Sixteen issues in the science of hadeeth

Fatwas / Hadith and its sciences / Sixteen issues in the science of hadeeth

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Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the meaning of the scholars' statement when they want to strengthen a hadeeth through its various narrations and say, "it has paths which strengthen each other?" Is this considered to be judging the hadeeth to be saheeh or hasan? How is the main path of the hadeeth considered when the other many paths of hadeeths are used to strengthen the original hadeeth? When the early scholars of hadith and the latter-day scholars differ about the ruling of a hadeeth whereby some of the strengthen the hadeeth, and others consider it to be weak, which of the two views is worthy of following? Is there a difference between the following statements by the scholars: "they agreed upon it," "they had a consensus," and "there is no difference on that?" What is the ruling about acting according to the statement or action of a Sahabi? Is it considered to be a proof or not? What is the difference between these words: "This opinion was considered to preponderant by so and so," "this opinion was chosen by so and so," this was the mathab of so and so," "so and was inclined towards to it," "it was supported by so and so?" Is there a difference between these words, "the proofs for this statement are such and such," "this opinion was supported by such and such a proof?" What is the meaning of the scholar's statement: "So and so affirmed this?" Does it mean that he explained it or he mentioned it? The scholars say, "So and so said this, and he was followed by so and so." How do we know that such a person followed the other person, and did not arrive at that opinion through his own ijtihad (deriving an Islamic ruling)? The scholars say, "The well-versed scholars said?" Who are the well-versed scholars? Is there a difference between these words, " This is where the summary of the issue ends," and "This is end of my own words which I have used to explain the opinion," and a situation where both these statements are used. The scholars say, "The scholars of hadeeth and usool al-fiqh have established such and such a thing? What does this mean? Is there a difference between the scholars' statement: "This is of two sections," and "this is of two types?" What is the meaning of the scholars' statement: "This hadeeth is ma'lool." Does this means that the hadeeth is weak?" What is the meaning of the scholars' statement: "There is so and so in the chain of narrators of this hadeeth, and the scholars spoke about it?"

ستة عشر مسألة في علم الحديث

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and companions.
To proceed:
1)That may be considering the hadeeth to be authentic (saheeh) or good (hasan), and this varies and depends on the number of the different paths of the hadeeths and their strength.
2)That is known through practice, and it differs according to the hadeeth.
3)In order to know which opinion is the most appropriate to be followed, the proofs of those who considered the hadeeth to be weak, and those who considered it to be authentic should be examined. With regards to the past scholars who were experts in hadeeth criticism, their opinions must be examined carefully before accepting any other views.
4)These words have similar meanings, and they have minor differences. The weakest statement in relating a consensus is: "there is no difference about such and such a thing."
5)The consensus of the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) is reliable because the people of the latter days were great in number, and the ummah stayed over a great space of area. Therefore, the people who transmitted the consensus of the ummah after the Sahaba did not know if other scholars had differed with those who had reached a consensus. This is why Imam Ahmad said, "Whoever claims that there is consensus is lying. Maybe the scholars differed, and he was not aware of that." This is why if you ponder over many issues on which a consensus has been reported, you will find that people differed.
6)The scholars differed with regards to the opinion of a Sahabi. In short, whatever opinions were known during the time of the Sahaba and were not opposed are proofs according to the majority of the scholars. The issues that the Sahaba differed upon are examined in light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. If the Sahaba differed among themselves then the opinion of one of them was not considered to be a proof. This is a point of consensus. The scholars differed upon the issues on which the opinion of some of the Sahaba is known and that of the others is not known, and these were issues which did not occur on a large scale. The majority of the scholars from the Hanafites, the Malikites, the Hambalites, and some of the Shafi'tes were of the opinion that the known opinion is a proof, and this is the correct opinion. And Allah knows best.
7) These expressions have a similar meaning in terms of choosing the preponderant opinion. However, they differ in indicating the strength of the preponderancy. The statement: "He was inclined to that opinion," is less in strength than the statement: "He supported the opinion," which indicates that a scholar adopted a certain opinion, and he compiled his evidences and refuted the evidences of those who contradicted him.
8)What is apparent to me is that there is no difference between these two statements.
9)That could mean explaining and mentioning. However, this expressions is mostly used to indicate that a scholar mentioned an opinion, chose it and considered it to be preponderant.
10) This is known through a number of ways including reading what the scholar wrote, or having knowledge of his fatwa on an issue was in order to know his opinion. The statement: "he followed so and so," does not mean that this was not based on ijtihaad.
11)The well-versed scholars are those who were known for examining evidences, debating them, and answering objections to evidences. Moreover, these scholars would not mention an opinion without giving its evidence.
12) Yes, there is a difference between these statements. The statement: " This is where the summary of the issue ends," means that a scholar quoted someone but he left out some of what was said. On the other hand, the statement, "This is end of my own words which I have used to explain the opinion," could mean summarizing, or using one's own words to express someone's opinion.
13)This means that this issue has become known and followed by the majority of the scholars such that it is now like a point of consensus.
14)There is no difference between these statements.
15) Yes, the ma'lool hadeeth is part of the weak hadeeths because it has a defect in its chain of narrators or text. Defects mostly occur in the chain of narrators.
16) This means that there is a narrator in the chain of narrators of the hadeeth who was considered to be a weak narrator by some scholars, while others considered him to be strong.