The Shaykh was asked about Sahih al-Sunan: did he judge the routes or the chains of narration?
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The questioner : I have one question, as I mentioned, but now you have reminded me of a question. I wish you would grant us the answer to it.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good...
The questioner : Regarding, my teacher, Sahih Ibn Majah, al-Nasa'i, and the other books you mentioned, did you judge the routes or the chains of narration in these books?
The Shaykh : Not the chains of narration.
The questioner : The routes?
The Shaykh : Listen.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : There are two methods. Perhaps before answering and explaining these two methods, I should mention that you may know that I undertook this project at the request of the Gulf Bureau of Education. They pressed me to expedite the publication of this project. It later became clear to me that the director, or the head of this bureau, was apparently nearing the end of his term and wanted to present a legacy to the Muslim community that would immortalize his name. Therefore, he pressed for the expedition of this project. I told him that many of the hadiths in my possession were already studied and ready, so I would take the summary and place it under any hadith from these four books of Sunan, grading it as authentic, good, weak, or otherwise. However, there are hadiths that have not yet been subjected to the pen of research and verification. I cannot give a ruling on them according to my method of research, but I study the chain of the book and judge it based on the knowledge I have acquired through long practice. They said this is sufficient for us, and may Allah reward you with good for this. So, what is currently in the four Sunan is my ruling according to one of their methods, the first method, which is the most common: I do not look at the chain, but rather at the sum of the routes that my hand, research, or verification has touched. A hadith's chain may be weak in a certain book, and I would say the hadith is authentic, meaning the hadith is authentic but its chain is weak, having taken the authenticity from other routes. Or the exact opposite may occur: I would say this hadith's chain is weak, and I may find, in addition to what others have found, another chain for it in Musnad Ahmad, thereby strengthening it later. As for now, when I undertook this project, I gave the ruling derived from the same chain of the book under which I placed the hadith's grade, deducing this grade from that same chain. This is the second method, which is the less common. And with this, my answer to you is complete.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And to you. Now, what is your second question? Let us conclude with it, because this is a digression. Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good...
The questioner : Regarding, my teacher, Sahih Ibn Majah, al-Nasa'i, and the other books you mentioned, did you judge the routes or the chains of narration in these books?
The Shaykh : Not the chains of narration.
The questioner : The routes?
The Shaykh : Listen.
The questioner : Please go ahead.
The Shaykh : There are two methods. Perhaps before answering and explaining these two methods, I should mention that you may know that I undertook this project at the request of the Gulf Bureau of Education. They pressed me to expedite the publication of this project. It later became clear to me that the director, or the head of this bureau, was apparently nearing the end of his term and wanted to present a legacy to the Muslim community that would immortalize his name. Therefore, he pressed for the expedition of this project. I told him that many of the hadiths in my possession were already studied and ready, so I would take the summary and place it under any hadith from these four books of Sunan, grading it as authentic, good, weak, or otherwise. However, there are hadiths that have not yet been subjected to the pen of research and verification. I cannot give a ruling on them according to my method of research, but I study the chain of the book and judge it based on the knowledge I have acquired through long practice. They said this is sufficient for us, and may Allah reward you with good for this. So, what is currently in the four Sunan is my ruling according to one of their methods, the first method, which is the most common: I do not look at the chain, but rather at the sum of the routes that my hand, research, or verification has touched. A hadith's chain may be weak in a certain book, and I would say the hadith is authentic, meaning the hadith is authentic but its chain is weak, having taken the authenticity from other routes. Or the exact opposite may occur: I would say this hadith's chain is weak, and I may find, in addition to what others have found, another chain for it in Musnad Ahmad, thereby strengthening it later. As for now, when I undertook this project, I gave the ruling derived from the same chain of the book under which I placed the hadith's grade, deducing this grade from that same chain. This is the second method, which is the less common. And with this, my answer to you is complete.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And to you. Now, what is your second question? Let us conclude with it, because this is a digression. Yes.
Source
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