Completion of the discussion regarding Malik's action, then he added: just as it is not permissible to elevate a mawquf hadith, it is not permissible to stop a marfu' hadith as a precaution.

Another questioner : Our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, a point comes to mind regarding the issue your brother Abu al-Hasan mentioned in al-Daraqutni's statement.

The Shaykh : Please.

Another questioner : I say, may Allah preserve you, perhaps Imam al-Daraqutni, through the marfu' narrations he came across, felt reassured about the elevation. So when he found Malik's narration, he intended, out of good opinion, to interpret it in this manner, rather than to refute it or to attribute error and mistake to him. To interpret it, out of good opinion, as being due to piety, scrupulousness, and extreme caution, in contrast to that group who elevated it, is easier than to accuse him of error or to suggest that he preferred those over him.

The Shaykh : This is an acceptable explanation, were it not for...

Another questioner : Were it not for...

The Shaykh : Were it not for the fact that there is an exit, which we always mention on such occasions. I remember clearly that we mentioned it in one of our sessions, with the presence of this Abu al-Hasan, may Allah bless him, when we say that if a trustworthy narrator narrates a hadith as marfu' at one time and as mawquf at another, we explain this stopping by saying that the narrator may be energetic at one time and elevate it, and may not be energetic at another time and stop it. Or the session may not support him to narrate in the manner of the hadith scholars, so he limits himself to mentioning the hadith as mawquf. That is, there are other reasons for which this trustworthy narrator, who elevated the hadith at one time and stopped it at another, is not to be criticized. This is preferable to attributing to him that he was being cautious, because the reality, which just came to my weak mind, and I wanted to raise this thought, then it almost slipped away from me, then Allah bestowed it upon me again. So I say: just as it is not permissible for us to elevate a hadith that reached us as mawquf, it is not permissible for us to intentionally stop a hadith. Just as it is not permissible for us to elevate a hadith that reached us as mawquf, it is not permissible for us to stop a hadith that reached us as marfu'.

The questioner : What Allah willed.

The Shaykh : Because here, as you know, just as it is not permissible to lie about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and to say what he did not say, it is not permissible for us not to attribute to him what he said, while we are aware of what he said. Therefore, this explanation, I hold Imam Malik in higher regard than to stop it. Here the subject returns to the previous explanation. In reality, this thought supports, supports what I mentioned earlier. It is not possible that Imam Malik, in the previous example, narrated a hadith from Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar, saying "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," and out of caution, he says "Ibn 'Umar said," and thus he has wasted the hadith on the Muslims. This is what weak believers do, let alone an Imam in hadith and jurisprudence.

The questioner : But Shaykh, for example, if someone said that Imam Malik had some doubt in it, or it did not predominate in his mind, or he did not have certainty, so out of scrupulousness he stopped it. And the narrator, no matter how strong his memory, sometimes something of doubt may befall him. If doubt befalls him, he stops it. If someone said that this means, even if it is said that Imam Malik intentionally, if the statement of Imam al-Daraqutni regarding what is attributed to Imam Malik is true, that he intentionally concealed knowledge or intentionally discarded a hadith that Muslims benefit from, after it was marfu', it becomes mawquf. If someone said that Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was overcome by doubt, or that certainty and conviction wavered from him regarding this degree, so he stopped it as a precaution, does this statement have a point?

The Shaykh : This is possible, but do you find a difference between this thought that came to you now and the previous speech?

The questioner : It appears to me there is a difference. From what aspect?

The Shaykh : Clarify, clarify the difference.

The questioner : It appears to me the difference is that in this case, Imam Malik is freed from the accusation, from the accusation that he discarded a hadith or intentionally discarded a hadith.The Shaykh : Yes, but does that apply to the previous example?

The questioner : To the example of Nafi'.

The Shaykh : Nafi' from Ibn 'Umar.

The questioner : Or someone of their stature.

The Shaykh : That is correct.

The questioner : That is correct.

The Shaykh : And this hadith has been discussed previously.

The questioner : It is so, it is, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : It actually applied to this, on the basis that he was overcome by doubt in Nafi's narration from Ibn 'Umar, whether it is marfu' or mawquf.

The Shaykh : But this is what Imam al-Daraqutni says: he was overcome by doubt. We, if that is the case, but it will be answered to us: was he overcome by doubt, or was the session not supportive of him to narrate the hadith as we said earlier, sometimes he is energetic and sometimes he is not? That is, is this preferable to saying sometimes he is energetic and sometimes he is not?

The questioner : This is our speech in the response to al-Daraqutni, originally, in the response to al-Daraqutni's statement from its foundation.

The Shaykh : And its refutation.

The questioner : With al-Daraqutni's statement, he is excused with this excuse, but its refutation is originally because it contradicts what is known in the science of hadith and the rules and the like.

The questioner : May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : And may Allah protect you.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, our Shaykh, here.