12.3 The One Whose Narration Is Accepted And The One Whose Narration Is Not Accepted And The Exposition Of (the Science Of) Invalidation And Attestation Of Reliability (al-jarh Wa Ta'dīl)
and dābit (accurate) in that which he narrates. As for the ‘adil, it is the Muslim, mature, sane person who is free from the causes of fisq (transgression) and doubt in his piety. As for the dābit, he is the one who is aware and not forgetful; a memoriser of his narration if he narrates from memory, and accurate in his transcription if he narrates from a book, and knowledgeable of the meaning of what he transmits and of what will change the intended meaning if he narrates by meaning.
The adālah (trustworthiness) of a narrator is established by his becoming known with good and the praise given to him; so whoever becomes well known for his trustworthiness amongst the people of transmission and their like from the people of knowledge and praise for his reliability and trustworthiness become widely known, this suffices him from needing any testimonial proof of his adālah (trustworthiness). The adālah of a transmitter is established likewise by the attestation (ta’dīl) of the imams or by one of them if his trustworthiness and scholarly approval of him is not well known.
A transmitter’s accuracy (dabt) is known by comparing his narrations with that of the reliable (thiqāt) narrators who are known for their accuracy and precision. If his narrations are found to be in accord with their narration even if (only) in meaning or they are in accordance in the majority of cases and divergences are rare then his accuracy is established.
Attestation (ta’dīl) of a transmitter's reliability is accepted, whether the reasoning is mentioned or not; contrary to the invalidation (jarh). Due to the divergent views of people as to the causes of mafsaqah (transgression), it (jarh) is not accepted except when the reason has been explained and clarified. The one who invalidates (jārih) a transmitter may believe something to be a transgression so he judges the transmitter as weak but in reality it may not be so, or it might not be so according to others; that is, one may consider something as an invalidation based on what he believes to be an invalidation which in reality is not a (legitimate) invalidation. That is why explanation of the reason for invalidation has been made a condition so that one can look into whether it is a (legitimate) invalidation or not. The invalidation can be established by one person; there is no stipulation on the number. One person is sufficient in attesting (ta’dīl) and invalidating (tajrīh) a transmitter's adalāh because it constitutes the informing of a report for which one person is sufficient. Similarly, in the accepting of a report – rather one person is sufficient - the number is not stipulated in invalidating or attesting a transmitter’s adalāh. When there combines in one person an invalidation (jarh), the reason for which is clarified, and an attestation, then the invalidation (jarh) is given precedence, even if there are many people attesting to (the transmitter’s) adalāh because the one who attests (mu'addil) a transmitter’s reliability informs of what is apparent of the transmitter’s condition but the one who invalidates (jārih) informs of what is hidden and concealed from the one who validates. As for the number of those validating being greater that is of no value for that is not the reason (‘illah) for accepting the report. Rather, the reason is familiarity (itlā’) (with a transmitter’s condition) or the lack of familiarity. The fuqahā restricted this to when the attestator (mu’addil) does not say: ‘I know the reason mentioned by the jārih but he has since repented and his condition has improved’. When the jārih mentions a specific reason for invalidation, the mu'addil can nullify it if he knows anything that indicates definitely that the reason has been nullified.
Disparagement (of a transmitter) can take place due to ten things. Five of them relate to 'adālah and five relate to accuracy (dabt). As for the five that relate to the 'adālah they are: mendacity (kidhb), accusation (of any impropriety), manifestation of fisq, ignorance (jahālah) and innovation (bid'ah). As for the five which relate to accuracy (dabt) they are: serious errors, flagrant negligence, delusion (wahm), contradicting reports of reliable transmitters, and bad retentive ability.
As for the transmitter whose condition is not known (majhūl al-hāl), there are categories:
1. Majhūl al-‘adālata dhāhiran wa bātinā: a transmitter whose apparent and hidden adālah is not known; his narration is not accepted.
2. Mastūr: a transmitter whose hidden condition is not known but he is upright on the apparent; He is a narrator with a blameless record (mastur). This transmitter's narration is used.
3. Majhūl al-‘ayn: a transmitter who is not known to the ulamā’, and whose hadīth is known only through one narrator.
Anonymity of the transmitter is removed by his acquaintance of the ulamā’ or by the narration of the attestators (mu’addalīn) about him. One narration or one attestation (tadeel) is enough. Al Bukhāri narrated from al-Walīd ibn Abd al-Rahmān al-Jārūdī while none except his son al Mundhir ibn al-Walīd narrated from him. Similarly, Muslim narrated from Jābir ibn Ismā’īl al Hadramī while only Abdullah ibn Wahb narrated from him. Thus the anonymity of both was lifted by a lone narration.