Muslim

After this (clarification), may Allah have mercy on you! (We wish to say that) had we not seen many of those who appoint themselves to the rank of hadith scholars committing errors in matters such as abandoning the narration of weak and rejected reports—which they were obliged to avoid—and had they not neglected to suffice themselves with narrating only the authentic reports transmitted by those trustworthy narrators who are well-known for their truthfulness and reliability, even after admitting that much of what they carelessly narrate before simple-minded and unintelligent people is, in fact, rejected and transmitted from those whom the scholars do not approve of taking from, and from whom narrating is considered blameworthy by the great imams of hadith, such as Malik ibn Anas, Shu’bah ibn al-Hajjaj, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, and others—had we not seen all this, it would not have been easy for us to accept your request regarding distinguishing between the authentic and the weak (hadith) and striving to obtain only the authentic.

But just as we have informed you about the people’s narration of rejected hadiths with weak and unknown chains, and their spreading them among the common folk who are unaware of their defects, it is for this very reason that it has become easy for our hearts to accept your request.