Good reading: http://www.livingislam.org/n/sfh_e.html Read it upon your own responsibility. These days no one can be trusted. Please check the references and context.
riwayah bil ma'na was definately permissible in the early stages, with conditions (like being able to comprehend Arabic and thus the intent of the hadith).
Assalamua'laikum. What is the ruling about laypersons like me narrating ahadith from memory using words such as: 1) "I believe there is a hadith to this effect that...." 2) "The Prophet(peace be upon him) said...............or something like that." 3) "I have heard a hadith whose gist is that.........." 4) "The Prophet(peace be upon him) said..............." though words denoting approximate meaning are not used the intention is not of verbatim quotation neither is the listener under such an impression. What if the person makes a mistake or uses words that did not appear in the hadith ? Please enlighten me. Jazakallah. Wassalaam.
