The ḥadith that the Shaykh judged defective because of a gap in the chain is not this one; it is a different report—namely, the story of the young woman who came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and told him that her father had married her to his nephew while she detested him. The Prophet ﷺ left the matter to her, whereupon she said: “I ratify what my father has done, but I wanted women to know that fathers hold no authority in such matters.” See al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/1/1009), footnote.
– Ḥadith 23: “The collector of customs is in the Fire.”
This ḥadith is not found in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb under the number cited by our brother (279); rather, it appears in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb under no. 787.
– Ḥadith 27: “Two groups of my community will not be allowed to drink from the Pond ….”
The brother stated that this ḥadith is in al-Ḍaʿīfah under no. 3785, but the ḥadith under that number is a different one; see al-Ṣaḥīḥah (6/1/565). Note: the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, included this report in Ẓilāl al-Jannah under no. 949 and graded it weak there, so this should be corrected here.
– Ḥadith 35: “I see what you do not see and hear what you do not hear. The heavens creak—and it is their right to creak—for there is not a span of four fingers within them but that an angel has placed his forehead on the ground in prostration to Allah. By Allah, were you to know what I know, you would laugh little and weep much; you would not take pleasure with women upon your beds, and you would go out to the hilltops crying out to Allah.”
The Shaykh said in al-Naṣīḥah (p. 246) regarding the phrase “and you would not take pleasure with women upon your beds”: “So far I have found nothing to strengthen it.”
And Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
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Muḥammad Abū ʿUmar replied:
May Allah bless you, dear brother, and increase your zeal and success.
Concerning ḥadith no. 6, “Do not be hard on yourselves …,” the Shaykh documented it in volume 7 of al-Ḍaʿīfah, where it is numbered 3467—but the correct number is 3468. See the Shaykh’s words in al-Ṣaḥīḥah, vol. 7, under ḥadith no. 3124.
– Ḥadith no. 13: “O Allah, You are Pardoning, You love pardon, so pardon me.”
The ḥadith the Shaykh deemed interrupted is not this one; it is the story of the girl mentioned above. You are correct—this was a glaring error on my part, for which I followed the compiler of the material; may Allah pardon us all by His grace and generosity.
– Ḥadith 23: “The collector of customs is in the Fire.”
It is not in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb under no. 279; rather, it is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb under no. 787. I merely reproduced the reference cited by the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, in the third edition of Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ. You know, dear brother, that Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb has an older printing.
– Ḥadith 27: “Two groups of my community will not be brought to the Pond ….”
The brother said this ḥadith is in al-Ḍaʿīfah under no. 3785, whereas the report under that number is another ḥadith; see al-Ṣaḥīḥah (6/1/565). The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“After closely examining the chain of this ḥadith of Anas and determining that it is strong, it became necessary to include it in this series (al-Ṣaḥīḥah) and to remove it from Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ, where it is attributed to al-Ḍaʿīfah under no. 3785. That number, however, actually contains another ḥadith condemning the Murjiʾah. I therefore deemed it essential to point this out. We ask Allah, exalted is He, to direct our steps and guide us to that which pleases Him in word and deed.” (al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah 6/1/565)
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Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-ʿĪdlī then continued his corrections:
Regarding ḥadith no. 6, I have already rectified my mistake above, yet there is no harm in quoting the Shaykh al-Albānī’s words once more. He said in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (7/1/334):
“Abū Shurayḥ al-Iskandarānī is trustworthy; both Ṣaḥīḥs rely upon him. He is contradicted, in both chain and wording, by Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-ʿUmayyā, who reported from Sahl ibn Abī Umāmah that Anas ibn Mālik related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say …,” then he produced the ḥadith with similar wording and added: “wa-rahbāniyyatan ibtadaʿūhā mā katabnāhā ʿalayhim” (and monasticism which they themselves invented—We did not prescribe it for them). The next morning they said: “Let us mount and observe so that we may take heed ….” The ḥadith continues at length. I cited it in the other book (3468) because of this addition, which Saʿīd alone transmits, and no one besides Ibn Ḥibbān declared him reliable.” End of the relevant quotation.
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Further remarks and corrections …
Ḥadith 59: “Whenever he donned the turban he would let its tail hang between his shoulders.”
It is questionable to claim that the Shaykh moved from authentication to grading it weak. All that happened is that he declared weak the ḥadith: “He would twist the turban’s folds around his head, tuck it behind him, and let a portion of it hang between his shoulders,” which is numbered 4267 in al-Ḍaʿīfah.
The Shaykh wrote in his documentation: “Munkar! Yet the final sentence—that he let the turban hang between his shoulders—is sound, because it has supporting witnesses from the ḥadith of Ibn ʿUmar and others. I had already traced these in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 717, one of them being this very chain through Abū ʿAbd al-Salām. Allah then decreed and, by His grace, enabled me to lay hands on the isnād of the ḥadith; I hastened to document it here and to reveal its defect, namely the unknown status of Abū Salām.”
So whence did our esteemed brother understand that the Shaykh had retracted his authentication?