must present clear evidence—and such evidence is all but impossible to produce!

Second: When they say, “…in the virtues of deeds,” I take this to mean deeds whose legitimacy has already been established by sound, authoritative proof. A weak ḥadith may then accompany that deed, mentioning a specific reward for the one who performs it. In that narrow sense the weak report may be cited regarding the virtues of deeds, because it does not institute the deed itself; it merely describes a particular merit that the doer may hope to obtain.

Some scholars have indeed interpreted the maxim in this way. Shaykh ʿAlī al-Qārī—may Allah have mercy on him—said in al-Mirqāt, 2/381: “The statement that a weak ḥadith may be acted upon in matters of virtue, even without corroboration, as al-Nawawī said, pertains to virtues that are already established by the Qur’an or the Sunnah.”

Accordingly, acting upon such a report is permissible only when the deed it speaks of has been proven legitimate by other, probative evidence. Yet I am convinced that most of those who champion this position do not intend this precise meaning, obvious though it is. We find them, for example, acting upon weak aḥādīth whose contents are not supported by any authentic narration. Al-Nawawī, followed by the author of our present work, deemed it recommended to answer the caller who pronounces the iqāmah by saying, “May Allah establish it and make it endure,” although the ḥadith on which this practice rests is weak, as will be shown later. Here we have a ruling whose legitimacy is not affirmed anywhere outside that lone weak report, yet they still classify it as recommended—even though “recommended” is one of the five legal rulings that cannot be established without conclusive proof.

There are, in fact, many such matters that have been legislated for the people and declared desirable solely on the basis of weak aḥādīth that have no sound foundation in the authentic Sunnah. Space does not permit a full catalogue; the example just mentioned will suffice for now. The book, however, contains many more instances, which will be discussed in their proper places, Allah willing.