Sometimes Ibn Hajar says of a narrator: “There is consensus on his weakness.” Does this indicate that the narrator’s hadith should be abandoned, even if he has not been subjected to severe criticism?

The questioner: All right, our Shaykh, sometimes al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar biographies a narrator in al-Taqrib by saying, “There is consensus on his weakness.” We go back to al-Tahdhib and find no severe criticism there; rather, all the scholars said: “Weak, weak, weak, poor in memory.” There is no severe criticism. So, does the phrase “consensus on his weakness” indicate that the narrator’s hadith should be abandoned because everyone has deemed him weak?

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner: And does he not remain within the category of weakness?

The Shaykh : But.