Acceptance and rejection: Maqbūl and Mardūd

1. What will we learn?

We have studied report categories based on narrator numbers. Now we will see why narrators' circumstances and qualities matter when accepting a report.

• An accepted report is called maqbūl (مقبول).
• A report that is not accepted is called mardūd (مردود).

This lesson introduces the basic distinction.

2. A different question from numbers

Suppose all we are told is that several narrators transmitted a report. Does that also tell us that those narrators are reliable? No.

Numbers tell us how many narrators there are. Their circumstances and qualities inform whether they can be trusted in transmitting reports.

A larger number alone is therefore not enough to decide acceptance.

3. An accepted report

A khabar maqbūl (خبرِ مقبول) is a report whose narrators are reliable and trustworthy. Here, khabar (خبر) means a Hadith report.

Thiqah (ثقہ) means a narrator who can be trusted in transmitting reports. Merely knowing someone does not establish this reliability.

The required qualities1 must be present. A full investigation also considers other conditions concerning the chain and the reported text.

1. Required qualities: the necessary qualities a narrator must possess for acceptance. Their details will be studied separately.

4. A report that is not accepted

Mardūd (مردود) means a report that is not accepted. If a narrator lacks the qualities required for acceptance, the report is not accepted.

For example, knowing only that someone transmits reports is not enough; their reliability in doing so must also be established.

Being a narrator and being a reliable narrator are different matters.

5. The two cases in this division

With respect to narrators' qualities, this division has two cases:

• Reliable narrators: they possess the qualities required for acceptance; the report falls in the accepted category.
• Unreliable narrators: they lack the qualities required for acceptance; the report falls in the non-accepted category.

This difference gives the division its two labels: maqbūl and mardūd.

6. The labels answer different questions

• “This report has few narrators, so it is mardūd.” That reason is insufficient: small numbers do not establish that required qualities are absent.
• “The report's narrators were found to lack the qualities required for acceptance, so it is mardūd.” Here, the reason concerns the narrators' qualities.

The first concerns narrator numbers; the second concerns the basis for acceptance.

7. Summary

• Maqbūl (مقبول): an accepted report; its narrators are reliable and trustworthy.
• Thiqah (ثقہ): a narrator trusted in transmitting reports.
• Mardūd (مردود): a non-accepted report whose narrators lack the qualities required for acceptance.

This division is based on narrators' circumstances and qualities, not merely their numbers.