Citing a Hadith Without Having Studied It

Question

A person who has not studied hadith, and has only heard [something] from someone, and is ignorant [of the subject] — he immediately cites a hadith in conversation. What is [the ruling] on this?

Answer

If someone knows that a given hadith is found in such-and-such a book, and he cites that reference, there is no harm in it. But relating the noble hadith and explaining it without having studied it under a teacher often turns out to be mistaken and becomes a cause of fitna (discord); therefore one should exercise caution in this. Even the people of knowledge (ahl al-‘ilm)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.