Salam
Apologies for the delay in writing. I have been busy with work and other matters, but have also been trying to complete some projects; one of which Alhumdulillah is now finished. I may post some extracts from it in the future insh-Allah for the benefit of readers.
Whilst making some notes from Allamah al-Kurdi’s excellent commentary on Imam al-Jazaris poem on the sirah, I came across the following note regarding severely weak or forged hadith which are cited in some sirah works. Severely weak and forged hadiths most probably have made their way in to Mawlid works due to the authors not being aware of their level of weakness. I thought the following would be of benefit due to the often knee jerk emotional reaction some people have when the issue of severly weak or fabricated hadith is raised. And through Allah alone is success. Allamah al-Kurdi said in his commentary (1/77-78):
“(Note) Shihab Ibn Hajar like Hafiz al-Ghayti said: People have made much mention of fabricated and severely weak reports in that which relates to the period of his being in his mother’s womb, birth and being fostered, with there only being a few reports regarding this which have been graded as Sahih. Thus that which is reported regarding these events via a weak chain is permissible to relate and to be relied upon if it indicates to an excellent and praiseworthy quality for him (Allah bless him and give him peace). This is because there is agreement that the weak hadith can be acted upon in virtuous acts and praiseworthy qualities, like the Hasan and Sahih hadith. As for those which are fabricated and contradict the authentic hadith; or the Huffaz have stated to be a fabrication and a basis for them is not known in the relied upon books; then it is not permissible to mention them except with a declaration of their being fabricated. This is whether they be in virtuous acts or other than them, as was stated by the Imams, so be aware of this whilst reading Mawlids!”