What is the hadith: “The religion most beloved to Allah is the smooth, moderate Hanifiyyah.”

The Shaykh : Take it easy for a moment so that we can understand what the hadith is.

The questioner :

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : Ibn Hajar says that everything narrated by Ibn al-Husayn from Ikrimah is denounced, and you graded the hadith as good?

The Shaykh : I graded it as good for other reasons. Do you know what “good for other reasons” means?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : What is “good for other reasons”?

The questioner : “Good for other reasons”; it does not come to mind right now.

The Shaykh : So, if you do not know it, it would have been better for you to say what I know. A hadith that is good in itself is one whose chain of narration is good. As for a hadith that is good for other reasons, its chain is weak, but it is strengthened by another weak chain like it or better than it. That is why some students face a problem in this area. Is this door open?

The questioner : No, I closed it.

The Shaykh : This is where the problem arises. In a question like this, there is a weak person in the chain of narration, and it is not permissible to grade the hadith as good. The Hafiz or the hadith scholar says, “The chain is such and such,” and he is telling the truth. But then another person says, “This hadith is good,” because he found another path for it. This other path strengthens the first one, so the hadith becomes good. Therefore, there is no contradiction between our grading of this hadith as good and Ibn Hajar’s grading of that chain in this hadith as weak. Is that clear?

The questioner : Clear.