The Faith of a Narrator and its Impact on the Acceptance of Traditions

The faith of narrators [of traditions] is one of the effective elements in substantiating the validity of traditions¡ particularly those that deal with the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s). This point has been emphatically highlighted by Sunni scholars. Moreover¡ the narrator’s inclination toward a particular religious school of though and denomination has been extremely decisive in approving or disapproving of his traditions. Thus¡ whenever experts in the Science of Rijal [who verify the reliability of transmitters] found their beliefs contrary to their own¡ they accused them of innovation. This was the very reason that reports on the virtues of the family of the Prophet (s) were disregarded¡ under the pretext of the presence of Shias in chains of transmission. The Sunni experts in the Science of Rijal have diverse approaches with respect to the traditions of ‘heretics’. Some have accepted the reports of heretics whereas others have rejected them completely. The third approach is one that follows a middle path. The article at hand tries to study their arguments in detail and determine¡ on the basis of the Sunni foundations and views¡ the most accurate method of evaluating¡ [and then] accepting or rejecting the traditions.