The Shaykh gave two examples of some jurists rejecting certain hadiths due to this doubt, which is the rejection of a report from a single narrator (khabar al-ahad).
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The Shaykh : This is a reality that every one engaged in the science of hadith can perceive, by tracing its routes and wordings and looking at the position of the jurists regarding some of its narrations. I give two examples of this, one old and the other recent. The first is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) Jami` at-Tirmidhi 247Sahih (Darussalam). Although it is an authentic hadith recorded in the two Sahihs, the Hanafis rejected it, claiming that it contradicts the apparent meaning of the Qur'an, namely the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Muzzammil 73:20] ... because, in their view, it is a report from a single narrator (khabar al-ahad). Yet the Commander of the Faithful in hadith, the Imam al-Bukhari, explicitly stated at the beginning of his book "The Part on Recitation" that it is a mass-transmitted report (mutawatir) from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The second is the hadith about the descent of Isa (peace be upon him) in the end times, which is also recorded in the two Sahihs. I was asked about it years ago, and ... about it years ago, the Shaykh of al-Azhar, who answered on their behalf in the journal "Al-Risalah" by stating that it is a report from a single narrator (khabar al-ahad) and that its routes depend on Wahb ibn Munabbih and Ka'b al-Ahbar. The truth, as attested by specialists and those knowledgeable of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is that it is a mass-transmitted report (mutawatir). I personally traced its routes to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and found that he narrated it from him (peace be upon him) through approximately forty Companions, with at least twenty of them having authentic chains. Some of them have more than one authentic route from him in the two Sahihs, the Sunan, the Musnads, the Mu'jams, and other books of the Sunnah. It is strange that none of these routes mention Wahb or Ka'b at all. I had written a summary of the aforementioned tracing in two pages and sent them to "Al-Risalah" at that time, hoping they would publish them in service of knowledge, but they were not published for some reason.
These are two examples from hundreds of examples that show us that the Prophetic hadith has not received the care obligatory upon the people of knowledge, considering that it is the second source of the Islamic Shari'ah, without which the first source can never be understood correctly as Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) intended. Consequently, they fell into this blatant ignorance of the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and this open deviation from applying them, which is certainly what he (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says: ... So they took some of it and left some of it [Al-Baqarah 2:85] etc.
In conclusion, it is obligatory for the Muslim to believe in every hadith established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it is in matters of creed or rulings, whether it is mass-transmitted (mutawatir) or from a single narrator (ahad), and whether the report from a single narrator (ahad) conveys certainty and conviction or the predominant opinion, as previously explained. The obligation in all of this is to believe in it and ... it. By doing so, he has realized in himself the response commanded in the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):[Al-Anfal 8:24] and other verses mentioned at the beginning of this speech, which I hope Allah the Exalted will make beneficial, make it pure for His face, a supporter of His Book, and a servant to the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with all due submission.
There is no Salat for the one who does not recite Fatihatil-Kitab.
لا صلاة لمن لم يقرأ بفاتحة الكتابSo recite what is easy from it
فاقرءوا ما تيسر منهThese are two examples from hundreds of examples that show us that the Prophetic hadith has not received the care obligatory upon the people of knowledge, considering that it is the second source of the Islamic Shari'ah, without which the first source can never be understood correctly as Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) intended. Consequently, they fell into this blatant ignorance of the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and this open deviation from applying them, which is certainly what he (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says:
And what the Messenger has given you, take it
وما آتاكم الرسول فخذوهThen what is the recompense for those who do that
فما جزاء من يفعل ذلكIn conclusion, it is obligatory for the Muslim to believe in every hadith established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it is in matters of creed or rulings, whether it is mass-transmitted (mutawatir) or from a single narrator (ahad), and whether the report from a single narrator (ahad) conveys certainty and conviction or the predominant opinion, as previously explained. The obligation in all of this is to believe in it and ... it. By doing so, he has realized in himself the response commanded in the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):
