Post by ukhti on Jun 13, 2005 2:56:39 GMT -5
Assalam alaykum
A brother mentioned in one of the other forums that weak ahadith are acceptable under certain circumstances, according to various scholars.I m pasting his post below...can someone please provide me with further input on the same topic?
Majority of the scholars have agreed that weak hadith can be used in terms of virtuous acts.
There are some scholars who believe weak hadith can be used in terms of legal rulings. And this depends on the weakness of the hadith.
Shaykh al-Islam Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi (rad.ia-LLahu `anhu) said in the 'Adhkar':
"The ulama among the experts in hadith and the experts in law and others have said: it is permissible and (also) recommended that the religious practice (al-`amal) concerning good deeds and good character (al-fadâ'il), encouragement to good and discouragement from evil (al-targhib wa al-tarhib) be based (even) on weak hadith (bi al-hadith al- da`îf) as long as it is not forged (mawdu`).
As for legal rulings (ahkâm) such as what is permitted and what is forbidden, or the modalities of trade, marriage, divorce and other than that: one's practice is not based upon anything other than sound (sahih) or fair (hasan) hadith, except as a precaution in some matter related to one of the above, for example, if a weak hadith was cited about the reprehensibility (karahat) of certain kinds of sales or marriages. In such cases what is recommended (al-mustahabb) is to avoid such sales and marriages, but it is not obligatory (la yajib)."
Shaykhul Islam Ibn Hajar Asqalani said,
"The conditions for religious practice based on weak hadith are three:
This is unanimously agreed upon (muttafaqun `alayh):
1- That the weakness must not be very strong (ghayr shadid). This excludes those ahadith singly recorded by liars or those accused of lying, and those who make gross mistakes.
2- That there be a general legal basis for it. This excludes what is invented and has no legal basis to start with.
3- That one not think, while practicing on the basis of it, that it has been established as true (an la ya`taqida thubutahu). This is in order that no words which the Prophet did not (verifiably) say be attributed to him."
Among the scholars who allowed the use of weak hadiths are:
Imam Nawawi
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani
Imam Bukhari
Imam Ibn Abd Barr
Imam Abu Dawoud
Imam Sufyan Thawri (from the Salafus Saleh)
Imam Abu Hanifa (from the Salafus Saleh)
The entire Hanafi school and many others.
However there are condition to what weak hadith can be used. This is why we must stick to the scholars and not decide upon ourself.
Imam Tirmidhi collection of hadith contain many hadith which the scholars of fiqh have acted upon. Imam Tirmdhi collection of hadith is based on what the scholars have acted upon irregardless if the scholars of hadith have considered it weak or not.
At any rate, in regards to Imam Ghazali his use of weak hadith has no bearing on what he said because the points that he was trying to get across were based on the Quran first and foremost. And this was his methodology.
And Allah knows best.
A brother mentioned in one of the other forums that weak ahadith are acceptable under certain circumstances, according to various scholars.I m pasting his post below...can someone please provide me with further input on the same topic?
Majority of the scholars have agreed that weak hadith can be used in terms of virtuous acts.
There are some scholars who believe weak hadith can be used in terms of legal rulings. And this depends on the weakness of the hadith.
Shaykh al-Islam Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi (rad.ia-LLahu `anhu) said in the 'Adhkar':
"The ulama among the experts in hadith and the experts in law and others have said: it is permissible and (also) recommended that the religious practice (al-`amal) concerning good deeds and good character (al-fadâ'il), encouragement to good and discouragement from evil (al-targhib wa al-tarhib) be based (even) on weak hadith (bi al-hadith al- da`îf) as long as it is not forged (mawdu`).
As for legal rulings (ahkâm) such as what is permitted and what is forbidden, or the modalities of trade, marriage, divorce and other than that: one's practice is not based upon anything other than sound (sahih) or fair (hasan) hadith, except as a precaution in some matter related to one of the above, for example, if a weak hadith was cited about the reprehensibility (karahat) of certain kinds of sales or marriages. In such cases what is recommended (al-mustahabb) is to avoid such sales and marriages, but it is not obligatory (la yajib)."
Shaykhul Islam Ibn Hajar Asqalani said,
"The conditions for religious practice based on weak hadith are three:
This is unanimously agreed upon (muttafaqun `alayh):
1- That the weakness must not be very strong (ghayr shadid). This excludes those ahadith singly recorded by liars or those accused of lying, and those who make gross mistakes.
2- That there be a general legal basis for it. This excludes what is invented and has no legal basis to start with.
3- That one not think, while practicing on the basis of it, that it has been established as true (an la ya`taqida thubutahu). This is in order that no words which the Prophet did not (verifiably) say be attributed to him."
Among the scholars who allowed the use of weak hadiths are:
Imam Nawawi
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani
Imam Bukhari
Imam Ibn Abd Barr
Imam Abu Dawoud
Imam Sufyan Thawri (from the Salafus Saleh)
Imam Abu Hanifa (from the Salafus Saleh)
The entire Hanafi school and many others.
However there are condition to what weak hadith can be used. This is why we must stick to the scholars and not decide upon ourself.
Imam Tirmidhi collection of hadith contain many hadith which the scholars of fiqh have acted upon. Imam Tirmdhi collection of hadith is based on what the scholars have acted upon irregardless if the scholars of hadith have considered it weak or not.
At any rate, in regards to Imam Ghazali his use of weak hadith has no bearing on what he said because the points that he was trying to get across were based on the Quran first and foremost. And this was his methodology.
And Allah knows best.