This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
The ruling on criticizing the narrators of the Hadiths of Jesus (peace be upon him)
❀ Imam Bukhari and other Muhaddithin, may Allah have mercy on them, have transmitted ahadith regarding the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) from great Muhaddithin such as: Yaqub bin Ibrahim, Ibn Shahab Zuhri, Saeed bin Musayyib, Laith, Yunus, Nafi, Hisham, Qatadah, Shu'bah, Muhammad bin Ziyad, Abu Zanad, and Arraj, may Allah have mercy on them. Some people have criticized these individuals, as the author of the treatise Muhammad Hadi has blindly imitated. These people say that criticism (Jarh) takes precedence over approval (Ta'dil). Some clarification has already been given about this rule and principle, but here some details will be explained so that those who follow this rule and principle do not mislead the general public with their confusion.
There is no doubt that criticism takes precedence over approval, but this rule is not absolute; rather, criticism will take precedence over approval only when it is established and explanatory. Imam Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, while refuting those who declared some narrators of Sahih Muslim weak, said:
لأن ذلك فيما إذا كان الجرح ثابتا مفسر السبب وإلا فلا يقبل الجرح إذا لم يكن كذا
"(It cannot be said that criticism takes precedence over approval) because this is only when the criticism is established and explanatory; otherwise, criticism will not be accepted unless it is established and explanatory."
Reference: Sharh Muslim by Nawawi: 1/47
Amir San'ani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
وهذه القاعدة لو أخذت كلية لم يبق لنا عدل إلا الرسل فإنه ما سلم فاضل من طاعن من ذلك لا من الخلفاء الراشدين ولا أحد من أئمة الدين
"If this rule is taken absolutely, then only the Messenger would remain who has no criticism against him, because no virtuous person has escaped the sting of the critic. Not even one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs or the Imams of the religion would remain."
Reference: Irshad al-Naqqad ila Taysir al-Ijtihad, p. 46
Lakhnawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
قد زل قدم كثير من علماء عصرنا بما تحقق عند المحققين أن الجرح مقدم على التعديل لغفلتهم عن التقييد والتفصيل توهما منهم أن الجرح مطلقا أى جرح كان من أى معدل كان فى شأن أى راو كان وليس الأمر كما ظنوا
"Many scholars of our time have fallen into error regarding this matter that criticism takes precedence over approval. They said this because they were unaware of the few conditions, restrictions, and details applied in this matter and mistakenly thought that criticism is absolutely prior, meaning criticism of any kind, by any approver, in any condition, and on any narrator, criticism will always take precedence over approval, whereas the matter is not as they have understood."
Reference: Al-Raf' wa al-Takmil, p. 117
He further wrote: "Because some of the experts in criticism and approval criticize a narrator, it is obligatory upon you not to hastily declare criticism on that narrator but rather you must scrutinize the matter because it is of great importance. It is not permissible for you to accept the word of every critic, no matter about which narrator, even if the critic is among the Imams, because sometimes accepting criticism is prevented. Then a ruling is given to reject the criticism, and there are many such cases which are not hidden from the experts of Shariah books."
Reference: Al-Raf' wa al-Takmil, pp. 264-265
Subki, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "You should be completely cautious in accepting that their rule, that criticism absolutely takes precedence over approval. Rather, the correct view is that if the narrator's integrity and justice are established, and those who praise him are more than those who criticize him, and there is an indication that the reason for criticism may be religious bias, etc., then his criticism will not be considered. We have informed you that the criticism of an aggressor will not be accepted even if it is explanatory, if his virtues outweigh his faults, his praisers outnumber his critics, and those who purify him outnumber those who criticize him, while there is evidence that reason accepts that the criticism is only due to religious prejudice or worldly rivalry, as happens in our times. Then we will not pay attention to such criticism but will act upon his integrity. If we do not do this and open the door or take criticism absolutely prior, then no Imam will remain safe from criticism because there is no Imam who has not been criticized by critics and among whom there have not been those who perished."
Reference: Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyyah al-Kubra: 1/188, Qaidah fi al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil, p. 18
Imam Muhammad bin Nasr Marwazi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
كل رجل ثبتت عدالته لم يقبل فيه تجريح أحد حتى يبين ذلك عليه بأمر لا يحتمل غير جرحه
"Whoever's integrity is established, no one's criticism of him will be accepted, even if it becomes clear to you that there is no other possibility except criticism."
Reference: Tahdhib al-Tahdhib: 7/241
Dr. Abdul Aziz said: "When there is a contradiction between the words of the critic and the words of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim regarding a person from whom they narrated, the words of these two (Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim) will be given precedence over the words of others, and their words will be considered authentic because they know the narrators better than others."
Reference: Dawabit al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil, p. 103
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
إذا كان الجارح والمعدل من الأئمة لم يقبل الجرح إلا مفسرا فيكون التعديل مقدما على الجرح المطلق
"When such a situation occurs, it will be said that when the critics and approvers are among the Imams, then only explanatory criticism will be accepted, and approval will take precedence over absolute criticism."
Reference: Majmu' al-Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah: 24/351
Zaili, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
ومجرد الكلام فى الرجل لا يسقط حديثه ولو اعتبرنا ذلك لذهب معظم السنة إذ لم يسلم من كلام الناس إلا من عصمه الله تعالى
"Merely someone's speech does not invalidate his hadith. If we do so, then much of the Sunnah will be lost because only that which Allah has preserved will remain from the words of people."
Reference: Nasb al-Rayah: 1/341
Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "In such a case, it should be restricted to the condition we have mentioned that one should not accept anyone's statement about a person whose justice is firmly established, who is known to be knowledgeable, protected from major sins, committed to kindness and cooperation, whose goodness and virtue prevail, so no one's statement about such a person will be accepted without evidence. This is the truth, and, God willing, nothing else is correct."
Reference: Jami' Bayan al-'Ilm: 2/118
All this detail has been given because some ignorant people use this principle to prove their false theory and to declare authentic hadith weak by saying that criticism takes precedence over approval. So, if the narrator is a famous Imam and Muhaddith, these people criticize the hadith based on this principle and render it invalid for evidence, as the author of the treatise tried to declare the hadith of the descent of Jesus (peace be upon him) from the chain of Imam Bukhari weak. In reality, these people, following their desires, are sowing doubts and suspicions in the established beliefs of Muslims and causing division. نعوذ بالله من شرورهم.
وصلى الله تعالى على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
