QUESTION
Some people use the hadeeth of [incident of] the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) with Dhul-Yadayn (RA) as evidence for verification of the khabar [report] of the trustworthy person. He (Dhul-Yadayn) said to him, "Did you shorten the prayer or did you forget?". So the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) verified [what was said by] Dhul-Yadayn alongside (the fact) that Dhul-Yadayn was trustworthy and this became a continuous principle with him. So they said that this means that we should verify the news of the trustworthy person especially in manhaj (methodology)!
ANSWER
No, this is not correct . If the news is from a trustworthy person, then no verification is requested for it at all. This is because (the hadeeth in context is that) the Prophet (sallaIlahu alayhi wa sallam), is the one who is praying and he is fully certain that he did not shorten (the prayer),that he did not decrease anything from his prayer. So his (firm) resolve (in his belief of not having shortened) was stronger than what was said by Dhul-Yadayn. So when another person stood and said the same as what was said by Dhul-Yadayn, the Prophet (sallallahu ala yhi wa sallam) turned back from his (firm) resolve (in his belief in not having shortened the prayer), on account of what a group (of people besides him) were upon (regarding the matter).
And now you will see the people of desires and innovations, and their tail-ends, in this time, rejecting the narrations of a group (of people), not just one, but they reject the narrations of a group from amongst the trustworthy scholars, they do not, accept them, because It goes against their desires. So is known that they speak with this principle which they came with and which they contrived in order to conceal their falsehood, not in order to accept the truth. So its obligatory upon the one being asked to be intelligent, [that] he knows the objective of those people, because they take the likes of these expressions and then fly with them.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited