You mentioned in al-Irwaa' that if a Companion's successor (Tabi'i) who has not been authenticated narrates something he witnessed, it is cited as evidence. How is that?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you. Yes, regarding the Tabi'i who narrates something he witnessed, and this Tabi'i has not been authenticated by anyone, or has only been authenticated by Ibn Hibaan, whom we are discussing. You mentioned here in al-Irwaa' that if a Tabi'i who has not been authenticated narrates something he witnessed, it is cited as evidence. Is that so? This is similar to the statement of Imam Ahmad, who said, for example, that if a weak narrator narrates a story, then... My question is, I wanted to connect your words to the words of Imam Ahmad. My question regarding the words of Imam Ahmad is that he says if a weak narrator narrates a story, it means he has memorized it, if he witnessed it or if he was a narrator of it, and if he was... descending.
The Shaykh : First, what concerns me is what you quoted from me regarding the Tabi'i who narrates something he witnessed with his own eyes. What is the status of this Tabi'i in terms of narration? Is he authenticated, or is he one of the lenient ones...?
The questioner : One of the lenient ones. No one has authenticated him.
The Shaykh : Good. If it is a Tabi'i, and what I say in my knowledge and in my heart is that if a Tabi'i narrates something he witnessed and was not famous for being authenticated, but there are more than one who narrated from him, and I am reassured by this and I use his narration as evidence in the rank of a hasan (good) hadith. Perhaps I mentioned a reason for this in some of my annotations or writings, that lying was not widespread in the early era. So what is feared from these Tabi'in is poor memory. If we are safe from this aspect of poor memory through the narration of more than one person and through the authentication of even one of the lenient ones, this group gives me reassurance in my heart regarding his narration.
The questioner : Whether he narrated something he witnessed or not.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : First, what concerns me is what you quoted from me regarding the Tabi'i who narrates something he witnessed with his own eyes. What is the status of this Tabi'i in terms of narration? Is he authenticated, or is he one of the lenient ones...?
The questioner : One of the lenient ones. No one has authenticated him.
The Shaykh : Good. If it is a Tabi'i, and what I say in my knowledge and in my heart is that if a Tabi'i narrates something he witnessed and was not famous for being authenticated, but there are more than one who narrated from him, and I am reassured by this and I use his narration as evidence in the rank of a hasan (good) hadith. Perhaps I mentioned a reason for this in some of my annotations or writings, that lying was not widespread in the early era. So what is feared from these Tabi'in is poor memory. If we are safe from this aspect of poor memory through the narration of more than one person and through the authentication of even one of the lenient ones, this group gives me reassurance in my heart regarding his narration.
The questioner : Whether he narrated something he witnessed or not.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner : What Allah willed.
Source
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