Fourth Principle: Rejecting the ḥadīth of an unknown narrator

Al-Khaṭīb states in al-Kifāyah, p. 88:

“According to the specialists of ḥadīth, an ‘unknown’ (majhūl) is anyone who has not become famous for seeking knowledge himself, whom the scholars do not recognise for that, or whose ḥadīth is known only through a single transmitter.”

The least by which this anonymity is removed is that two—or more—narrators who are themselves well known for learning report from him.

I say: Even then, the ruling of uprightness (ʿadālah) is not established merely because the two transmitted from him, although some have claimed that his reliability is confirmed thereby.

Al-Khaṭīb then demonstrated the unsoundness of their view in a separate chapter that follows directly after this; whoever wishes may consult it.

I further add: The narrator from whom only one transmitter relates is termed majhūl al-ʿayn (unidentified). This is the very anonymity that is removed once two or more narrate from him, whereupon he becomes majhūl al-ḥāl, also called mastūr (one whose state is concealed). A number of scholars have accepted his report without qualification, whereas the majority have rejected it, as recorded in Sharḥ al-Nukhbah, p. 24, where he said: