of the speech, he is keen on adhering to the Book and the Sunnah, and he fights the imams in the path of this adherence. It is known that he is harsh in speech, to the point that some of his biographers said that the sword of al-Hajjaj and the tongue of Ibn Hazm are twins, meaning he transgresses. But if we leave this aside, I believe that Ibn Hazm is not a Salafi, neither in creed nor in the branches. In creed, as Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi described him rightly, he is a stubborn Jahmi. As for the branches and acts of worship, he is an innovator, but he is rewarded. This is the difference between him and others, because he applies the general texts in the specific branches, which we know that the righteous Salaf did not act upon. That is contrary to the principle I keep repeating: "That acting upon a part of a general text that has not been acted upon" — he does not pay attention to this. So he permits, for example, supplication after the prayer and raising the hands after the prayer, adhering to the general text. Then he expands in this application, where he gives no weight to the Salafi athar (reports). He says the hadith is explicit, in terms of its general indication. Therefore, what the one interested in reading his book *Al-Muhalla* should note is that we do not advise beginner students of knowledge to start with him. But not every piece of advice is accepted, so we advise that whoever is afflicted with reading Ibn Hazm's book *Al-Muhalla* or *Al-Fasl* — and what is its name?
The questioner : *Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal*
The Shaykh : *Al-Fasl fi al-Milal wa al-Ahwa' wa al-Nihal*, yes, that he should not adopt what he reads until he finds a witness for it in the views of the distinguished scholars who are attested to for their knowledge and sound creed. This is my answer to your question.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.