Among the important matters is the knowledge of al-jarḥ and al-taʿdīl. These may proceed by examining the narrator's condition in religion, his observance of the obligatory acts, his abstention from sins, and the like, or by examining his ḥadīth in particular: what he transmits, what others corroborate, what they contradict, and what he is alone in transmitting.
Taʿdīl is accepted in general, unspecified form,1 because requiring an explanation would oblige the one praising to enumerate all matters of religion, both commands and prohibitions, which is impractical, unlike the case of jarḥ.2
When jarḥ and taʿdīl meet on the question of ʿadāla, jarḥ is given precedence; the one praising reports what is apparent in the narrator's condition, while the one criticising reports what was hidden from the one praising.3
If, however, jarḥ and taʿdīl concern ḍabṭ and ḥifẓ,4 then they are accepted only from someone well-versed in the field, and explanation is not a precondition for either. In questions of ḍabṭ, jarḥ is not given precedence over taʿdīl: the one praising may have a fuller acquaintance with the narrator's ḥadīths than the one criticising does.5
Note that a narrator needs tazkiya (declaration of trustworthiness) only when he is not already well known for ʿadāla and acceptance and his condition is uncertain or unclear. As for those whose ʿadāla is established among the scholars and whose names are widely accompanied by praise, no tazkiya is required for them, such as the four Imāms and their peers, and this is why al-Dhahabī did not include them in his Mīzān.6
Such as their saying in taʿdīl: "ʿadl" (upright); and in jarḥ: "fāsiq" (impious). This is because the scholars differ over what counts as a cause of fisq, such as nikāḥ al-mutʿa (temporary marriage), approaching wives from behind, and the like. Al-Shāfiʿī alerts to this in al-Umm, 7/508; al-Khaṭīb cites it in al-Kifāya, p. 143, on the authority of al-Qāḍī Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Ṭabarī. And Allāh knows best. ↩
This is because criticism may be accepted from someone who is not a scholar. For example, suppose an upright man who is not a scholar says, "This is my neighbour, and I know that he steals." His criticism is accepted; it is not rejected merely on the grounds that he is a layman, since being a scholar is not a precondition when the criticism concerns ʿadāla and matters of religion. ↩
For example, a wife mentioning that her husband drinks at home, since this is not visible to those outside. [tr.] ↩
For example, in taʿdīl: "ḥāfiẓ" (preserver), "ḍābiṭ" (precise), "mutqin" (accurate), "ṣadūq" (very truthful), "lā baʾsa bihi" (no harm in him), or "ṣāliḥ al-ḥadīth" (his ḥadīth is good); and in jarḥ: "waḍḍāʿ" (a forger), "muttaham bi-l-waḍʿ" (suspected of forgery), "matrūk al-ḥadīth" (whose ḥadīth is left aside), "mardūd al-ḥadīth" (whose ḥadīth is rejected), "dhāhib al-ḥadīth" (whose ḥadīth is gone), "ḍaʿīf" (weak), "layyin al-ḥadīth" (soft in ḥadīth), or "laysa bi-qawiyy" (not strong); and the like. ↩
Drawn from al-Kifāya, the chapter on "what is known to lay people regarding the qualities of a transmitter whose ḥadīth may be accepted, and what is known only to the learned", pp. 122–123. I say: through this distinction drawn by al-Khaṭīb, all the difficulties surrounding this discussion are resolved. The later scholars in general did not draw the distinction, and as a result their statements on the question wavered in several places. And Allāh knows best. ↩
See: al-Kifāya, pp. 114–115; Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, 1/2. ↩
Al-shādhdh is that which a single narrator has transmitted alone, raising doubt in the mind of the critic; this is also the definition of al-munkar. Statements of the early imāms show the two are one.
The Ḥanafīs classify narrators into four (or, on some accounts, five) groups, including the al-mastūr and majhūl categories with their five-case treatment.
Four positions on whether jarḥ and taʿdīl follow the rules of khabar or of testimony, with the additional requirement that the evaluator be ʿadl and unbiased.
Ṣaḥīḥ and ḥasan are accepted in every case; ḍaʿīf is not accepted except in faḍāʾil and targhīb / tarhīb. Ibn Ḥajar's three conditions for accepting a weak ḥadīth in faḍāʾil.
