ABANDONING ACTING ON THE WEAK AHAADEETH EVEN 
WITH REGARD TO EXCELLENT ACTIONS. 

TAMAAM-UL-MINNAH’ Translated by Dawud Burbank Salafi

It has become well known amongst many scholars and students that it is permissible to act on the weak Ahaadeeth with regard to excellent actions – and they think that there is no difference of opinion on that – especially since an-Nawawee – rahimahullaah – reports in more than one of his books that that is something about which they agree. And this is clearly not correct – since the disagreement in that is well known – and some of the verifying scholars hold that it is not to be acted upon in any circumstances. Ash-Shaykh al-Qaasimee – rahimahullah – says in ‘Qawaa’id ut-Tahdeeth’ (p.94) :" Ibn Sayyidin-Naas reports this in ‘’Uyoonul Athar’ form Yahyaa Ibn Ma’een and attributes it in ‘Fathul-Mugheeth’ to Aboo Bakr Ibn al-‘Arabee – and it is the apparent position of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim as well.. and it is the position of Ibn Hazm…"

I say : And this the truth about which I have no doubt for various reasons :-

That the weak Ahaadeeth amounts to invalidated opinion only – and it is not permissible to act upon that as is agreed to, and so he who wishes to except from that acting on the weak Ahaadeeth with regard to excellent actions then he has to bring the proof – then let him try.

That I understand from their saying : " with regard to excellent actions ", that it means those actions whose prescription is established by sound Sharee'ah proofs – then there is along with that a weak Ahaadeeth promising a certain reward for one who acts on that – and so the like of it is acted upon in performing these excellent actions – since it does not itself legislate that action, but rather it declares a particular excellence which the one acting upon it wishes to attain. And this meaning is the explanation of various scholars such as ash-Shaykh ‘Alee al-Qaareee – rahimahullaah – who said in ‘al-Mirqaat’ (2/381) :"His saying that the weak Ahaadeeth may be acted upon with regard to excellent actions – although not supported by Ijmaa’ as an-Nawawee said – then its place is with regard to those actions established in the Book or Sunnah."

And on that basis acting upon it is permissible – if that action is established by a proof – but I do not think that the majority of those who hold this saying intend this meaning, even though it is clear since we find them acting upon weak Ahaadeeth comprises actions not established by authentic Ahaadeeth – for example an-Nawawee declaring it to be recommended…to respond to the words ‘Qad Qaamatis Salaah’ in the iqaamah with ‘Aqaamahallaahu wa adaamahaa’ – even though the Ahaadeeth about it is weak as will be explained. So this is something not established in other than this weak Ahaadeeth. But despite this they declare that to be ‘Mustahabb’, even though it is one of the five rulings (Ahkaam) of the Sharee’ah which can only be established by an authentic proof. And how many matters have they prescribed and declared as ‘Mustahabb’ for the people based only upon weak Ahaadeeth – and what they comprise has no basis in the authentic Sunnah. And there is not enough room to discuss that here, but the example we have mentioned is sufficient. And many examples occur in the Book which will be indicated in their places – Inshaallah.

And what is important here is that it should be known that acting upon weak Ahaadeeth with regard to excellent actions for those who allow that – is not restricted, and al-Haafiz Inn Hajr says in ‘tabyeenul- ‘Ajab’ (pp.3-4) :

" It has become well known that the scholars are lenient about Ahaadeeth regarding excellent actions – even if they are weak -, as long as they are not fabricated – and even with that the condition should be made that the one acting on that Ahaadeeth should believe it to be weak, and should not publicise it so that someone else should act on a weak Ahaadeeth and make something a part of the Sharee’ah which is not form it – or that some ignorant people should see him and think that it is an established Sunnah – and this is clearly stated by ‘the teacher’ Aboo Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdis-Salaam and others. And the person should be careful not to fall under his (s.a.w.s) saying : " Whoever narrates from me a Ahaadeeth which he thinks is a lie then he is one of the liars. "

Then how about the one who acts upon it?! And there is no difference with regard to acting on a Ahaadeeth between rulings and excellent actions, since all of that is Sharee’ah.

