The Shaykh’s statement that he is compelled to follow al-Haythami in his grading of a hadith as good if he is unable to examine the chain of narration.

The Shaykh : We have not examined the chain of narration; we rely on him, we rely on him for authenticating and grading hadiths as good. There will come days when we examine the chain, and if it becomes clear to me that the Hafiz—and he is who he is, lenient and mistaken, and so on—I will return to that grading of good or authentic until it becomes clear to me. Yes, this fool, if he knew this reality, would keep it secret for what? For mockery, sarcasm, and criticism, and so on. Now, here I have returned to the original source; it became clear to me that I was relying on *al-Targhib* and relying on al-Haythami.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Here, they graded one of the two chains of narration as good; do you see the one mentioned in *Sahih al-Targhib*? Yes, now I believe there is a possibility for me to return to the original source, which is al-Tabarani, because what is said here is: “Al-Tabarani narrated it with two chains, one of which is good, and likewise in *al-Majma’*.” Here I said, “and likewise in *al-Majma’*, and it added in the second: ‘and its narrators are trustworthy.’” I wrote here an addition: “Al-Najji said, and as for al-Hafiz al-Iraqi in his *Takhrij al-Ihya*, he said: ‘There is a break in it.’” Now we need to verify which of the two chains has the break: the one they graded as good, or the one they indicated as weak? So this requires new research. Is it possible for us? That depends on whether we are able to examine al-Tabarani’s two chains. Al-Tabarani’s chains now, when we look at the narrator Abu al-Darda, if it is meant that al-Tabarani is the Great al-Tabarani, which is this one, *Musnad Abu al-Darda*—whose name is 'Uwaymir—is not published and is lost, meaning. So from this aspect, there is no way, but it is possible in one way or another to examine the chain as transmitted in some book from al-Tabarani; perhaps this is possible. So, because the reality is that we have many serious problems, all of which require research, now we remain with what we know, with the grading of good.
The student : Good.

The Shaykh : With the grading of good.
The student : The grading of good.

The Shaykh : Until something becomes clear to us, we will return from the grading of good either to grading it as weak or to authenticating it.
The student : ... .
Another student: ... Shaykh ... the statement.