Is it said of Ibn Hibban that he is contradictory, given what is known of his leniency in certifying narrators and his strictness in criticizing them?

The questioner : All right, our Shaykh, may Allah preserve you. Here, the Imam Ibn Hibban is known for being lenient in certifying narrators, in a specific area as you clarified previously. Also, al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi speaks about him a lot, saying that he is excessive in criticism, that he does not know what he is saying from his own head, that he is a butcher, and so on, with words that indicate he is strict in criticism. Here, some students of knowledge find it difficult how Ibn Hibban combined the two opposites, as they say, meaning they refer to them as the two opposites: that he is lenient in certification and strict in criticism?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So how, meaning, how do we answer them? Is Ibn Hibban really contradictory in this way?

The Shaykh : As for being contradictory, it does not appear to me so. But the picture is a picture of contradiction, in that from one side he is lenient and from one side he is strict. But what I understood from my study of Ibn Hibban’s criticism and certification is that his certification, as you know, is based on a principle he has, which is that the default for a Muslim is integrity.

The questioner : Unless he is criticized.

The Shaykh : Unless he is criticized. But when he stands before one of these narrators and finds for him denounced hadiths, here he may exaggerate and reject his hadith simply because he saw for him some denounced hadiths, which may have signs of fabrication and extreme denunciation. Here he does not pause or delay in issuing a severe judgment on this narrator. The picture is a picture of contradiction, but I do not see it as a contradiction if we look at his principle in certification and his exaggeration in criticism. And Allah knows best.

The questioner : All right, our Shaykh, meaning, can one say that the point differed, so his certification is in a point other than his weakening, which is in another point?

The Shaykh : A point or a place.

The questioner : Or a place. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : And you.

The questioner : That the criticism and certification did not converge on a single point, so that it could be said that it is a contradiction. If we look at his certification and his leniency in certification, for him it is simply that a trustworthy narrator narrates from him, and he narrates from a trustworthy narrator, and he did not narrate a denounced hadith, even if it was one hadith, and he counted him as trustworthy on that basis. As for criticism, if he saw in a hadith something he denounces, he is offended by it and exaggerates in speaking against him. Here, in the case of certification, he did not see a denounced hadith, so from here he certified him. And in the case of criticism, he saw a denounced hadith, so he exaggerated in it, unlike what was possible for him to remain silent about or to pass over, as you often express it.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So if someone says that Ibn Hibban’s criticism and certification did not converge on a single point, so that he could be accused of contradiction, but rather this is in one chapter and that in another, is it possible for this answer to be acceptable?The Shaykh : It is this. And does it appear to you that there is a fundamental difference between what I said earlier and what I said later?

The questioner : Yes, this is what appears to me, that there is a difference, and it is.

The Shaykh : When we said that he certifies based on a principle he has, he certifies a person he did not weaken there, where he said that he narrates the attached hadiths from the trustworthy and the steadfast, and so on, because he wrote a biography for a person other than the first person.The questioner : All right, I know, our Shaykh, but your expression.

The Shaykh : I want to understand the difference, meaning.

The questioner : You said that his certification is lenient based on this principle, and this principle has leniency in it according to the scholars of criticism and certification.

The Shaykh : Okay.

The questioner : And his criticism is strict based on the fact that he exaggerates in something that could be passed over, in the matter of criticism and certification.

The Shaykh : Okay.

The questioner : It is this, but your expression, may Allah preserve you, that the picture of contradiction exists, that the picture of contradiction exists, this means it gives the one who finds it difficult hope in the correctness of what he said. If it were said to him that there is no contradiction at all, but rather there is a deviation in the condition, that his condition in certification is lenient and in criticism is strict, and both are off the straight path, but there is no contradiction, and we cut off their hopes from saying that there is a picture of contradiction or such.

The Shaykh : I do not see, meaning, any fundamental difference between the two matters at all.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

Another questioner : Our Shaykh, he said in the apparent, meaning the picture of contradiction in the apparent, meaning he did not accept it absolutely.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.