Some pretender to knowledge of Ḥadīth from the people of our time made a statement regarding authentication and weakening of chains; a statement that if we were to disregard relating it and disregard mentioning its evil, truly it would be a strong opinion and sound approach, since turning away from the renounced view and dropping any mention of its speaker are most appropriate for putting it to rest; and better suited so as to not draw the attention of the ignorant to it.
Other than for what we fear from the evil results and dangers of the ignorant in innovated matters and their hastening towards believing in the mistakes of those who err and the rejected statements according to the scholars, we think the unveiling of the evil of his statement and refutation of its speaker with the amount which is deserved from refutation is more beneficial upon the creation and more praiseworthy ultimately, if Allah wills.
The speaker who we introduced by way of speaking on the account of his opinion and the reports of the evil of his thinking, alleged that every chain for Ḥadīth which has in it ‘so-and-so narrated on authority of so-and-so’ [Mu’an’an], and he has knowledge that they were contemporaries, and the probability that the Ḥadīth which the narrator transmitted from whom he transmitted, had heard it from him, and spoke face to face with him; without our knowing [for certain] that the narrator heard from the one who transmitted to him, and without finding in any of the transmissions that they ever met and spoke face to face for the purpose of Ḥadīth- that the proof is not established according to him in any report which comes in this manner until he has knowledge of both transmitters meeting in their era one or more times and speaking face to face for the purpose of narration, or he wants a report in which their meeting is clarified, their having met once in their era, or more than that; then if he does not have knowledge of that and there does not come to him an authentic transmission reporting that this transmitter [who relates] on authority of his companion met him once AND heard from him something- [there] will be no [proof] of his relating the report from whom he transmitted on authority of.
The matter just as we described is a proof [transmitters being contemporaries and the possibility of having met existing] and the report according to him is unresolved until there arrives [the transmitters] hearing from him something from Ḥadīth, a little or a lot, in a transmission [clarifying the ‘hearing’] equal to what he narrated [with Mu’an’an].
وقَدْ تَكَلَّمَ بَعْضُ مُنْتَحِلِي الحَدِيثِ مِن أهْلِ عَصْرِنا فِي تَصْحِيحِ الأسانِيدِ وتَسْقِيمِها بِقَوْلٍ لَوْ ضَرَبْنا عَنْ حِكايَتِهِ وذِكْرِ فَسادِهِ صَفْحًا لَكانَ رَأْيًا مَتِينًا ومَذْهَبًا صَحِيحًا إذِ الإعْراضُ عَنِ القَوْلِ المُطَّرَحِ أحْرى لِإماتَتِهِ وإخْمالِ ذِكْرِ قائِلِهِ وأجْدَرُ أنْ لا يَكُونَ ذَلِكَ تَنْبِيهًا لِلْجُهّالِ عَلَيْهِ۔
غَيْرَ أنّا لَمّا تَخَوَّفْنا مِن شُرُورِ العَواقِبِ واغْتِرارِ الجَهَلَةِ بِمُحْدَثاتِ الأُمُورِ وإسْراعِهِمْ إلى اعْتِقادِ خَطَأِ المُخْطِئِينَ والأقْوالِ السّاقِطَةِ عِنْدَ العُلَماءِ رَأيْنا الكَشْفَ عَنْ فَسادِ قَوْلِهِ ورَدَّ مَقالَتِهِ بِقَدْرِ ما يَلِيقُ بِها مِنَ الرَّدِّ أجْدى عَلى الأنامِ وأحْمَدَ لِلْعاقِبَةِ إنْ شاءَ اللهُ۔
وزَعَمَ القائِلُ الَّذِي افْتَتَحْنا الكَلامَ عَلى الحِكايَةِ عَنْ قَوْلِهِ والإخْبارِ عَنْ سُوءِ رَوِيَّتِهِ أنَّ كُلَّ إسْنادٍ لِحَدِيثٍ فِيهِ فُلانٌ عَنْ فُلانٍ وقَدِ اَحاطَ العِلْمُ بِأنَّهُما قَدْ كانا فِي عَصْرٍ واحِدٍ وجائِزٌ أنْ يَكُونَ الحَدِيثُ الَّذِي رَوى الرّاوِي عَمَّنْ رَوى عَنْهُ قَدْ سَمِعَهُ مِنهُ وشافَهَهُ بِهِ غَيْرَ أنَّهُ لا نَعْلَمُ لَهُ مِنهُ سَماعًا ولَمْ نَجِدْ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنَ الرِّواياتِ أنَّهُما التَقَيا قَطُّ أوْ تَشافَها بِحَدِيثٍ أنَّ الحُجَّةَ لا تَقُومُ عِنْدَهُ بِكُلِّ خَبَرٍ جاءَ هَذا المَجِيءَ حَتّى يَكُونَ عِنْدَهُ العِلْمُ بِأنَّهُما قَدِ اجْتَمَعا مِن دَهْرِهِما مَرَّةً فَصاعِدًا أوْ تَشافَها بِالحَدِيثِ بَيْنَهُما أوْ يَرِدَ خَبَرٌ فِيهِ بَيانُ اجْتِماعِهِما وتَلاقِيهِما مَرَّةً مِن دَهْرِهِما فَما فَوْقَها فَإنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ ذَلِكَ ولَمْ تَأْتِ رِوايَةٌ تُخْبِرُ أنَّ هَذا الرّاوِيَ عَنْ صاحِبِهِ قَدْ لَقِيَهُ مَرَّةً وسَمِعَ مِنهُ شَيْئًا لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي نَقْلِهِ الخَبَرَ عَمَّنْ رَوى عَنْهُ ذَلِكَ۔
والأمْرُ كَما وصَفْنا حُجَّةٌ وكانَ الخَبَرُ عِنْدَهُ مَوْقُوفًا حَتّى يَرِدَ عَلَيْهِ سَماعُهُ مِنهُ لِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الحَدِيثِ قَلَّ أوْ كَثُرَ فِي رِوايَةٍ مِثْلِ ما ورَدَ۔