The Light of Truth — Page 485
ENDNOTE RELATED TO PAGE NUMBER 17¹ Know that the opponents harbour objections and doubts at this junc- ture, but all of them point to a deficit of reflection and a surplus of enmity like the reproacher. The greatest objections involve the discred- iting and criticizing of the narrators. In response to this, know that I do not accept such criticism without proof from the research scholars. Allah the Exalted states: يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَ كُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَا فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَدِمِينَ 20 This verse indicates that accepting the testimony of evil people is imper- missible except after an investigation [so thorough] that it renders the enquirer completely content. With this resolved, I declare that one of the Quran's commandments and affirmations of the Furqan is think- ing well of the believers. Moreover, I declare that Dāraquţnī³ did not accept this hadith from these narrators without conducting an inquiry that was sufficient for its verification. As such, how would it be pos- sible for Dāraquţnī to deliberately transmit [a hadith] from a sinful 1. In the present edition see page 369. [Publisher] 2. O ye who believe! if an unrighteous person brings you any news, ascertain the correctness of the report fully, lest you harm a people in ignorance, and then be- come repentant for what you have done (Sūrah al-Hujurāt, 49:7). [Publisher] 3. Imam Abul-Hasan 'Alī bin 'Umar al-Baghdādī ad-Dāraqutnī (918-995 CE. ) was a revered Muslim scholar and compiler of the hadith collection Sunan ad-Dāraqutni. [Publisher]