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One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I have a basic question on hadith....Q) Is it possible to have a hadith declared sahee by some group of scholars and daheef by other group of scholars?

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Answer:

Can same hadith be declared sahih and weak

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is indeed possible that the same hadith is declared ‘sahih’ or authentic by one group of recorders and ‘daeef’ or weak by another.

Each amongst the eminent recorders of the ‘ahadeeth’ performed an exhaustive research and a thorough investigation and put the narration through a set of select criteria to determine its authenticity….and only when they were completely satisfied, they recorded these hadiths in their ‘Sahih’ or Book of Authentic Hadiths. They investigated each aspect of the saying or deed whether it was in conformity with the Quran or not, for it is inconceivable for a believer to assume that the Messenger of Allah (saws) would have done or said anything against the dictates of the Quran. Then they thoroughly checked and investigated the chain of narrators to see whether they were truthful people or not, or whether one who claimed to have heard it from the other was alive at the same time or not, and if alive, did they ever meet each other or not! If there was even a slight doubt in any event or chain of events, these eminent scholars refused to accept the hadith as authentic.

Even after all their exhaustive efforts and thorough investigations, it is impossible to claim, nor does anyone ever claim, that each and every hadith in their collection of ‘sahih’ is absolutely authentic; for after all, this is a work of man, and man is prone to shortcomings and error. For the believers, the only guaranteed authentic Book of Guidance has to be the Glorious Quran, whose authenticity is guaranteed until the end of time by none other than Allah Subhanah. For every aspect of guidance, ‘emaan’, belief, faith, ‘aqeedah’, ‘tawheed’, ‘shirk’, etc., one need not look beyond the Glorious Quran. The hadiths, once they have been declared authentic by the scholars, will only be used when one finds the Quran silent on a particular issue or subject.

It is also very possible that the criteria of one recorder of hadith might not have been as stringent or as strict as another recorder; thus what might have passed the criteria of one recorder might not pass the strict criteria of another.

The absolute majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that amongst all the recorders of ‘ahadeeth’, the most stringent and strictest criteria were those which were applied by Bukhari and Muslim. Thus if any narration which have passed the stringent criteria of either or both Bukhari and Muslim, and they have chosen to record the narration in their collection of ‘sahih’ or authentic hadeeths, then it would be reasonably safe to assume the narration as authentic.

Amongst the other eminent recorders of hadith whose criteria were accepted as good, but maybe not as stringent or strict as Bukhari and Muslim were:

1. Tirmidhi
2. Abu Dawood
3. Ibn Maajah
4. Imam Maalik

After Bukhari and Muslim, and after the above mentioned four recorders of hadith, come the other recorders like Duruktani, Tabarani, Ibn Khuzaimah, etc.

And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan