Does Imam Muslim hold that a weak hadith should not be acted upon in any case?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... does he not hold that a weak hadith should be acted upon in any case?
The Shaykh : This is the apparent meaning of his statement, and many scholars have adopted this view, and it is worthy of being explicit, Sharafi.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : That is, he asks and says: Is it the apparent meaning of Muslim's statement that he does not hold that a weak hadith should be acted upon, even in the virtues of deeds? And I say: Yes, and many scholars have held this view, stating that it is not permissible to act upon a weak hadith in any case, even in the virtues of deeds. However, some scholars mentioned that it is permissible to narrate a weak hadith and speak with it under three conditions:
The first condition is that the weakness not be severe.
The second condition is that there be a sound basis for this virtue.
The third is that one not believe that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it.
An example of this is if a weak hadith regarding the virtue of congregational prayer were to come to us, and a person mentioned it to encourage congregational prayer, but did not assert that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said it. In this case, there is benefit, because if it is authentic, its meaning and implication are achieved, and if it is not authentic, it does no harm, because no legal ruling is established by it.
But those who prohibited this said: The reward is a judicial ruling, and just as we do not establish a practical legal ruling by a weak hadith, we do not permit establishing a judicial ruling by it. I answered this by stating that we conditioned that one not believe that the Messenger said it, but rather hopes for it, and there is a difference between one who asserts and one who hopes. So he says: I hope that this hadith is authentic so that I may obtain this reward. Those who said it is permissible were cautious, meaning they did not say that this is permissible in any case, but they set conditions by which it becomes clear that there is no objection in what they mentioned. The soul hopes for the reward of that, but it does not assert it, because it does not assert that this came from the Infallible, and this is one of the three conditions. Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the apparent meaning of his statement, and many scholars have adopted this view, and it is worthy of being explicit, Sharafi.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : That is, he asks and says: Is it the apparent meaning of Muslim's statement that he does not hold that a weak hadith should be acted upon, even in the virtues of deeds? And I say: Yes, and many scholars have held this view, stating that it is not permissible to act upon a weak hadith in any case, even in the virtues of deeds. However, some scholars mentioned that it is permissible to narrate a weak hadith and speak with it under three conditions:
The first condition is that the weakness not be severe.
The second condition is that there be a sound basis for this virtue.
The third is that one not believe that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it.
An example of this is if a weak hadith regarding the virtue of congregational prayer were to come to us, and a person mentioned it to encourage congregational prayer, but did not assert that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said it. In this case, there is benefit, because if it is authentic, its meaning and implication are achieved, and if it is not authentic, it does no harm, because no legal ruling is established by it.
But those who prohibited this said: The reward is a judicial ruling, and just as we do not establish a practical legal ruling by a weak hadith, we do not permit establishing a judicial ruling by it. I answered this by stating that we conditioned that one not believe that the Messenger said it, but rather hopes for it, and there is a difference between one who asserts and one who hopes. So he says: I hope that this hadith is authentic so that I may obtain this reward. Those who said it is permissible were cautious, meaning they did not say that this is permissible in any case, but they set conditions by which it becomes clear that there is no objection in what they mentioned. The soul hopes for the reward of that, but it does not assert it, because it does not assert that this came from the Infallible, and this is one of the three conditions. Yes.