That, however, does not entitle anyone to state categorically that the report goes back to the Prophet—Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—as every competent scholar knows, despite the claims of certain people of whim, ancient and modern alike, as was already clarified in the refutation of Shaykh al-Ghazali at the beginning of this treatise. Hence al-Hafiz Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr says in al-Tamḥīd 1/58:

“A weak hadith is not to be set aside, that is, it is not to be ignored, even though it is not relied upon as evidence; indeed, more than one hadith with a weak isnad may be sound in meaning.”

In brief, a hadith whose chain is weak can still be correct in meaning when its purport accords with the texts of the Sharia, such as the report, “Glad tidings to the one whose own faults occupy him from the faults of others,”1 and many similar narrations. Yet that does not justify attributing it to the Prophet himself. At times a report may be sound in both wording and meaning because of external supporting evidence, as is the case with this sixth hadith and some of those that preceded it. Keep this firmly in mind, and do not let the ranting of the ignorant or the uproar of agitators divert you from it, for we live in an age where writers are many but true scholars are few. To Allah alone we complain; there is no power and no strength except through Allah.