Asslamo Allaikum,
Opinions of the GIANTS of the Ummah of permissablity of using Weak Ahadeeth in Fadaa’il Al-A’maal (Excellent Deeds) with conditions (as described) contrasting with Shaykh Al-Albani (RA)'s opinion of rejecting weak Hadeeth WHOLESALE!
Shaykh al-Islam Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi (RA) said in the 'Adhkar':
"The ulama among the experts in hadith and the experts in law and others have said: it is permissible and (also) recommended that the religious practice (al-`amal) concerning good deeds and good character (al-fadâ'il), encouragement to good and discouragement from evil (al-targhib wa al-tarhib) be based (even) on weak hadith (bi al-hadith al- da`îf) as long as it is not forged (mawdu`).
As for legal rulings (ahkâm) such as what is permitted and what is forbidden, or the modalities of trade, marriage, divorce and other than that: one's practice is not based upon anything other than sound (sahih) or fair (hasan) hadith, except as a precaution in some matter related to one of the above, for example, if a weak hadith was cited about the reprehensibility (karahat) of certain kinds of sales or marriages. In such cases what is recommended (al-mustahabb) is to avoid such sales and marriages, but it is not obligatory (la yajib)."
Disagreeing with this Abu al-`Arabi al-Maliki (RA) said:
"Absolutely no practice is based on weak hadith." [Also, Ibn Taymiyya was of the opinion that no ruling of mustahabb can ever be based on a weak hadith.]
I have heard my Shaykh (Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani (RA)) insist on the following, and he put it to me in writing himself:
"The conditions for religious practice based on weak hadith are three:
This is unanimously agreed upon (muttafaqun `alayh):
1 - That the weakness must not be very strong (ghayr shadid). This excludes those ahadith singly recorded by liars or those accused of lying, and those who make gross mistakes.
2 - That there be a general legal basis for it. This excludes what is invented and has no legal basis to start with.
3 - That one not think, while practicing on the basis of it, that it has been established as true (an la ya`taqida thubutahu). This is in order that no words which the Prophet did not (verifiably) say be attributed to him."
He continued:
"The last two conditions are from Ibn `Abd al- Salam and his companion Ibn Daqiq al-`Id; Abu Sa`eed al-`Ala'i (specialist in forgeries) reported unanimity over the first one."
Read the entire quotation again as it is frequently cited by Shaykh Al-Albani (RA)'s supporters in support of Shaykh Al-Albani (RA), it actually doesn't support his position!
Ibn Taymiyya said in his book "al-qaida al-jaleela fit- tawwasuli wal-waseela", with commentary of Dr. Rabi'a bin Hadi 'Umayr al-Mudkhali, professor in the Islamic University of Madinah al-Munawwara, Page 162, para 478:
"But Ahmad ibn Hanbal and other scholars permitted the narration [of hadith] regarding the virtues of good what is not established [as authentic] as long as it is not known that it is a lie." (laakinna Ahmad ibn Hanbal wa ghayruh min al-'ulama jawwazu an yurwa fee fada'il al-'aamal maa lam yu'lam annahu thaabit idha lam yu'lam annahu kadhib.)
To continue, Ibn Taymiyya says, in para 478:
"and that is the action which is known to be lawful with a shari'ah evidence, and there has been narrated in its virtue a hadith that is not known to be a lie, it is possible that the reward will be true, although none of the Imams have said that it is permissible to consider something required (wâjib) or recommended (mustahabb) by way of a weak hadith, and whoever said so differed from the consensus (ijmâ')."
Non-Authentic Narrations about Fasting and Ramadhan
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