Who do you recommend from among the contemporary scholars to study the terminology of hadith from?

The questioner : O Shaykh, whom do you recommend for taking hadith? Whom do you recommend from among the contemporary scholars to rely upon for his authentication? Did I understand the question, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I understood it well, and I am thinking about the answer.

The questioner : Including the students, O Shaykh. Including the students who, I mean...The Shaykh : Salim

The Shaykh : There is a scarcity, I mean, but you have...The Shaykh : Maqbul is one of my students at the Islamic University, but afterwards, Allah willing, he took off on his own.The Shaykh : Maqbul is good, and we have a young Egyptian rising star who sent me some of his works, and I was pleased with them. Then he visited me in Amman about two years ago; his name is al-Huwayni. He is also, I mean, expected to have a good future. He is in Amman, and first of all, he is like Al-Albani and Syrian like me, and he is...The Shaykh : Shu'ayb, you must have seen some of his works. He is also expected to have a good future. But in my opinion, if knowledge is not accompanied by piety and good character with Islamic morals, the benefit from his knowledge will not be as it should be. This person did not benefit from the science of hadith in the beginning; so in his prayer he is not Sunni, in his dress he is not Sunni, in his speech, in his character, and so on. But he is strong...

The questioner : In his creed?

The Shaykh : In his creed, I cannot say that he is Salafi, but...

The questioner : He praised him highly in the book, I mean, in his tracing of the hadiths...

The Shaykh : That is not enough... to say a word, but he did not become arrogant with it. No one knows of him that he is Sunni or Salafi. In Damascus, where he lived... he is strong, let alone in Amman, where he is a recent resident. So he is as if, I mean, he writes what is published as a profession and job and the like. So hadith did not reform him. But I mean, among those who write in the arena and trace hadiths, he is very good to a great extent. Following him is his son-in-law, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Arna'ut, who is from Yugoslavia, not from Albania, and he is below him in knowledge and hadith and generally in... But he is better than him in character. And we have in Amman a young rising star named 'Ali Hasan, who is expected to have a good future—if he remains steadfast on the path and persists in research and verification—he is expected to have a good future. These are the ones who come to my mind to mention now.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... Ahmad Shakir... and I met him in the season... and I mean... I do not know of him that... the science of hadith... his tracing of the hadiths, his authentication and weakening, so that we have an opinion of him.

The questioner : He has a book on tracing the hadith of the market... and I think he weakens this hadith...

The Shaykh : Is it available in the market?

The questioner : Yes, in Jeddah...

The Shaykh : Buy me a copy.

The questioner : Okay, agreed.

The questioner : ... This hadith is weakened in the book, I mean, I think the book... weakens the hadith...


The questioner : The Shaykh : Bakr Abu Zayd, how is he?

The Shaykh : A rising star, a rising star.

The questioner : Have you looked at his book?

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner : What do you think? Wiping the face... not in terms of the ruling, but in terms of the man's methodology, he authenticates the issue...

The Shaykh : I answered about this: a rising star, a rising star, you cannot take from him...

The Shaykh : ... The hadith of the evil eye...

The questioner : ... But what matters now is the person's standing in hadith from a hadithic perspective, not a detailed one. What do you think? ... In terms of his weakening of the hadith.

The Shaykh : What should I say? Al-Albani erred and Ibn Baz was correct, heh heh.

The questioner : No

The Shaykh : I think this will happen after the truth becomes clear to him... the truth is with us in this issue, and perhaps you understood the answer from the previous research. So he clings to rigid rules. He does not give preference to Al-Albani or to anyone below Al-Albani in knowledge, because what he bases his ruling on is the known, the main path, so he followed the main path. But the main path is not always and forever suitable; because as it was said in the science of jurisprudence: "There is no general rule that has not been specified." Even... when it is said that he, they say to us, many students of knowledge, how are you, so that you authenticate or improve the hadith, and so-and-so... and so-and-so, and you fall into Ibn Hibban, and you say such and such. Well, what is my fault in that I say this? Yes.