The ten grounds for impugning a narrator

Having finished with drops from the chain, Ibn Hajar in [[work/nuzhat-al-nazar|Nuzhat al-Nazar]] turns to the second cause of rejection, impugning the narrator, which he says rests on ten things, some more damaging than others: five concern integrity and five precision. He deliberately does not keep the two groups apart, in order to arrange them from the gravest ground of rejection downwards. ²

He lists them in this order: ³

1. The narrator lying in prophetic hadith, deliberately reporting from the Prophet ﷺ what he did not say.
2. Suspicion of that: the hadith is known only through him and contradicts established principles; likewise one known to lie in his ordinary speech even if no lie in hadith has appeared from him. This is less grave than the first.
3. Gross error, that is, frequent error.
4. Inattention to accuracy.
5. Sinfulness in act or word short of unbelief; lying is listed separately because it is the gravest defect in this field, and sinfulness of belief comes under innovation.
6. Misapprehension: transmitting on the basis of a mistaken impression.
7. Contradicting trustworthy narrators.
8. Being unknown: no specific vouching or impugning of him is known; see jahala.
9. Innovation, which Ibn Hajar defines as holding a belief introduced contrary to what is known from the Prophet, not out of obstinacy but through some misunderstanding; see bid'a.
10. Poor memory: a description of one whose errors are fewer than his correct reports.

The editor Nur al-Din 'Itr sorts them into the two groups: impugning integrity covers lying, suspicion of lying, sinfulness, innovation and being unknown; impugning precision covers gross error, inattention, misapprehension, contradicting trustworthy narrators and poor memory. He explains that Ibn Hajar interleaved them to descend from the gravest, which is why gross error comes straight after suspicion of lying, as an equally serious defect. ²

Impugning the narrator for lying in prophetic hadith is what makes his report [[concept/wad-al-hadith|fabricated (mawdu')]]. For Ibn Hajar the verdict of fabrication rests on preponderant likelihood, not certainty, since a liar may tell the truth; but hadith specialists have a strong faculty by which they tell it apart. ⁴

See also jarh wa ta'dil.