Are weak Ahadeeth regarding Fadhaa’il al-A`maal to be taken?
Answer by Shaykh Abu Is-haaq al-Huwainee
Question: Do we take weak Ahadeeth regarding Fadhaa’il al-A`maal (1)? Also, I have another question Shaykh
Shaykh: Go ahead
Questioner: Are the Hasan Ahadeeth to be regarded as weak? May Allaah grant you every good, O Shaykh.
Shaykh: May Allaah Bless you. Firstly, we must, first, learn the degree of weakness in this Hadeeth. So, we have a Hadeeth, either the weakness will be severe, or it would be a small weakness, as for the severe weakness, then it would be in the `Adaala (2), and sometimes it would be in the Dhabt (3), or the person would be very slow-going. So the weak Hadeeth, which is taken and accepted in Fadhaa’il al-A’maal with Imaam Ahmad or Imaam Abu Dawood, is the Hadeeth, which has a small weakness, and Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taimiyyah has an opinion regarding the weak (Dha`eef) in the opinion of Imaam Ahmad, rahimahullaah.
So he says that during the time of Imaam Ahmad, Hadeeth was divided into two divisions: Saheeh and Dha`eef, period. So the weak Hadeeth was divided into two divisions, a higher division, and a lower division, then came Imaam at-Tirmithee, and he named the higher division of the weak Hadeeth, ‘Hasan’, and the Dha`eef, which was known to Imaam Ahmad, and Imaam at-Tirmithee, and it is the same Dha`eef which we have today, remained the same. So then, the divisions of Hadeethbecame three: The authentic (Saheeh) Hadeeth, the acceptable (Hasan) Hadeeth, and the weak (Dha`eef) Hadeeth.
Then, the Hasan Hadeeth, according to Ibn Taimiyyah, is not Dha`eef, meaning not accepted, but it does have some weakness, and that would be by way of weakness of the memory of one of the narrators of this Hadeeth.
This is why the Brother asks, “Is the Hasan to be considered from the weak Ahadeeth”, and the answer is no. We, with these divisions, do not include the Hasan Hadeethto be from the divisions of weak, even if there is some small weakness in the narrator’s memory.
Imaam, al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalaani gave three conditions for the weak Fadhaa’il al-A`maal Hadeeth to be accepted, and in reality, if we were to act accordingly to these conditions, then we would not use weak Ahadeeth at all, and they are:
a. That upon doing some of these actions, one must not believe that they are established
b. That is must be put forth under a general foundation
c. That the weakness in the used Hadeeth must not be severe
So, now, who is the one who would know if the weakness of this Hadeeth is severe or not? The People of Hadeeth, period, as for the general masses, then they know nothing of this. So if I wanted to implement the speech of al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, I would say that the weak Ahadeeth, regarding Fadhaa’il al-A`maal, are not to be used at all, why is that? Because the difference between the severe and slight weakness in a Hadeethis not known to anyone, except the People of Hadeeth, alone, even the Fuqahaa’ (4), they have no say in this chapter.
As for the second rule, that it must be put forth under a general foundation, then that means that the action would be put forth under a general foundation, and not a Hadeeth, so reliance upon a weak Hadeeth is formal – with regards to the form of the Hadeeth and action. So it is because of this we say, there is not a Saheeh Hadeeth, except that it contains a whole of knowledge, and that would suffice us, instead of using weak Ahadeeth.
Specially since a type of leniency was widespread amongst the Muta’akhireen (5), regarding ruling upon Ahadeeth, so the Hadeethwould be false, or fabricated, or rejected, but the commenter, or the critique would remove this entire term, and he would merely say, “It’s chain is weak”. However, its chain is very weak, or it is rejected, or false. So those who accept these rules, and without knowledge will come to the conclusion that since weak Ahadeeth are used in Fadhaa’il al-A`maal, and this scholar said that its chain is weak, then this is allowed to be used in Fadhaa’il al-A`maal.
This speech is not established, why? It is because, as I said, the critique of the Hadeethwill not mention the term and condition of the Hadeeth. Therefore, not every Hadeeth, about which it is stated that its chain is weak, may be used for Fadhaa’il al-A`maal.
And we have an abundance of authentic narrations, and there is not an authentic Hadeeth, but we can extract from it, some part of knowledge. Even in some weak Ahadeeth, its meaning may be rejected, even though it may be widespread amongst the people. Such as the Hadeeth, “Fasting Ramadhaan is tied between the heavens and the earth, and it is not raised (ended) except through Zakaat al-Fitr”, this Hadeethis weak, because, what is the relation of fasting to charity? They are two separate matters, so, fasting Ramadhaan is not tied to Sadaqat al-Fitr, that if you give Sadaqah, your fasting is accepted, if not, your fasting is thrown away, [and this is False].
Another example, “There is no Salaat for the neighbor of the Masjid, except in the Masjid”, this Hadeeth is also weak, and if we analyzed the meaning of the Hadeeth, “There is no Salaat for the neighbor of the Masjid, except in the Masjid [that is close to him]”, so if he prayed in a Masjid other than the one which he neighbors, then that means that there is no Salaat for him, and no one, ever, has said that.
Another example, “He who’s Salaat does not stop him from evil actions and illegal acts, then there is no prayer for him”, this Hadeethis rejected, from the area of its chain, as well as the text (Matn), and Abu Dawood narrated a Hadeethwhich would contradict it, “That someone came to the Prophet, salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, and said that so-and-so prays and steals, so the Prophet, salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, said, ‘One day his Prayer will stop him from doing that.’”
Yet another example is in the Hadeeth, “If you see a man at the Masjid often, then witness that he has Faith”, and this Hadeethis weak, from the copy of Darraaj bin Sam`aan, from Abee Haitham, from Abee Sa`eed al-Khudree, and this chain is weak, and some copies [of Hadeeth manuscripts] narrated it.
Therefore, if you were to look into many of the Ahadeeth, you would find some of Scholars do what I mentioned: mention that the chain is weak, but the chain could be rejected, rather than to be ruled with just a weak chain. So then we say, whoever wants to act upon a Hadeeth, then no doubt he should find the ruling upon it from one of the renowned Imaams.
This is in light of what we see today, many of the lecturers, come forth with many weak Ahadeeth, and rejected Ahadeeth that, about which, the Scholars agreed that they are rejected, and that it is not permissible to attribute it to the Prophet, salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, this is all in name of acting upon the weak Ahadeeth regarding Fadhaa’il al-A`maal.
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Footnotes:
1) The question is in regards to Fadhaa’il al-A`maal, the best of actions, not in reference to the book, Fadhaa’il al-A`maal by al-Kandalaawi
2) `Adaala means one’s justice and trustworthiness, meaning not a liar, sinner, fornicator, etc.
3) Dhabt means one’s trustworthiness, meaning, not forgetful, weak memory etc.
4) Pl. Faqeeh, Jurist
5) Lit. Later ones, meaning, latter generation Hadeeth scholars
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