is known never to practise tadlīs except when transmitting from a trustworthy authority—Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, for example—while they rule that the narrations of anyone who engages in tadlīs from weak transmitters or others are to be rejected unless he makes his hearing explicit by saying, “I heard,” “He narrated to us,” or “He informed us.”

Reasons for Tadlīs

The motive that drives some people to tadlīs may be a faulty one, such as wishing to conceal the fact that they heard from a shaykh who was very young, or who lacked fame and social standing among the people.

The Tadlīs of the Eminent

What occurred from certain leading authorities, however, did not arise from motives like these. Rather, it stemmed from their confidence in the authenticity of the ḥadīth and their conviction that the well-known circumstances made further clarification unnecessary.

Al-Shamni said, “It is possible that he heard the ḥadīth from a group of…"