The Permissibility of Wiping the Face with Both Hands After Supplication, and the Ruling on Acting Upon Weak Hadiths in the Virtues of Deeds and Legal Rulings

The questioner : Regarding wiping the face, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Raise your voice.

The questioner : Regarding wiping the face after supplication.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : I mean, is the permissibility of what we are discussing an innovation...?

The Shaykh : It is not prescribed except according to the doctor's statement: "Act upon the weak hadith in the virtues of deeds"! This is a statement we do not adopt. The weak hadith is not acted upon, neither in the virtues of deeds nor in legal rulings. All that can be said is a precise explanation that some scholars, let alone students of knowledge, may struggle to articulate. The weak hadith consists of two sentences: a nominal sentence and a verbal sentence. "The weak hadith" is the subject, and "is acted upon" is the predicate. This sentence: "is acted upon in the virtues of deeds"—does acting upon it in the virtues of deeds mean the virtues that were established before acting upon the weak hadith, or the virtues whose merit was established by the weak hadith? If the intended meaning is the first—and this is a correct meaning—then acting upon the weak hadith does not occur; rather, one acts upon what established that these deeds are among the virtues of deeds. In my opinion, for some people, this resembles philosophy due to its precision; some understand it while others do not. Therefore, we do not need something called a weak hadith, especially since those who permit acting upon the weak hadith in general fall into a legal contradiction mentioned earlier by Dr. Yahya. Namely, under the pretext of "acting upon the weak hadith in the virtues of deeds," they narrate weak hadiths and conceal their weakness, without explaining that weakness to educate and clarify for people. Thus, they fall into a very serious scholarly problem, which is his saying (peace be upon him): and his saying (peace be upon him): . Whenever some people hear a hadith or read it in a book, they say: "The Messenger of Allah said..." There is no doubt that by this laxity in narration, they have fallen into lying against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because it is self-evident that not every hadith they read or heard can be authentically established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And this error, which leads these people to lie against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is largely caused by that alleged maxim: "Act upon the weak hadith in the virtues of deeds."
Therefore, three opinions have come regarding this maxim, or three... The first opinion—and it is the correct one—is that one does not act upon the weak hadith in the virtues of deeds; because it is not permissible to narrate a hadith without explaining its weakness. So how is it permissible to act upon it while concealing its weakness? It is not permissible to narrate a weak hadith without explaining its weakness, so how is it permissible to act upon it while concealing its weakness?
There is no doubt that narrating a hadith for the purpose of acting upon it is like the means and the end, like wudu' and prayer. What is the benefit of a person who performs wudu' but does not pray? There is no benefit in that, but if he performs wudu', he must at least pray the obligatory prayer. Similarly, we say: narrating a hadith and acting upon it is like the means and the end. The means is narrating the hadith, the means is reporting the hadith, the means is reading the Qur'an; the end is acting upon the Qur'an, and so on. So if it is not permissible to narrate a weak hadith except with an explanation of its weakness, how is it permissible to act upon it without explaining its weakness? No person endowed with intellect, soundness, and understanding doubts this reality. If that is the case, someone might say: We narrate the weak hadith, explain its weakness, and act upon it in the virtues of deeds. Here, two matters arise. The first matter:
The first: The virtues of deeds are not established by weak hadiths.
The second: Merely by the scholar saying—and especially on the minbars—: "This is a weak hadith, and it is permissible to act upon it in the virtues of deeds," you will find that all people do not act upon it. And their inner state will be like the state of others like us who said: What is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is sufficient and enough. As we mentioned in the lecture after the Maghrib prayer: What is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that He legislated for people, the most devout among people cannot encompass in his practice. So what is sufficient for us is what is authentic from the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the small amount we are able to perform is enough for us, while the rest is performed by some other people. As for adding to people's practices, etiquettes, recitations, and dhikr, thereby burdening the carrying of Islam upon people, while it is made easy and smoothed out; this is in reality one of the harms of spreading weak hadiths, especially when accompanied by that flimsy and weak maxim.

The questioner : They add to this.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : They say: We act upon the weak hadith because it is preceded by a maxim like the saying of Allah (the Exalted): , and this hadith calls to good, so despite its weakness, it is supported.

The Shaykh : This is a refuted statement, and its explanation has preceded, but it seems to require detail. I give an example to clarify the error of this statement. It is established in the Sunnah that when the deceased is placed in his grave and earth is thrown over him, it is from the Sunnah for those present to throw three handfuls. Some have authored these handfuls and linked them to the saying of Allah (the Exalted) in the first handful: . They were told: This is a weak hadith that is not authentic. He said: Act upon the weak hadith in the virtues of deeds. Now we ask: From where do you know that it is from the virtues of deeds that in the first handful you say: , in the second: , and in the third: ? From where do you know that this is from the virtues of deeds?
The truth—and I speak the truth—is that you are establishing the virtues of deeds by weak hadiths. This is not permissible in Islam.

The questioner : Some others say: We, the Muslim Ummah... in all parts of the world, and we are concerned with weak hadiths...

The Shaykh : Fine; Allah is the Helper. Perhaps this is one of the effects of engaging in what should not be engaged in, at the expense of what must be engaged in.