Characterizing Hasan Narrators
When classifying narrators into the level of Sahih and the level of weak, it became clear to the scholars of hadith that there is a middle group of narrators who are neither accurate and precise enough to match the level of Sahih narrators nor did they make enough mistakes to be reduced to the level of weak narrators.
These were people who were honest and pious and had relatively good memory but either were not careful with hadith or were forgetful enough that their hadith were sometimes riddled with mistakes.
We do not expect this group of narrators to have totally made up the hadith either intentionally or unintentionally but expect them to have made smaller mistakes in a hadith.
As such, we should take the overall message of their narrations seriously, but not the exact words of their narrations.
Rewording, Elaboration, and Interpretation
It is expected and common that, when someone hears a report, he narrates it to others in his own words. We expect accurate narrators to preserve the meaning and content of the hadith, even if we don’t expect them to preserve the exact words.
However, inaccurate narrators (of the level of Hasan or weak) were often known to mistakenly elaborate or reword a hadith in a way that does not accurately preserve its meaning.
This is natural, because an honest person who is teaching a lesson from memory or giving a motivational speech or giving a khutbah is often inaccurate with quotes unless he is a specialized scholar.
How many times do you hear a khateeb narrate a hadith from the Prophet (SAW) and later on you find that the hadith was slightly different from how the khateeb worded it?
The problem with the rewording and elaboration of Hasan or weak narrators is that it is possible they misinterpreted a hadith or elaborated it according to their own view of what it means.
For example, the Prophet (SAW) said, “On the Day of Judgement, every Muslim will be brought a Jew or a Christian and will be told, ‘This is your ransom from the fire.'” (Sahih Muslim)
The meaning is that Paradise and Hell have designated places for everyone. If you go to Paradise, your place in Hell is given to someone going to Hell. If you go to Hell, your place in Paradise is given to someone going to Paradise. So, every believer will be shown who will inherit his place in Hell.
A weaker narrator narrated the same hadith with the following words: On the Day of Judgement, some Muslims will come with sins the size of mountains. Then, Allah will remove their sins from them and place them on Jews and Christians.
This weaker narrator remembered the overall concept of the original hadith, but he did not understand its meaning fully and later narrated it with a garbled and jumbled wording that does not match the original and also contradicts clear verses of the Quran: ⟪No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another⟫.
Dangers of Long Hadith
Reports are usually short and specific, because that is how humans naturally remember and transmit statements and actions of someone they knew in the past.
As such, when you come across a long report from narrators not to the level of Sahih, it is likely there is much elaboration going on in the hadith or there is a collation of multiple sources.
So, you can accept the overall message, but you should be careful of specific parts of the hadith and their words. An example of this is given in the next section.
Using Message, not Wording
After you understand the nature of Hasan narrators and why their hadith are considered less than the hadith of Sahih narrators, you also understand how we should use Hasan narrations.
A Hasan narration should be used for its overall message and lesson but we should not be hung up on its exact words.
For example, many companions narrated from the Prophet (SAW), “When it becomes very hot (in the summer), then delay the [Zuhr] prayer until it is cooler, because extreme heat is from the flames of Hell.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
Similarly, Ibn Umar, Aisha, and Ibn Abbas (RA) narrated from the Prophet (SAW), “Fever is from the fire of Hell, so cool it with water.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
Many scholars understood these hadith to be a metaphor to indicate that you should avoid extreme heat whenever possible because heat is how Allah punishes people in Hell, so it is something to be avoided whenever possible, not endured without reason.
In a Hasan narration, Amr ibn Abasah narrated a long hadith from the Prophet (SAW) about the times of prayer, and he said within that, “When the sun is upright like a spear in the middle of the day (at noon), that is a time when the doors of Hell are opened and Hell is stoked, so do not pray at that time until shadows appear (i.e. noon has passed).” (Sunan Nasai)
Someone asked me about this hadith and said: How is it possible to say the doors of Hell are opened at midday when it is midday somewhere on earth all the time?
One possible answer is that there is a different door of Hell for each region that is opened for its midday.
Another answer is simply that the exact words of Hasan hadith should not be taken very seriously, only their message. The message of the hadith is that we should not pray at noon until the sun declines. As for the exact words about the gates of Hell being opened at that time, it is possibly a rewording or mistaken literal elaboration of the Sahih hadith about extreme heat being from Hell.
Allowance of Using Weak Hadith
Many scholars allowed the use of weak hadith for the sake of encouraging known good deeds or discouraging known evil deeds. Some even allowed using weak hadith to prescribe new good deeds that are similar to known good deeds.
For example, Abu Qilabah narrated from Aisha (RA) from the Prophet (SAW), “The most complete believer in faith is the one who has the best character and is the kindest to his family.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Abu Qilabah never learned Aisha (RA), so the hadith is not Sahih, but it is a usable level of weak.
This is different from extremely weak hadith or those hadith that are proven wrong due to contradiction or extreme strangeness.
For example, Ali ibn Masadah alone narrated from Qatadah from Anas from the Prophet (SAW), “Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of sinners are those who repent.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Ali was alone narrating from Qatadah, and this hadith is thus extremely weak. It is not even correct to use it for support except after noting it is not authentic to the Prophet (SAW). It is allowed to use it as a wise saying of scholars without attributing it to the Prophet (SAW).
Differentiating between usable weak and extremely weak is a place that can have difference of opinion. Early scholars had higher standards than later scholars, so you often see hadith that were deemed extremely weak by early experts of hadith like Ahmad or Bukhari being used by later scholars for encouragement or discouragement.
Dangers of Overturning the Balance of Islam
Allah revealed Islam with a balance in its encouragement and discouragement. He created levels for good deeds and levels for sins. He encouraged what needs to be encouraged in the Quran and through his Messenger (SAW) and discouraged what needs to be discouraged.
The problem arises when a motivational speaker or khateeb wants to emphasize about a good deed or against a sin which Allah and the Prophet (SAW) only spoke briefly about. When they did this in the past, sometimes their speech became confused into (weak) hadith.
Then, people today read those weak hadith that emphasize the good deed or warn against the sin to such a level that it seems to overshadow what Allah and the Prophet (SAW) actually warned against.
For example, there are numerous hadith from the Prophet (SAW) emphasizing the importance of praying Salah in the masjid, especially Fajr and Isha.
In one hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said, “Prayer in congregation is 27 times better than prayer in the masjid.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim) In another hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said, “If only they knew what was the reward, they would come to the masjid even if they had to crawl.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim) In one hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said, “I almost felt I should let someone lead prayer then that I should go to burn down the houses of those who stayed at home.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim) In another hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said: If people knew the reward in the first row, they would fight over it to the point of drawing lots. (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
It is difficult to overstate the importance of praying in congregation.
However, there is a weak or Hasan hadith that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever prays Fajr in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises then prays two rakahs, he will have the reward of Hajj or Umrah.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
The act of sitting after Fajr is a proven Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), but the amount of reward quoted in this hadith makes it overshadow the reward of praying congregation for other prayers like Isha, even though in Sahih hadith those are far more encouraged.
This is how a weak hadith can overturn the balance of Islam and make people emphasize what was not truly emphasized in authentic sources.
