Question:
“In the October 11, 2025 live session, when speaking about two hadith regarding saying ‘Aameen’, you said that when there is a strong (authentic) hadith and weak hadith about the same matter, we should follow the strong one and leave the weak one. But in the November live session, when discussing the hadith about expiation (kaffarah) for marital relations during menstruation, you said that the hadith is weak and did not apply the same ‘general principle’ you mentioned earlier. Is this not contradictory?”
Answer:
The clarification is as follows:
There is a fundamental difference between the two situations.
First situation (Aameen issue):
There were two completely separate hadith reports about the same topic. One hadith came through an authentic chain of narration. The other came through a weak chain. Since they are two different narrations, the general principle in hadith methodology applies:
- Accept the authentic narration.
- Reject the weak narration.
This is like having two apples: one is spoiled and one is fresh. You discard the spoiled one and keep the good one. The weakness of one does not invalidate the other.
Second situation (Expiation during menstruation):
Here, there is only one single hadith. It is not two different reports with two different rulings. It is one hadith about giving charity as expiation if someone has relations during menstruation.
However, scholars differ about the grading of that same hadith.
- Some scholars say the hadith is authentic (sahih).
- Some scholars say it is weak (da‘if).
So this is not a case of “two hadiths—one strong, one weak.” It is one hadith with two scholarly evaluations.
In such a case, we cannot apply the earlier general rule (which applies only when there are two different narrations). Instead, we must examine the scholarly arguments:
- Who declared it authentic?
- On what basis?
- Who declared it weak?
- What are their evidences?
Then we adopt the stronger scholarly position after analysis.
This is like one single garment: one person says it is cotton; another says it is nylon. It is still one garment. You cannot say, “I will take the cotton one and leave the nylon one,” because there are not two garments. There is only one. You must investigate and conclude what it actually is.
Therefore, there is no contradiction between the two answers.
- When there are two different hadiths, one authentic and one weak → follow the authentic and leave the weak.
- When there is only one hadith but scholars differ about its authenticity → examine the scholarly reasoning and adopt the stronger conclusion.
The difference in approach is due to the difference in situation, not inconsistency.