The Eleventh Principle: A weak hadith may not be quoted unless its weakness is explicitly stated.

Many authors—especially in our own times, whatever their legal school or field of expertise—habitually transmit hadiths attributed to the Prophet ﷺ without indicating which of them are weak. They do so either out of ignorance of the Sunnah, a personal preference, or sheer laziness in consulting the works of the specialists. Some of those very specialists, I should add, grow lax in this regard, particularly when it comes to hadiths dealing with the merits of certain deeds.

Abu Shama¹ said:
“Among the meticulous scholars of hadith, as well as the scholars of legal theory and jurisprudence, this is considered an error. Indeed, if one knows a hadith’s status he must make it clear; otherwise he falls under the threat in the Prophet’s ﷺ words: ‘Whoever relates a report from me while believing it to be false is one of the liars,’ related by Muslim.”

Such is the ruling for someone who keeps silent about weak hadiths in the realm of virtuous deeds—so how much more so when