The Truth about the Alleged Punishment for Apostasy in Islam — Page 116
116 stature—without critically examining its credentials 112. It is indeed possible that a tradition that has only one narrator can be a correct and reliable Hadith. However, such a tradition cannot be comparable to one that has several narrators. Therefore such ‘ aha d’ traditions cannot be relied on in matters pertaining to rights and commitments, obligations and punishments, in particular issues regarding the ‘ h ud u d’ , namely, the corporal punishments enjoined by the Holy Qur’an. THE NARRATOR IS A KH A RJ I * It is essential that we further investigate the reputation of the narrator ‘Ikrama. When we evaluate this tradition on this basis, we find out that the narrator was a Kh a rj i , viz. an enemy of Hadrat ‘Al i ra. Most noted and prominent books dealing with the narrators of traditions state about him that he was such a lowly and wicked man that the Muslims did not even say his funeral prayer. Consequently, the scholars of Hadith who had expertise in ascertaining the soundness of a tradition, came to the conclusion that this tradition is worthless because its narrator was a zind i q and a Kh a rij i and was a supporter of the enemies of Hadrat ‘Al i ra , in particular during the period when disagreements ensued between Hadrat ‘Al i ra and 112 Al-Raf‘u wal Takm i l, old edition, Lucknow. [Publisher] * Belonging to those who revolted against Hadrat ‘Al i ra during his Khilafat. [Publisher]