Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
◈ Question:
What does Imam Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn’s statement “lā aʿrifuhu” (I do not know him) mean?
◈ Answer:
When Imam Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn رحمه الله says “lā aʿrifuhu”, it means that the narrator is unknown (majhūl). His reliability (thiqah) or weakness (ḍaʿf) is not established.
❀ Statements of the Scholars
✔ Imam ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim رحمه الله:
“It means: I do not know the reality of his condition.”
(الجرح والتعديل: 5/311)
He also said:
“It means: he is unknown (majhūl).”
(الجرح والتعديل: 8/15)
✔ Imam Ibn ʿAdī رحمه الله:
“When someone like Ibn Maʿīn says lā aʿrifuhu, then the narrator is majhūl and not well-known. And if another scholar claims to know him, his recognition is not relied upon, because the conditions of narrators are examined through Ibn Maʿīn.”
(الكامل في ضعفاء الرجال: 5/485)
✅ Conclusion:
Imam Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn’s statement “lā aʿrifuhu” signifies that the narrator is majhūl (unknown), with neither reliability nor weakness confirmed. Such a narrator’s reports are not relied upon in Hadith sciences.
