Hadiths moved from authentication to classification as weak:

1. “Do you want to put people to trial, Muʿādh? When you lead them in prayer, recite: (wa-sh-shamsi wa-ḍuḥāhā), (sabbih isma rabbika al-aʿlā), (wa-l-layli idhā yaghshā), and (iqraʾ bismi rabbika).” Al-Irwāʾ 1/331. The Shaykh noted that the author used this story to argue that a follower may intend to leave the imam for an excuse that allows missing the congregational prayer. He found this debatable, discussed it at length, and cited the Muslim version: “The man turned aside, uttered the salām, and then prayed alone,” adding, “This is explicit on the point, and Allah knows best.” Later, in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 3171, p. 518, he wrote: “Now that it is manifestly clear that this wording is anomalous and unsound, I have retracted my reliance on it. The other narrations are sufficient, and praise belongs to Allah for His guidance; I ask Him for yet more of His grace.”

2. “Do not sell female singers, buy them, or teach them; there is no good in trading in them, and their price is forbidden. Concerning them the verse was revealed: ‘And among mankind is he who purchases idle talk so that he may mislead others from the path of Allah without knowledge’ (Q 31:6).” Al-Ṣaḥīḥah 2922. The Shaykh (p. 118) wrote: “I have abandoned citing al-Walīd’s narration in support of this. The ḥadīth remains weak—except for the portion about the verse being revealed regarding singing, which is backed by sound reports from Ibn Masʿūd and others that, according to al-Ḥākim and others, carry the force of marfūʿ.” See Tirmidhī 1282, Ibn Mājah 2168, Hidāyat al-Ruwāt 2711, Taḥrīm Ālāt al-Ṭarb p. 68, Taʿlīqāt al-Raḍiyyah 2/361, and Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ 6189.

3. “Allah will fold up the heavens on the Day of Resurrection, take them in His right hand and say, ‘I am the Sovereign—where are the tyrants, where are the arrogant?’ Then He will fold up the earths, take them (in His left hand) and say, ‘I am the Sovereign—where are the tyrants, where are the arrogant?’” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 8108; related by Muslim and Abū Dāwūd from Ibn ʿUmar. In al-Ṣaḥīḥah 3136, p. 375, the Shaykh judged the phrase “in His left hand” to be objectionable (shādh).

4. “Four rakʿahs before Ẓuhr—without concluding with the salām—open the gates of heaven.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 885; Mishkāt 1168; Hidāyat al-Ruwāt 1125; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 1153; Ibn Mājah 950. The Shaykh wrote in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 3404, p. 1198: “Ibn Mājah and others report a fuller version that adds, ‘Do not separate them with a salām’; this addition is anomalous.” See Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) 320 and Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ 4567.

5. Under ḥadīth 99 in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah, pp. 205–206, the Shaykh cited the report that ʿUmar proposed to ʿAlī for his daughter Umm Kulthūm. After some hesitation, ʿAlī sent the girl; ʿUmar uncovered her shins, and she said, “Had you not been Commander of the Believers, I would have struck your eye.” In al-Ḍaʿīfah 1273, p. 434, the Shaykh writes: “I had once considered its chain sound, but when ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s compilation was printed I saw that the isnād is both mursal and broken. Out of scholarly honesty I now make this clear to the readers.”

6. “Let each of you utter istirjāʾ—‘We belong to Allah and to Him we return’—in every matter, even when the strap of his sandal breaks, for that too is a calamity.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 5448; Mishkāt 1760; al-Kalim al-Ṭayyib (Maktab al-Islāmī) p. 140, where the Shaykh graded it ḥasan. In al-Kalim al-Ṭayyib (Maʿārif) p. 127 he later wrote: “Its isnād is extremely weak and the cited corroboration differs in meaning.” Detailed in al-Ḍaʿīfah 5595; see also Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ 4949 and Hidāyat al-Ruwāt 2191.

7. “The people of Paradise will feel no regret over anything except an hour that passed them in which they did not remember Allah.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ 5446. The Shaykh said it is “closer to weak.” It once appeared in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 2197, but in the Maʿārif edition it was removed and placed in al-Ḍaʿīfah 4986 and Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) 910.

8. “There will be camels of the devils and houses of the devils. As for the camels of the devils, I have seen them: a man sets out with well-fattened mounts yet never rides even one, and he passes his stranded brother without giving him a ride. As for the houses of the devils, I have not seen them.” The Shaykh remarked under ḥadīth 2303 in al-Ḍaʿīfah: “I had once included this in al-Ṣaḥīḥah 93 before the discontinuity in its chain became clear; praise be to Allah who guided us—without His guidance we would never have been guided.” Accordingly, it was deleted from the Maʿārif edition of al-Ṣaḥīḥah. See Abū Dāwūd 2568 and Hidāyat al-Ruwāt 3842.

9. “The Messenger of Allah forbade urinating into a hole.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb, 2nd ed. (1406 AH), no. 150, where the Shaykh graded it ṣaḥīḥ; in Ḍaʿīf al-Targhīb (Maʿārif) it appears under no. 120.