“As for mursal (skipped-link) reports, the scholars have differed over whether they should be accepted or rejected. The soundest view is that some of them are accepted, some rejected, and some left in suspense… Any mursal that contradicts what the reliable transmitters have related is to be rejected; but if the mursal comes through two separate routes in which each transmitter received the report from teachers different from those of the other route, this points to its veracity, for it is ordinarily inconceivable that two people would commit an identical error in such a case….”

Neglecting this condition has led some eminent scholars to declare authentic certain stories whose falsehood is plainly evident, such as the famous narrative of the Gharānīq, as I have explained in my earlier work, Launching the Mangonels to Demolish the Story of the Gharānīq. Let the reader take heed, for this is of great importance.

What I have stated here regarding the chains of transmission from ʿUmar applies likewise—or nearly so—to the reports that will follow from ʿAlī and others in chapter five. Indeed, some of those are extremely weak, such as the second route from ʿAlī, and therefore cannot be used to bolster the first route.

Remember this, for it will benefit you, Allah willing. ⦗68⦘