The Term “Gāʔiz Al-Ḥadith” According to Imam Al-Thahabi A Critical Study

Abstract

This research studies the term gāʔiz Al-Ḥadith “permissible Hadith” according to Imam Al-Thahabi. The inductive, critical, and analytical method was adopted by listing the narrators whom Imam Al-Thahabi considered as open to criticism and comparing that to the sayings of critics, and finally arriving at a clear ruling on them. After a critical study of each narrator, we have found that Imam Al-Thahabi uses this term as a description of the narrator from the viewpoint of his reliability. We conclude that Imam Al-Thahabi is one of the moderate imams in garh and ta’deel (criticism regarding the trustworthiness of the narrator of Hadith), and that the classification of a Hadith as saḥiḥ “authentic” is determined by the trustworthiness of its narrator, i.e. one who is classified among the trusted narrators. The research also confirms the importance of the indications or evidences in understanding the apparently contradictory terms of the leading imams of hadith sciences.