If a student of knowledge follows a scholar in hadith in matters of authentication and weakening

The questioner : If a student of knowledge follows a hadith scholar in authentication and weakening, and it becomes clear to him that a certain hadith was authenticated by this hadith scholar in one book and weakened in another, and the same hadith is the basis for a jurisprudential ruling, what is the student's position regarding this opinion?

The Shaykh : What is his position regarding two differing madhabs of two famous imams?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : Do you not know?

The questioner : I do not know.

The Shaykh : Very well, then let us clarify. If the questioner does not have the fundamentals of hadith science and jurisprudence, his obligation is as Allah the Exalted said: There is no doubt that a scholar who has two statements on a single issue is either among the living or among those who have passed away. If it is the latter, there is no way to contact them except through the summoning of souls, and Islam does not approve of this, of course. This is called hanging on to the impossible. If that is the case, he must contact the scholars who belong to that imam, assuming he has two statements on the single issue. These scholars know whether the later statement takes precedence over the earlier one, in which case the later is preferred over the earlier, or whether they know the stronger opinion from the weaker, regardless of which is earlier or later. This is because the prevailing rule, which is not an absolute rule, is that the later statement abrogates the earlier one, whether this statement came from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in which case his later statement abrogates his earlier one, or from the scholars, for the scholars are the heirs of the prophets, as stated in the authentic hadith. If we assume that one of the early scholars has two conflicting statements on a single issue, then the prevailing rule is to prefer the later statement over the earlier one. This is a very self-evident and reasonable matter in thought, to take the later statement and prefer it over the earlier one. This is because it is in the nature of a person that the longer he lives and the longer his life, and the longer he lives as a believer with good deeds, meaning his goodness increases upon goodness, so his knowledge also increases in firmness and strength upon firmness and strength. For this reason, the prevailing rule is that the later statement is preferred over the earlier one. However, this is not an absolute rule, for this rule has exceptions. For example, among the rulings that occur frequently today, since the Muslim prayer performs five prayers every day and night, I said that the Muslim performs five prayers every day and night, and in some of these prayers the imam recites aloud, and some of those who recite aloud recite "Ameen" aloud. Does the follower recite "Ameen" aloud with the imam or not? Imam al-Shafi'i has two statements, an old one and a new one. The old statement is that he recites it aloud, and the new statement is that he does not recite it aloud. Then the evidence established the correctness of the old statement over the new one, meaning it departed from the rule. All this discussion is in the case where the scholar with the two statements has passed away and died. Now we speak of what is closer to the questioner's question than the previous answer. If the scholar with the two statements is alive, whether the two statements are in jurisprudence as I explained earlier, or as the question was focused on in hadith, if the one with these two statements of authentication and weakening is alive.

Another questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. Either it is possible to contact him by one means or another, and that is the correct path, and at that time he will hear the answer, whether it is according to the prevailing rule or according to an exception to it, as we gave an example earlier. If he cannot contact the person with the two statements, we go down a level: it is recommended to contact those who frequent this man or who look into his books frequently. These people will be more knowledgeable about this person's opinion than others. If that is not possible, the third and final stage is to ask the scholars of knowledge who share in this knowledge of authentication and weakening. He takes whichever of the two opinions they state, and Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. This is the answer to what you asked.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of yourself.