A ḥadīth transmitted by an unnamed narrator is not accepted until his name is disclosed, for one of the conditions for accepting any report is the uprightness of its transmitters (1). When a man’s identity is concealed (2), his very person is unknown—so how could his integrity ever be verified?!

[An unnamed narrator described with a word of endorsement]

In the same manner (3), his report is still rejected even when he is introduced with a term of accreditation—such as the transmitter’s saying, “A trustworthy person narrated to me”—because someone whom he regards as trustworthy may be considered unreliable by others. This is, in fact, the soundest opinion on the issue (4).

For precisely this reason, a mursal report is not accepted—even if an upright narrator relates it with absolute certainty—owing to this very same possibility.

Others have said (5) that it may be accepted, holding fast to the outward presumption of integrity, since impugning a narrator runs contrary to that basic rule.

A further view (6) maintains that if the speaker is a qualified scholar, his wording suffices (7) for anyone who follows the same school of law.

Yet this topic does not properly belong to the discussions of ḥadīth sciences (8). Allah alone grants success.