Some benefits in the science of hadith terminology.
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The Shaykh : In the hadith of Jibril, he placed his knees against his knees and his hands on his thighs. The scholars, such as al-Nawawi and others, say: "That Jibril placed his hands on his thighs, meaning on Jibril's own thighs", as is the immediate understanding, and as is known in etiquette that a person should listen attentively, and that in listening, one sits with good manners like this. In a narration by al-Nasa'i... The brothers: The explicit statement that Jibril placed his hands on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) thighs, on the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) thighs. We say that when such a thing comes, it is necessary to follow the narrators, to look at the Shaykh who is agreed upon by the narrators, and to look at the companion of these narrators in their Shaykh, whether he is like him in reliability, or less, or more, so that we can prefer one over the other. Because it is permissible that this interpretation is from the action of this narrator, because if the narrators other than him narrated this from the Shaykh without this interpretation, then it is permissible that it is from the interpretation of this narrator. Then one looks, if it is from his interpretation, whether it is a correct interpretation or not. Because if it is an interpretation and the other words are possible, it is not considered a contradiction in reality. A contradiction is when this is opposed to that. But the remaining consideration is whether it contradicts what is known from the rules of the Shari'ah or from customary rules, in which case it is rejected. It is rejected. And I hold that if Jibril (peace be upon him) placed his knees against the knees of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is possible that he placed the knees on the knees, leaning them against him. And it is possible that he came very close and his knees touched, so that Jibril's knees became like those leaning against the knee of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In any case, it would not be easy for him to touch the thighs of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) unless he was bent somewhat. And as for the thighs, many scholars say that they are an 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered). Placing the hand on an 'awrah is undoubtedly bad manners. It is bad manners to place your hand on a person's 'awrah, and it is not fitting for Jibril, for example, to do this.
This is a benefit in the science of hadith terminology that a student of knowledge should pay attention to. For this reason, you sometimes find some scholars who are cautious saying that the hadith is valid in its chain (sahih al-isnad), and not saying it is valid (sahih), because there may be an anomaly in its text (matn), so it would not be valid. And sometimes he says it is a valid hadith, even if there is something in the chain, because it has corroborating narrations (shawahid) that support it. Its chain may be good (hasan) and not reach the level of validity, but because of its corroborating narrations, it becomes valid for other reasons (sahih li-ghayrihi). And this is a point that a student of knowledge should pay attention to. The scholars call this the defects ('ilal) of hadith, which is when a hadith appears valid on the surface, but upon research and scrutiny, it is found to have a defect. And it is one of the most precise, as Ibn Hajar said in his commentary on al-Nukhba: one of the most precise and difficult of the sciences of hadith, and not even the experts in the science of men and the science of jurisprudence are aware of it. Yes, indeed.
The questioner : As long as Jibril (peace be upon him) spoke in the style of the Bedouins, what prevents him from doing the action of the Bedouins and placing his hand?
The Shaykh : The Bedouins do not place their hand on this.
The questioner : He said, "O Muhammad, O Shaykh."
The Shaykh : Yes, but placing his hand on the Prophet's thigh is far-fetched.
This is a benefit in the science of hadith terminology that a student of knowledge should pay attention to. For this reason, you sometimes find some scholars who are cautious saying that the hadith is valid in its chain (sahih al-isnad), and not saying it is valid (sahih), because there may be an anomaly in its text (matn), so it would not be valid. And sometimes he says it is a valid hadith, even if there is something in the chain, because it has corroborating narrations (shawahid) that support it. Its chain may be good (hasan) and not reach the level of validity, but because of its corroborating narrations, it becomes valid for other reasons (sahih li-ghayrihi). And this is a point that a student of knowledge should pay attention to. The scholars call this the defects ('ilal) of hadith, which is when a hadith appears valid on the surface, but upon research and scrutiny, it is found to have a defect. And it is one of the most precise, as Ibn Hajar said in his commentary on al-Nukhba: one of the most precise and difficult of the sciences of hadith, and not even the experts in the science of men and the science of jurisprudence are aware of it. Yes, indeed.
The questioner : As long as Jibril (peace be upon him) spoke in the style of the Bedouins, what prevents him from doing the action of the Bedouins and placing his hand?
The Shaykh : The Bedouins do not place their hand on this.
The questioner : He said, "O Muhammad, O Shaykh."
The Shaykh : Yes, but placing his hand on the Prophet's thigh is far-fetched.