Two basic causes of rejection

1. In this lesson

A narrator being omitted from a chain differs from a defect in a narrator. This lesson distinguishes these two basic causes of rejection.

1. Sanad: the transmission chain showing who narrated from whom.

2. A rejected report

Mardūd means a report not fit to be acted upon. Its two basic causes are:

• Saqṭ al-rāwī: omission of a narrator from the chain.
• Ṭaʿn al-rāwī: a narrator-related defect affecting acceptance of the report.

3. Omission of a narrator

Saqṭ al-rāwī is omission of a narrator from the chain. It concerns a missing person in the sequence of transmission.

It does not mean a word omitted from the matn; it concerns an omitted narrator.

4. Criticism of a narrator

Ṭaʿn al-rāwī concerns a defect in the narrator that affects whether the report can be accepted.

The issue is not merely whether the narrator is named in the chain; it is the defect affecting acceptance of that narrator's transmission.

5. A name being present is not enough

Names being present in a chain does not establish that the narrators are free of defects.

• A narrator omitted: the issue of saqṭ.
• A narrator-related defect: the issue of ṭaʿn.

Answering one question does not automatically settle the other.

6. Summary

• A mardūd report is not fit to be acted upon.
• Two basic causes: a narrator omitted from the chain, or a relevant defect in a narrator.
• The first is saqṭ al-rāwī; the second is ṭaʿn al-rāwī.

This is the basic distinction; their detailed forms will be treated separately.