Why scholars include weak Ahaadeeth in their works
10-4-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
Shaykh, mu question is regarding the book ''Kitab Al-Sunnah'' of Imam Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, rahimahullah.Are all hadiths and sayings in this book sahih, or this book it contains alsso weak and fabricated hadiths and sayyings?We have read from a sufi Nuhi Ha Mim Keller who pretends that he had controlled this book with Shaykh Shuayb Arnaoot and that Shaykh Shuayb said that at least 50 % of hadiths mentioned in book are daef or fabricated? Is this true? And if this is true, why did the son of Imam Ahmad, mentioned this weak and fabricated hadiths on this book? Does this means that those scholars (Imam Ahmed and his son, and scholars like Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyya and Shaykh Ibn Qayyim and others) agreed with everything which is attributed to Allah on this book?Shaykh may Allah reward you for your work. P.S: Some brothers are translating your answers (of questions that we ask you) in our language (in Albanian), because some deviant extreme sufi asharis and maturidis had opened this kind of accusations against Ahli Sunnah.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
You should know that there is no book that is absolutely free of error except the Book of Allaah; He says (what means): {And indeed, it is a mighty Book. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy.} [Quran 41:41-42] Only the Quran is a fault-free book; even the Saheeh collections of Al-Bukhari and Muslim may contain errors. Hadeeth scholars have questioned the authenticity of some Ahaadeeth cited in them. However, the majority of the Ahaadeeth that have been questioned are authentic, and the Ahaadeeth in them are generally accepted by the Muslim community at large.
As for the Kitaab As-Sunnah compiled by ‘Abdullaah ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Dr. Sa‘eed Saalim Al-Qahtaani commented on the Ahaadeeth citied in it and assessed some of them to be weak. However, this does not detract from the status of the book or its compiler. There are many authentic Ahaadeeth and reports cited in it.
In his commentary on Muslim's Saheeh, An-Nawawi 
highlighted the reason Hadeeth compilers included weak reports in their books. He said:
“It may be asked, Why do Hadeeth scholars cite weak reports that cannot be used as evidence in their books? There are a number of responses to this:
First, they believed that it is important to cite such weak reports in order to highlight their weakness so as to avoid future confusion on their part or on part of others who may later question the authenticity of those reports.
Second, Hadeeth scholars cited weak reports to be used as corroborating evidence, as previously highlighted in the section on corroborating reports (Mutaaba‘aat), and they are not to be used as evidence by themselves.
Third, the reports narrated by weak transmitters include authentic, weak and false reports. Hadeeth compilers documented them all and then competent Hadeeth scholars and critics classified the degree of each. This is easy for them as they can identify weak reporters. This was the justification offered by Sufyaan Ath-Thawri when he forbade transmitting the reports of Al-Kalbi. It was said to him, But you cite the reports transmitted by Al-Kalbi. He answered: "I can identify what is authentic and what is false of what he reports."
Fourth, they may cite weak reports in relation to heart-softening, admonitions, spiritual advice, stories, asceticism and denouncement of worldly pleasures, noble manners and similar topics that do not comprise what is lawful and unlawful and matters of the law. For Hadeeth scholars and others, it is permissible to be more tolerant concerning this type of Hadeeth, and to transmit those of them that are not fabricated, and to act in accordance with them, because the basis of them is sound and established in the religion and known to adept people.
In any case, Hadeeth scholars never cited reports transmitted by weak narrators and used them as evidence by themselves in matters related to the law; none of the Hadeeth scholars or researching scholars in other fields did so.” [End of quote]
This book was written by its author in response to the Jahmiyyah, which means that it relates to matters of creed and faith, and these matters should only be practiced through verified, explicit texts. So if there is a weak Hadeeth or report in this book whose provisions the scholars have adopted, then its authenticity must have been verified in their view, and some scholars may have included it in another book from an authentic route of transmission. This is something known to those concerned with Islamic knowledge.
Finally, we cannot fairly state that everything in this book relating to the Divine Attributes of Allaah has been adopted by the scholars because this requires a thorough revision of the whole book. However, it is obvious that the authentic Divine Attributes can be found in famous Hadeeth collections, such as the Saheeh works of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Sunan collections of Abu Daawood, An-Nasaa'i, At-Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah, and the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad; almost all of the Divine Attributes can be found in them.
Allaah Knows best.