Second Category: the ḥasan (fair) ḥadith
Al-Khaṭṭābī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A ḥasan ḥadith is one whose source is known, whose transmitters are well-known; most ḥadiths revolve around it, the majority of scholars accept it, and the great body of jurists make use of it.
The Shaykh said: It is of two kinds.
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A chain of transmission (isnād) that includes a narrator who is “mastūr,” whose full reliability has not been firmly established, yet he is neither careless and prone to many errors nor has any reason for immorality appeared. In addition, the text (matn) of the ḥadith is already known through another route that conveys the same or similar wording.
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A report narrated by someone well-known for honesty and trustworthiness but who has not reached the grade of ṣaḥīḥ because his memory and precision are deficient, though he is above the level of one whose solitary narration would be deemed munkar.
The ḥasan ḥadith, like the ṣaḥīḥ, is admissible as proof, even though it is lower in strength; for that reason some scholars have grouped it within the category of ṣaḥīḥ. Allah knows best.
When the scholars say, “a ḥadith whose isnād is ḥasan” or “whose isnād is ṣaḥīḥ,” this is a lesser commendation than saying, “a ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ” or “ḥasan,” because the chain might be ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan while the text itself is not, owing to an irregularity or a hidden defect. If a reliable ḥāfiẓ confines his judgment to that wording, the apparent meaning is that the text, too, is sound and fair.
As for al-Tirmidhī’s phrase—and that of others—“ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ,” it means that the report has reached us through two separate chains: one that warrants the judgment “ṣaḥīḥ” and another that warrants “ḥasan.”