Some scholars have spoken about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salama, and al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement, making it a defect in the chain of this hadith, but he overlooked
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The Shaykh : Some scholars have spoken about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salama, and al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement, making it a defect in the chain of this hadith, but he overlooked—I do not know whether I should say he overlooked or feigned to overlook—that those who spoke about the memorization and precision of Hammad ibn Salama, first of all, did not reject his hadith absolutely, but rather placed his hadith in the rank of a hasan hadith.
The questioner : We have to be with you!
The Shaykh : Listen to me so we can see.
The questioner: In the name of Allah.
The Shaykh : Until I finish answering the question.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Shaykh : I think when you want to record, the recording voice should be low.
The questioner : Low, yes, medium, I put it on medium always in this way.
The Shaykh : So, Hammad ibn Salama, about whom some spoke, did not have his hadith rejected by them, but rather they placed it below the rank of a sahih hadith, which is what is fitting for him, because he is an imam among the imams of the Muslims.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But as I said earlier: the scholars of hadith, as we know them, are such that no one rebukes them for Allah in their speech about the narrators of hadith, in order to preserve the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : From the possibility of an error, addition, or omission occurring in it, so they would critique the great imams if they were imams in the Sunnah, or in fiqh, and this is the example before us now.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Hammad ibn Salama, about whom some spoke, and as I mentioned earlier, al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement to cast doubt on the authenticity of this hadith, but I repeat the previous point: I do not know if he overlooked or feigned to overlook another very important fact, which is: those who spoke about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salama, and lowered his hadith from the rank of sahih to the rank of hasan, are the same ones who said: "The hadith of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit al-Bunani is a sahih hadith," meaning: their words imply that Hammad ibn Salama has two characteristics: the first, and the most common, is that when he narrates from anyone other than Thabit al-Bunani, his hadith is hasan, and a hasan hadith is usually, among hadith scholars, a candidate to become sahih through a supporting chain or a corroborating narration, and it may also be a candidate to be lowered from the rank of hasan to the rank of da'if, due to its contradiction with something more authentic.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But when he narrates from Thabit, his hadith is sahih and serves as proof, and this hadith, whose authenticity al-Suyuti cast doubt on, and which al-Ghazali of this time rejected with extreme ignorance, is from the narration of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit, so it is a sahih hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So, by the consensus of all scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil who spoke about Hammad, because those who spoke about him only spoke about his narration from anyone other than Thabit, whereas his narration from Thabit is sahih, this is what we say, and in summary we say: the hadith of Hammad ibn Salama, if it is from anyone other than Thabit, is hasan, but if it is from Thabit, it is sahih. Thirdly: we say: in addition to being from Thabit, it has a corroborating narration in the Sunan, in some of the Sunan, and in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" (may Allah have mercy on him); therefore: because the hadith is from the narration of Hammad and is a hasan hadith from anyone other than Thabit, and because it is from Thabit, it is a sahih, established hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it has a corroborating narration, it is more authentic than a sahih hadith; therefore, there is no room from the perspective of hadith science to cast doubt on the authenticity of this hadith, and this is what I am reciting now, or what I am reading now, is in fact a summary of what I had written long ago in some of my books and works regarding this hadith.
The questioner : We have to be with you!
The Shaykh : Listen to me so we can see.
The questioner: In the name of Allah.
The Shaykh : Until I finish answering the question.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Shaykh : I think when you want to record, the recording voice should be low.
The questioner : Low, yes, medium, I put it on medium always in this way.
The Shaykh : So, Hammad ibn Salama, about whom some spoke, did not have his hadith rejected by them, but rather they placed it below the rank of a sahih hadith, which is what is fitting for him, because he is an imam among the imams of the Muslims.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But as I said earlier: the scholars of hadith, as we know them, are such that no one rebukes them for Allah in their speech about the narrators of hadith, in order to preserve the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : From the possibility of an error, addition, or omission occurring in it, so they would critique the great imams if they were imams in the Sunnah, or in fiqh, and this is the example before us now.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Hammad ibn Salama, about whom some spoke, and as I mentioned earlier, al-Hafiz al-Suyuti clung to this statement to cast doubt on the authenticity of this hadith, but I repeat the previous point: I do not know if he overlooked or feigned to overlook another very important fact, which is: those who spoke about the memorization of Hammad ibn Salama, and lowered his hadith from the rank of sahih to the rank of hasan, are the same ones who said: "The hadith of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit al-Bunani is a sahih hadith," meaning: their words imply that Hammad ibn Salama has two characteristics: the first, and the most common, is that when he narrates from anyone other than Thabit al-Bunani, his hadith is hasan, and a hasan hadith is usually, among hadith scholars, a candidate to become sahih through a supporting chain or a corroborating narration, and it may also be a candidate to be lowered from the rank of hasan to the rank of da'if, due to its contradiction with something more authentic.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But when he narrates from Thabit, his hadith is sahih and serves as proof, and this hadith, whose authenticity al-Suyuti cast doubt on, and which al-Ghazali of this time rejected with extreme ignorance, is from the narration of Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit, so it is a sahih hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So, by the consensus of all scholars of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil who spoke about Hammad, because those who spoke about him only spoke about his narration from anyone other than Thabit, whereas his narration from Thabit is sahih, this is what we say, and in summary we say: the hadith of Hammad ibn Salama, if it is from anyone other than Thabit, is hasan, but if it is from Thabit, it is sahih. Thirdly: we say: in addition to being from Thabit, it has a corroborating narration in the Sunan, in some of the Sunan, and in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" (may Allah have mercy on him); therefore: because the hadith is from the narration of Hammad and is a hasan hadith from anyone other than Thabit, and because it is from Thabit, it is a sahih, established hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And because it has a corroborating narration, it is more authentic than a sahih hadith; therefore, there is no room from the perspective of hadith science to cast doubt on the authenticity of this hadith, and this is what I am reciting now, or what I am reading now, is in fact a summary of what I had written long ago in some of my books and works regarding this hadith.
Source
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