LessonsNarrator Criticism, Integrity and Precision: Standards of Scholarly AppraisalQuiz

وَحَدَّثَنِي الْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ مُعَلًّى الرَّازِيَّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الَّذِي رَوَى عَنْهُ عَبَّادٌ، فَأَخْبَرَنِي عَنْ عِيسَى بْنِ يُونُسَ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ عَلَى بَابِهِ وَسُفْيَانُ عِنْدَهُ، فَلَمَّا خَرَجَ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْهُ فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّهُ كَذَّابٌ.
Translation: Al-Faḍl ibn Sahl narrated to me: “I asked Muʿallā al-Rāzī about Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd, from whom ʿAbbād transmitted reports. He related to me, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, who said: ‘I was at that man’s door while Sufyān was inside with him. When Sufyān came out, I asked him about the man; he informed me that he was a liar (kadhdhāb).’”

Here kadhdhāb is a specific transmitted critical judgment about an identified person. It is more severe than “not firmly accurate” and should not be generalized to every weak narrator. The report’s path of attribution also matters.

Opening interactive controls...

Specific testimony concerning an accused transmitter

Narrator Criticism, Integrity and Precision: Standards of Scholarly Appraisal

وَحَدَّثَنِي الْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ مُعَلًّى الرَّازِيَّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الَّذِي رَوَى عَنْهُ عَبَّادٌ، فَأَخْبَرَنِي عَنْ عِيسَى بْنِ يُونُسَ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ عَلَى بَابِهِ وَسُفْيَانُ عِنْدَهُ، فَلَمَّا خَرَجَ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْهُ فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّهُ كَذَّابٌ.
Translation: Al-Faḍl ibn Sahl narrated to me: “I asked Muʿallā al-Rāzī about Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd, from whom ʿAbbād transmitted reports. He related to me, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, who said: ‘I was at that man’s door while Sufyān was inside with him. When Sufyān came out, I asked him about the man; he informed me that he was a liar (kadhdhāb).’”

Here kadhdhāb is a specific transmitted critical judgment about an identified person. It is more severe than “not firmly accurate” and should not be generalized to every weak narrator. The report’s path of attribution also matters.