بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“مَنْ حَدَّثَ عَنِّي حَدِيثًا وَهُوَ يَرَى أَنَّهُ كَذِبٌ فَهُوَ أَحَدُ الْكَاذِبِينَ“
“Whoever narrates a Hadīth from me which he knows is a lie, then he is one of the liars.”. (Tirmidhī 2662)
In another narration:
“مَنْ حَدَّثَ عَنِّي بِحَدِيثٍ وَهُوَ يَرَى أَنَّهُ كَذِبٌ فَهُوَ أَحَدُ الْكَاذِبَيْنِ“
Whoever narrates a Hadīth from me thinking it to be false, then he is one of the two liars [meaning the one who initiated it and the one who spread it]. ” (Ibn Mājah 41)
Lying upon the messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) is a major sin. Lying upon the prophet (ﷺ) includes the one who relate what is false, whether done intentionally or unintentionally. (Benefits from the introduction to Sahīh Muslim pg. 41 of Ibn Ādam)
Al-Qādī Ibn al-‘Arabī al-Mālikī said:
Verily the weak hadīth is never acted upon. (Sahīh Targhīb 1/48)
Shaykh al-Khudayr said: “(from the scholars who held that it’s not permitted to act upon weak hadīth absolutely)
1 – Yahyā ibn Ma’īn – Ibn Sayyid an-Nās said when discussing the authentication of Muhammad ibn Ishāq “Among those from whom equalization between rulings and other [matters] has been reported is Yahyā ibn Ma’īn”.
2 – Imām Muhammad ibn Ismā’īl al-Bukhārī – It is apparent from al-Bukhārī’s practice in his Sahīh, his strict conditions regarding narrators, and his not including any weak hadīth, that his methodology is not to act upon weak hadīth, which is what Shaykh Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Qāsimī concluded.
3 – Imām Muslim ibn al-Hajjāj al-Qushayrī – It appears from his strong criticism in the introduction of his Sahīh of the narrators of weak [hadīth] that his methodology is not to use weak hadīth as evidence absolutely.
Ibn Rajab said: “Whats apparent is that what Muslim mentioned in the introduction of his book necessitates that he not narrate hadīth of encouragement (targhīb) except from those from whom rulings are narrated from.”” (al-Hadīth Da’īf pg. 260-261)
Imām Al-Albānī said: “…for indeed among the scholars (are those who) do not act upon weak hadīths absolutely, neither in ahkām (rulings) nor in fadā’il (virtues), and Ibn Sayyid al-Nās related that in “ʿUyūn al-Athā” from Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, and it is attributed in “Fath al-Mughīth” to Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī.
The great scholar, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Qāsimī said in “Qawāʿid al-Tahdīth fī Mustalah al-Hadīth”:
“And (what’s) apparent is that this is also the position of Bukhārī and Muslim. Bukhārī’s condition in his Sahīh indicates this, (as does) Imam Muslim’s tashnī’ (strong criticism) of those who narrate weak hadīths agreed upon as weak. This is also the position of Ibn Hazm, may Allāh have mercy on him, as he stated in ‘al-Milal wa al-Nihal.’ Refer to his words there. And also in ‘al-Muhallā.’
… the truth in this issue is with the scholars who held the position of abandoning acting on weak hadīths regarding virtuous deeds, and that (is for) several reasons:
First: The weak hadīth only yields dhann (conjecture) by agreement (of the scholars), and acting upon conjecture is not permissible, due to the saying of Allāh:
“إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلا الظَّنَّ وَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ لا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا“
“They follow nothing but conjecture, and conjecture avails nothing against the truth” [53:28]
and his (i.e. the Prophet’s) statement (ﷺ):
“إياكم والظن فإنه أكذب الحديث“
“Beware of conjecture, for it is the most false of speech.” (Musnad Imām Ahmad 7337. Isnād declared Sahīh upon the conditions of Sahīh Bukhārī and Muslim by al-Arnāūt in his checking)
Second: The Prophet (ﷺ) commanded us to avoid narrating from him except what we know is authentic from him, saying:
“اتقوا الحديث عني إلا ما علمتم“
“Fear/avoid narrating from me except what you know/are certain of.” (Musnad Imām Ahmad 2974. Declared Sahīh by Al-Arnāūt in his checking)
and from the known (is) that narrating a hadīth is only a means to act upon what is established in it. So if he (ﷺ) prohibits us from narrating what is not established from him, then prohibiting acting upon it is even more appropriate. This is clear and evident.
Third: In what is established from him (ﷺ), there is sufficiency from what is not established… [i.e. authentic hadīth already provide complete guidance, thus, weak hadīth are not necessary].” (Jāmi al-Turāth 2/428-429)
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