So these are three important conditions for the allowance of acting on it :-

That it should not be fabricated (mawdoo’).

That the one acting on it should know that it is weak.

That the action based on it should not be publicised.

And it is a source of regret that we see many scholars – not to mention the common people - being lenient with regard to these conditions. So they act on the Ahaadeeth without knowing whether it is authentic or not – then if they know that it is weak they do not know how weak; slightly or not to be acted upon. Then they publicize the acting upon it as if it were an authentic Ahaadeeth! Therefore a large number of acts of worship have appeared which are not correct – and these have turned them away from established worships confirmed by authentic chains of narration.

Then these conditions lend weight to our view that the majority do not intend the meaning that we have just shows to be preferable – since their actions do not have any of those conditions as is clear.

And it appears to me that al-Haafiz (Ibn Hajr) leans towards the view that it is not permissible to act on the weak Ahaadeeth – with the non-preferred meaning i.e. for things not proven by authentic texts – due to his aforementioned saying : "… and there is no difference with regard to acting on a Ahaadeeth between rulings and excellent actions, since all of that is Sharee’ah."

This is true since it is possible that the weak Ahaadeeth which has nothing to support it is a lie – rather it is usually a fabricated lie, and that is stated clearly by some scholars and so such a person falls under his (s.a.w.s) saying : " .. which he thinks is a lie ", that is that that appears to be so. And therefore al-Haafiz said : " Then how about the one who acts on it ? " And this is aided by what we previously reported from Ibn Hibbaan : " So everyone who has doubt about what he reports – about whether it is authentic or not – then he falls under that narration. " So we say as al-Haafiz said : " Then how about the one who acts on it ?!"

So this is a clarification of what al-Haafiz meant. But as regards taking it to refer to the fabricated Ahaadeeth and that that is what there is no difference with regard to acting upon it whether in rulings or excellent actions – as some present day Shaikhs of Aleppo ( Haleb) do – then that is something very far from the context of al-Haafiz, since he is talking about the weak, not the fabricated Ahaadeeth as is clear!

And what we have said ( that Ibn Hajr’s position. that weak Ahaadeeth cannot be acted on for unproven acts) is not contradicted by the fact that he mentions conditions for acting on the weak Ahaadeeth – as thought by that Shaykh – since we say : al-haafiz mentioned them for those people whom he mentioned were lenient about quoting those Ahaadeeth with regard to excellent actions as long as they are not fabricated. So it is as if he says to them : ‘ If that is your view then you should restrict that with the following conditions ’, as I have done on this point, and al-Haafiz does not by these conditions state that he holds their view – especially since the end of what he said is a proof against that.

And to summarize : that the saying that the weak Ahaadeeth may be acted upon as regards excellent actions may not be said to refer to those actions which are not established by authentic proofs – since that goes against the established principle [ i.e. that the weak Ahaadeeth is invalidated opinion only ] and has no proof; and the one who does hold that view has to keep the conditions mentioned in his mind and adhere to them in his action, and success is with Allaah.

And then the other opposite saying to that which we have preferred leads the people to go beyond the scope of excellent actions and into its use within the Sharee’ah rulings, and even with regard to beliefs – and I have many examples of that – but I will suffice with a single example :- There is a Ahaadeeth which orders a praying person to draw a line in front of him if he does not find a sutrah – and even though al-Baihaqee and an-Nawaawe are amongst those who state that the Ahaadeeth is weak, then still they allow action upon it – going against the view of their Imaam ash-Shafi’ee – and a discussion of their saying will follow when that Ahaadeeth is discussed.

And he who wishes for a fuller explanation of this should refer to the introduction of ‘saheehut-Targheeb’ (1/16-36).