Qarinah # 2

When the Ummah receives a hadith with acceptance it is necessary to act on it even if its chain is weak.

Hafiz Ibn Hajr Asqalani said in his “al-Nukat” (1/494-495):

“One of the qualities of acceptance that our teacher (I’raqi) did not discuss is when all agree upon acting on the content of a hadith. In such instances it is accepted so much so that it becomes compulsory to act on it. Many of the scholars of Usool have explicitly mentioned this (principle).”

Muhaqqiq Ibnul Humaam states in his magnum opus “Fathul Qadeer” (3/143):

“One of the factors that authenticate a hadith is when the ulama practise on it. In the “Sunan” of Daarul-qutni it is mentioned: ‘al-Qasim and Saalim said: ‘The Muslims have practised on it’. Imam Malik said: ‘Fame of a hadith in Madinah is a substitute for an authentic chain’.”

This is why in many places of his “Sunan” the most outstanding student of Imam Bukhari, Imam Tirmithi after classifying a hadith weak based on the principles of usulul hadith strengthen it by saying “However the ulama have practised on this hadith”.

Ibn Humam points out that when Imam Tirmithi says: “The ulama have practised on this hadith” it necessitates that the basis of the hadith is strong even though this particular chain is weak. (See Fathul Qadeer 1/217)

Hafiz Ibn Khuzaimah has even narrated a weak hadith in his compilation of authentic hadith which he named “al-Saheeh” because it was supported by the practise of the ulama.

He said (3/80): “The chapter of a musafir leading muqemeen and the muqemeen completing their salah after the Imam is finished, if the hadith is established, because I have reservations concerning Ali ibn Zaid ibn Jud’aan. However, I have given this hadith a place in my book due to the fact that none of the ulama differ on this issue.”

Rather, such a hadith is elevated to the status of a mutawaatir (widespread) hadith.

The great hanafi jurist and muhaddith Abu Bakr al-Jassaas states in his “Ahkaamul Quran” (1/386):

“Whichever khabar waahid (rare hadith) the Ummah receives with acceptance then it is in the meaning of a mutawaatir hadith according to us.”

The most outstanding student of Hafiz Ibn Harj Asqalaani, Hafiz Shamsuddeen as-Sakhaawi reiterates this in his comprehensive work on Usulul Hadith “Fathul Mugheeth” (2/153-154) by saying:

“When the Ummah receives a weak hadith with acceptance it will be practised on, based on the correct opinion, to such an extent that it will be elevated to the level of a mutawaatir hadith in that it may abrogate a definite text. This is why imam as-Shafi’e said concerning the hadith, “There is no bequest for an inheritor”, It is not a hadith that the muhadditheen will authenticate but the masses have received it with acceptance and practised on it so much so that they have used it to abrogate the verse concerning bequests.”

Imam Bukhari’s stance concerning this principle

Imam Bukhari also held this view to the point that he has even used it in the most authentic book after the Book of Allah, “as-Saheeh”.

He said in the title of a chapter of his “Saheeh”:

“It is mentioned that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) commanded settling debts before discharging bequests.”

Hafiz Ibn Hajr comments on this in “Fathul Baari” (5/277) by saying:

“The chain of this hadith is weak, however Tirmithi has said: ‘Practising on this hadith is the opinion of the scholars.’

Allamah Badrud-deen A’yni explains in “Umdatul Qari” (14/43):

“If you were to object that it is not Bukhari’s habit to use weak hadith as evidence, I will answer, sure, however, when he saw that the ulama have practised on this hadith as Tirmithi said, he used it as a basis because it was supported by the fact that all the scholars agreed on its content.”

NB. The Imam of his times, concerning whom shaikh Albani admits, that if there was any one in these latter times that deserved the lofty title of ‘al-mujtahid’ it is Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri, so beautifully said:

“The chain of transmission was used to protect the Deen from things entering it that were not part of it. It, however, was not used to exclude from the Deen those things that are established in it by the practise of the people of the chain of transmission.”

(See tatimmah at-ta’leeqaat al-haafilah by Shaikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah p. 238)

Wallahu A’lam