Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

This hadeeth was

narrated by Ibn Majah (2620) and al-‘Aqeeli in al-Du’afa (457) and

al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan (8/22). It is a da’eef (weak) hadeeth which is not

soundly narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him). Imam Ahmad said: This hadeeth is not saheeh.

Indeed, Abu Hatim

ruled it to be mawdoo’ (fabricated), and al-Thahabi agreed with him. Ibn

al-Jawzi narrated it in al-Mawdoo’at (2/104). Ibn Hibban said: This is a

mawdoo’ (fabricated) hadeeth which has no basis.

Ibn Hajar and

al-Munthiri said: (This is) a very weak hadeeth. Al-Zayla’i said: it is a

weak (da’eef) hadeeth.

Al-Albani

mentioned it in Da’eef Sunan Ibn Majah and said: (it is) very weak.

Secondly:

Even though this

hadeeth is weak, there is no doubt that helping to kill a Muslim unlawfully

is a major sin.

Al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd

al-Salam (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book al-Qawa’id:

If you want to

know the difference between a minor sin and a major sin, then compare the

consequences of the sin with the consequences of a major sin as stated in

the texts. If it is less than the least consequences of a major sin, then it

is a minor sin. If it is equal to or greater than the least consequences of

a major sin, then it is also a major sin. Whoever insults the Lord, may He

be glorified, or His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

or mocks the Messengers, or disbelieves in one of them, or throws filth at

the Ka’bah, or throws the Mus-haf (copy of the Quran)  into the garbage –

these are major sins, even though the sharee’ah does not state clearly that

they are major sins. Similarly, if a person holds down a chaste woman for

another to commit zina (adultery) with her, or holds down a Muslim for him

to kill him, the evil consequences of these acts are undoubtedly greater

than the consequences of consuming the wealth of an orphan, even though that

is also a major sin. Similarly if a person guides the kuffar (non-Muslims)

to the weak points of the Muslims, even though he knows that they will

destroy the Muslims as a result of his help and will take their women and

children captive, and plunder their wealth, then this is more serious than

his running away from the battle field with no excuse, even though that is a

major sin. Similarly if he tells a lie about a person for which he knows

that person will be killed, then it is a major sin, but telling a lie which

will result in a date being taken away from him, is not a major sin.”

Helping a kafir to

kill a Muslim may constitute kufr (disbelief) in some cases. The scholars

mentioned things that nullify a person’s Islam, one of which is supporting

the mushrikeen (polytheists) and helping them against the Muslims. See

question no.

33691.

Thirdly:

It is not

permissible for anyone to take the matter of attributing hadeeth to the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) lightly. He (peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever tells lies about me, it is

not like telling lies about anyone else. Whoever tells lies about me

deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.” Narrated by al-Bukhari, 1291;

Muslim, 4.

And he (peace and

blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever narrates a hadeeth from me

which is known to be false, he is one of the liars.” Narrated by Muslim in

the introduction to his Saheeh.

And al-Nawawi

said:

[This hadeeth has

been narrated in two versions, one of which says al-kathibayn (the two liars

– dual form) and the more well-known version which says al-kathibeen (the

liars – plural).] Al-Qadi ‘Iyad said: The version which we have says

al-kathibeen (plural) and Abu Na’eem al-Asbahani narrated it in his book

al-Mustakhraj ‘ala Saheeh Muslim from the hadeeth of Samurah, where it says

al-kathibayn, in the dual form. Some of the imams said that the word yura

[translated above as “known to be” as yara [meaning “knowing (himself).” Or

it could mean “thinking [that it is false].” In this case the hadeeth means

that the person becomes a sinner only when he himself knows or thinks that

what he is narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him) is a lie. But if he did not know or think that it was a lie, then there

is no sin on him if he narrated it, even if others think that it is false,

or know that to be the case.  But what we may conclude from this hadeeth is

that lying is strongly condemned, and that whoever thinks that what he is

narrating is most likely false, but still narrates it, is a liar. How can he

not be a liar when he is narrating something that did not happen?

If a person does

not have sufficient knowledge to be able to distinguish between a saheeh

(authentic) hadeeth and a da’eef (weak) one, then he should ask the scholars

who are specialized in this field, and refer to the comments of the imams

and scholars that are compiled in books, in accordance with the words of

Allah (interpretation of the meaning):

“So ask of those who know the Scripture, if you know not.” [16:43].