The Shaykh's comment on the discussion that took place between one of his students and a student in the College of Hadith regarding the latter's grading of every narrator about whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: "Accepted"
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The questioner : My Shaykh, a discussion took place between me and the Master's students in Hadith, and the topic concerned... the first point... everyone about whom Ibn Hajar said "Accepted," I naturally... this is a technical term... he said if I say "Accepted," then the hadith is weak, unless it is supported by another chain. He says, but the word "Accepted" means accepted...
The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.
The questioner : The speech belongs to Ibn Hajar, so I said, Glory be to Allah... I hope for a comment on this.
The Shaykh : Your speech is actually good and convincing if it is free from bias. But who is this man, the person about whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says "Accepted"? Ask him: Is he the trustworthy and just one? He will say, if he has any knowledge, "No." Is he the truthful one who makes few or many mistakes? He will also say "No," because all these... all these attributes, al-Hafiz gave each attribute the rank befitting its holder. And so we will say to him: Then who is the one about whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says "Accepted"? If he has knowledge, he will be forced to say it is the man who was not authenticated with an acceptable authentication. And that means he is the unknown man, the one from whom only one or two narrated, and who was not authenticated. So we say to him: You are the one who decided to grade every hadith containing a narrator whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar called "Accepted" as good. What is your opinion of the one about whom al-Hafiz said he is "Concealed"? Perhaps you also decide that it is good.
The questioner : Perhaps it is acceptable.
The Shaykh : Hehe.
The questioner : My Shaykh, a good example.
Another questioner: ...
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is not what you should waste your time discussing...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good. Hehe. There is no power nor strength except by Allah. My brother, the speech he says, he took it from the speech of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, because it is he who says at the end of his book *Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal*: "And I did not know of a woman who was accused". This does not mean that the word "I did not know" implies that she, for example, is trustworthy, that she is a memorizer, and that she... it is possible that this class of women, like many of the men about whom al-Hafiz says "Accepted" or "Concealed," means he cites them as evidence. But to consider that one about whom we do not know of an accusation is a proof, that is the height of ignorance. Allah is the Greatest.
The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.
The questioner : The speech belongs to Ibn Hajar, so I said, Glory be to Allah... I hope for a comment on this.
The Shaykh : Your speech is actually good and convincing if it is free from bias. But who is this man, the person about whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says "Accepted"? Ask him: Is he the trustworthy and just one? He will say, if he has any knowledge, "No." Is he the truthful one who makes few or many mistakes? He will also say "No," because all these... all these attributes, al-Hafiz gave each attribute the rank befitting its holder. And so we will say to him: Then who is the one about whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar says "Accepted"? If he has knowledge, he will be forced to say it is the man who was not authenticated with an acceptable authentication. And that means he is the unknown man, the one from whom only one or two narrated, and who was not authenticated. So we say to him: You are the one who decided to grade every hadith containing a narrator whom al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar called "Accepted" as good. What is your opinion of the one about whom al-Hafiz said he is "Concealed"? Perhaps you also decide that it is good.
The questioner : Perhaps it is acceptable.
The Shaykh : Hehe.
The questioner : My Shaykh, a good example.
Another questioner: ...
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is not what you should waste your time discussing...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : May Allah reward him with good. Hehe. There is no power nor strength except by Allah. My brother, the speech he says, he took it from the speech of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, because it is he who says at the end of his book *Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal*: "And I did not know of a woman who was accused". This does not mean that the word "I did not know" implies that she, for example, is trustworthy, that she is a memorizer, and that she... it is possible that this class of women, like many of the men about whom al-Hafiz says "Accepted" or "Concealed," means he cites them as evidence. But to consider that one about whom we do not know of an accusation is a proof, that is the height of ignorance. Allah is the Greatest.