LessonsAl-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar: Narrator Criticism, Variant Reports and EvidenceQuiz

Al-Shaʿbī is the Successor ʿĀmir b. Sharāḥīl; al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar is the subject of the criticism. Al-Nawawī discusses variant biographical identifications and reports the hadith critics’ appraisal of his weakness. The dāl in “al-Hamdānī” identifies the Hamdān tribal nisbah rather than the city of Hamadhān.

A sound reading separates the critic, the person criticised, the exact wording, and the chain carrying it. One should neither conflate similar names nor silently turn a historical criticism quoted by Muslim into his own directly spoken report.

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Identifying the critic, the subject, and the scope

Al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar: Narrator Criticism, Variant Reports and Evidence

Al-Shaʿbī is the Successor ʿĀmir b. Sharāḥīl; al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar is the subject of the criticism. Al-Nawawī discusses variant biographical identifications and reports the hadith critics’ appraisal of his weakness. The dāl in “al-Hamdānī” identifies the Hamdān tribal nisbah rather than the city of Hamadhān.

A sound reading separates the critic, the person criticised, the exact wording, and the chain carrying it. One should neither conflate similar names nor silently turn a historical criticism quoted by Muslim into his own directly spoken report.