Al-Nawawī explains the majority preference for established jarḥ over general taʿdīl because a critic may know a particular defect unknown to the evaluator who praised the narrator. Mere numbers of critics do not settle the question.
The preference is not automatic for every obscure, unsupported, or irrelevant accusation. The evidence and its cause must still be evaluated.
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The Necessity and Boundaries of Narrator Criticism
Al-Nawawī explains the majority preference for established jarḥ over general taʿdīl because a critic may know a particular defect unknown to the evaluator who praised the narrator. Mere numbers of critics do not settle the question.
The preference is not automatic for every obscure, unsupported, or irrelevant accusation. The evidence and its cause must still be evaluated.