First Principle: Rejecting the Anomalous ḥadīth

Be aware that one of the essential conditions for a ḥadīth to be classed as sound is that it not be shādh (anomalous). For the experts in ḥadīth define the sound report as follows:

“A sound ḥadīth is a supported report (musnad) whose chain of transmission is uninterrupted, every narrator being upright and precise, all the way to the end of the chain; it is neither anomalous nor afflicted by a hidden flaw. These qualifying attributes exclude the mursal, the munqaṭiʿ, the anomalous report, and any narration marred by a serious defect owing to some weakness in its transmitter.”⦗1⦘