Nuzhat al-Nazar fi Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar - Tahqiq al-Qasim - Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani - (179)

Nuzhat al-Nazar fi Tawdih Nukhbat al-Fikar - Tahqiq al-QasimIbn Hajar Al-Asqalani

relying on them; when he had to fall back on his own memory, it deteriorated—this is (1) the mukhtalit (a narrator whose memory has become confused).

The ruling regarding such a narrator is that whatever he related before the confusion, if it can be clearly identified, is accepted; but if it (2) cannot be identified, judgment is suspended. The same applies to anyone about whom the matter is uncertain, and this (3) is known by considering the calibre of those who received reports from him.

[Strengthening a weak ḥadith through corroborating transmissions and the governing criteria]

Whenever a transmitter of poor memory is corroborated by a reliable narrator—one superior to him or at least his equal, not inferior—and likewise a mukhtalit whose narrations have (4) not been sorted out, a mastūr (of unknown reliability), a chain that is mursal, or a mudallas where the omitted link (5) is unknown, then their ḥadith is classified as ḥasan, not in itself but (6) by virtue of the combined weight (majmūʿ) of the corroborator (7) and the one corroborated. For each of them carries an equal (8) probability that his report is correct or (9) incorrect, the chances (10) being evenly balanced. When, therefore, a narration from reliable authorities arrives that agrees with one of them, that version is preferred (11).

(1) In MS T the reading is fahuwa hadha instead of fa-hadha huwa. (2) MS A has wa-in (“and if”). (3) MS M reads taʿrif (“you know / one knows”). (4) MS L gives la (“no / not”); a note on its margin records lam (“did not”). (5) MS A reads yuʿlam (“is known”). (6) MS H has bi-wasfihi (“by describing it”). (7) MSS T and K read al-tabiʿ (“the follower”). (8) MS J gives iḥtamal (“it bore / it was possible”); its margin adds: “The phrase is iḥtamal,” and another copy has iḥtimal (“possibility”). Al-Qari (may Allah have mercy on him) notes in Sharh Sharh al-Nukhba, p. 541: “I have also seen a copy with iḥtamal in the past tense.” (9) MS W reads an takuna (“that it be”), while Z has an yakuna, in place of kawn (“being”). (10) MS J reads wa-ghayra (“and other [than]”); D and H have ghayru with the nominative ending. The edition follows the reading of A and K. (11) D and H read rajah (with an open ra and a single jim); the adopted reading is from W. Al-Qari, Sharh Sharh al-Nukhba, p. 541, remarks: “in the passive form.”

يَعْتَمِدُهَا فَرَجَعَ إِلَى حِفْظِهِ فَسَاءَ؛ (فَـ) هَذَا هُوَ (١) (المُخْتَلِطُ). وَالحُكْمُ فِيهِ: أَنَّ مَا حَدَّثَ بِهِ قَبْلَ الِاخْتِلَاطِ إِذَا تَمَيَّزَ قُبِلَ، وَإِذَا (٢) لَمْ يَتَمَيَّزْ تُوُقِّفَ فِيهِ، وَكَذَا مَنِ اشْتَبَهَ الأَمْرُ فِيهِ، وَإِنَّمَا يُعْرَفُ (٣) ذَلِكَ بِاعْتِبَارِ الآخِذِينَ عَنْهُ. [تقوية الحديث الضعيف بالمتابعات وضوابطه] (وَمَتَى تُوبِعَ السَّيِّئُ الحِفْظِ بِمُعْتَبَرٍ)؛ كَأَنْ يَكُونَ فَوْقَهُ أَوْ مِثْلَهُ لَا دُونَهُ، (وَكَذَا) المُخْتَلِطُ الَّذِي لَمْ (٤) يتَمَيَّزْ، وَ (المَسْتُورُ، وَ) الإِسْنَادُ (المُرْسَلُ، وَ) كَذَا (المُدَلَّسُ) إِذَا لَمْ يُعْرَفِ (٥) المَحْذُوفُ مِنْهُ؛ (صَارَ حَدِيثُهُمْ حَسَناً لَا لِذَاتِهِ؛ بَلْ) وَصْفُهُ (٦) بِذَلِكَ (بِـ) اعْتِبَارِ (المَجْمُوعِ) مِنَ المُتَابِعِ (٧) وَالمُتَابَعِ؛ لِأَنَّ كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمُ احْتِمَالُ (٨) كَوْنِ (٩) رِوَايَتِهِ صَوَاباً أَوْ غَيْرَ (١٠) صَوَابٍ عَلَى حَدٍّ سَوَاءٍ. فَإِذَا جَاءَتْ مِنَ المُعْتَبَرِينَ رِوَايَةٌ مُوَافِقَةٌ لِأَحَدِهِمْ؛ رُجِّحَ (١١)

(١) في ط: «فهو هذا» بدل: «فَهَذَا هُوَ». (٢) في أ: «وإن». (٣) في م: «تعرف». (٤) في ل: «لا»، وفي نسخة على حاشيتها: «لم». (٥) في أ: «يُعلم». (٦) في ح: «بوصفه». (٧) في ط، ك: «التابع». (٨) في ج: «احتمل»، وفي حاشيتها: «قوله: احتمل، وعلى نسخة: احتمال». قال القارِي ﵀ في شرح شرح النُّخبة (ص ٥٤١): «ورأيت في نسخة «احتَمَل» بصيغة الماضي». (٩) في و: «أن تكون»، وفي ز: «أن يكون» بدل: «كونِ». (١٠) في ج: «وغيرَ»، وفي د، ح: «غيرُ» بالرَّفع، والمثبت من أ، ك. (١١) في د، ح: «رَجَح» بفتح الرَّاء والجيم المخففة، والمثبت من و. قال القارِي ﵀ في شرح شرح النُّخبة (ص ٥٤١): «بصيغة المفعول».