A Major Error Related to Ḍa’īf Ḥadīth

 

Ḥujjatul Islām ‘Allamah Khalid Mahmud (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

"A major error in the present era regarding ḍa’īf (weak) ḥadīth, which almost everyone is guilty of, is that as soon as they hear a ḍa’īf (weak) ḥadīth, a kind of hatred arises in them, and they begin talking about abandoning it.”

While warning about this, he explained with two examples that this behavior is not correct.

1. He said, “I am a weak man, are you listening to me with attention, enthusiasm and love or not?” Students: “Yes.” He replied, “The first lesson learnt from this point is that do not hate the ḍa’īf (weak), as soon as it comes to the question of a ḥadīth that it is weak, an emotion arises that says leave it, abandon it. Therefore, spread the word among people that one should not hate the ḍa’īf (weak).”

2. “There is a healthy man, a weak man and a dead man, now tell me, is the weak one closer to the dead or the healthy one?” Students: “He is closer to the healthy one.” 'Allamah Khalid Mahmud replied, “A weak person, although not like a healthy one, eats and drinks. This shows that the weak hadith is closer to the authentic one and not closer to the mawḍū’, i.e., fabricated.”

Safdar Magazine - ‘Allāmah Khālid Maḥmūd Edition vol. 2, p. 462