some weakness in his retention—contrary to what the critic’s citation of al-Ḥāfiẓ’s statement, “Truthful, but makes mistakes,” might suggest. Most likely, he does not know that by this al-Ḥāfiẓ meant that he made few mistakes, as he explicitly stated in the introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī (p. 384). Al-Dhahabī alluded to this in al-Mīzān, saying:
“The man was a hadith scholar with sound retention, one of the narrators of the Six Books, and prolific in narration; he made mistakes, like others.”
Accordingly, he said in his book al-Kāshif:
“Truthful, an imam.”
Is it permissible, O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, to reject the hadith of such an imam?! Fear Allah, then, and do not follow caprice, lest it lead you astray from the path of Allah.
Moreover, one seeking the truth should not stop at a single statement by al-Ḥāfiẓ or anyone else and build upon it a judgment of reliability and authenticity, or of disparagement and weakness. Rather, he should derive from the statements of the leading scholars a conclusion in which he can have confidence, and base his judgments upon it. Otherwise, he will issue inconsistent judgments. This is what we see among many novice students today: at one time, one of them judges a narrator’s hadith to be strong, and at another declares it weak—not because his independent legal reasoning has changed, nor because he is applying such principles as anomalousness and contradiction, but rather on the basis that “the end justifies the means.” One of them may be inclined to declare a hadith weak, and so gathers every statement he can find in support of its weakness; or he does the opposite if his inclination is toward the hadith being authentic.
In light of what I have mentioned, we ask this critic: What is your basic ruling regarding this hadith of Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar? Do you regard it as evidence, or do you deem it weak?
If you say the former, then why did you declare this hadith of his weak?!
And if you say the latter, then what is your proof in the face of al-Bukhārī’s and Muslim’s reliance upon his hadith—let alone