And does the verification and weakening of hadiths fall under serving the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
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The questioner : Looking into the books of men?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The critique and vindication of narrators.
The Shaykh : Yes, it falls under this, whether it is looking into what is authentic from the Messenger or what is not, whether in looking into the books of men or in the hidden defects of hadiths that only the experts know. Because the matter is not entirely based on the men. You students must know that the verification of a hadith is not based solely on the narrators being trustworthy or not, or the chain being connected or not. There is something important, perhaps like this or more important, which is the absence of anomaly and a decisive defect. Many people today verify hadiths based merely on the apparent chain and overlook the important matter, which is that it not be anomalous or defective. It is known that a condition of the authentic and the good hadith is also that it not be defective or anomalous. Did you not know that some of the meticulous scholars in the science of hadith in our present age verified the hadith:, even though no one can ever verify this hadith? If this hadith were verified, the Qur'an would refute it, because Allah has made cows lawful, and the Messenger sacrificed cows on behalf of his wives and they ate from them, among other things. For this reason, I advise my brothers who care about hadith through this path, for it is not a sound path. We must know that after looking into the men and the chain, we must look into the text of the hadith. If you wish, I would say we must look first at the text of the hadith. If it contradicts what is known necessarily from the religion of Islam, or what is known necessarily to be false by reason, then there is no need; we are spared it, because we say it is defective and not anomalous, and we are done with it. Pay attention to this, may Allah bless you. This is an important matter that requires care, and I have pointed it out more than once. Yes, the time is up.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The critique and vindication of narrators.
The Shaykh : Yes, it falls under this, whether it is looking into what is authentic from the Messenger or what is not, whether in looking into the books of men or in the hidden defects of hadiths that only the experts know. Because the matter is not entirely based on the men. You students must know that the verification of a hadith is not based solely on the narrators being trustworthy or not, or the chain being connected or not. There is something important, perhaps like this or more important, which is the absence of anomaly and a decisive defect. Many people today verify hadiths based merely on the apparent chain and overlook the important matter, which is that it not be anomalous or defective. It is known that a condition of the authentic and the good hadith is also that it not be defective or anomalous. Did you not know that some of the meticulous scholars in the science of hadith in our present age verified the hadith: