A dāʿī ilā al-bidʿah is a person who actively promotes an innovative doctrine and calls others to adopt it. A non-advocate may be associated with the position but is not known for propagating it.
This classification is not a simple declaration of the person’s overall learning or character. It highlights a specific risk in transmission: an advocate may have a stronger incentive to circulate a report that appears to support the advocated doctrine.
It does not follow that every advocate lies or that every non-advocate’s report is sound. All other requirements of acceptance, the subject of the report, and its corroborating or conflicting evidence remain relevant.
Important qualification: A report from a non-advocate may still require particular scrutiny if its apparent content supports that narrator’s innovation. The advocate/non-advocate distinction is a relevant indicator, not a complete automatic rule of acceptance.