وجوه تقييد الجرح وأثرها على الرواية

The Aspects of Restricting Criticism and Its Impact on Narration

Abstract

Hadith scholars may judge some narrators as weak, which is known as "Jarh" (criticism or discrediting a narrator). This criticism can be absolute, where a narrator is deemed weak in all of their narrations, making all their transmitted hadith unreliable. However, criticism can also be restricted (jarh muqayyad)—meaning scholars limit their judgment based on specific times, circumstances, or individuals. In such cases, a narrator might be considered weak only in certain narrations or under particular conditions, rather than in all of their reports.

The restricted (muqayyad) criticism in hadith sciences is divided into five categories:

1. Criticism restricted by specific times—a narrator may be deemed reliable during certain periods but weak in others.
2. Criticism restricted by places—a narrator may be trustworthy when narrating in one location but unreliable in another.
3. Weakening a narrator’s memory but validating their written transmissions—meaning their narration from memory is unreliable, but their hadith recorded in books are accepted.
4. Criticism of a narrator in relation to specific teachers may be accurate when narrating from some teachers but weak when narrating from others.
5. Weakening a narration when the narrator combines multiple teachers in the chain—but considering it reliable if they narrate from each teacher separately.

This article explores these five aspects of restricted (muqayyad) criticism with examples, demonstrating their application in hadith evaluation. It provides specific cases where scholars categorized narrators based on time, place, memory, teachers, and chain structure, helping refine authenticity assessments.