How is the stronger opinion determined when the students of Ibn Ma'in disagree with him?

The questioner : All right, here is another question, our Shaykh, regarding the students of Ibn Ma'in. A question has already come up about whom to prioritize if the students of Ibn Ma'in disagree with him. Yes, indeed. But now, suppose we gather the statements of Ibn Ma'in regarding a narrator. We see that three of his students asked him, and he answered by declaring him weak. And one of his students asked him, and he answered by declaring him reliable. So the majority of his students are those who narrate from him the declaration of weakness. We are not looking now at their origins, whether they are from Baghdad or elsewhere, but in terms of number, we see that three, or that two, of his students narrate, or narrate, from him the declaration of weakness, and one, the minority, narrates the declaration of reliability. Yes. Do we combine these statements, or these opinions, like the opinion of two imams, or do we say that three from Ibn Ma'in declared him reliable, which is the majority, so we rely on the declaration of reliability from Ibn Ma'in?

The Shaykh : If there are no other statements in the picture, we take the narration of the majority, because they are more precise than the narration of a single individual.

The questioner : Because they are more precise regarding Ibn Ma'in than the narration of the individual. And the situation differs, our Shaykh, if, for example, the three—Ahmad, Abu Hatim, and Abu Zur'ah—declared him reliable, and Ibn Ma'in declared him weak?

The Shaykh : Of course, we say so, if there is nothing else.

The questioner : I know. I moved to another issue connected to it so that I would understand, so that if I encounter it, I would already know the answer in advance. Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, it would be so in that case.

The questioner : Disagreement regarding Ibn Ma'in is one thing, and disagreement between Ibn Ma'in and other imams is another thing.

The Shaykh : Another thing, correct? So what is new in your question now?

The questioner : My new question is, when you mentioned that we look to the majority regarding Ibn Ma'in, so we rely on what is from Ibn Ma'in and say he is reliable, or we combine this declaration of reliability and this declaration of weakness and say he is truthful.

The Shaykh : No, we rely on the declaration of weakness narrated by the majority from Ibn Ma'in. But if there are other imams who joined in declaring him reliable with the individual who narrated it from Ibn Ma'in, then at that time, it is necessary to determine the stronger opinion between the declaration of reliability by the scholars of hadith, which is not a single number but a group, and these three who narrated the declaration of weakness from Ibn Ma'in.

The questioner : That is apparent, because when the narrators differ and there is a large number of speakers, the determination of the stronger opinion is based on the circumstances. Yes. But in my question, which I only wanted to verify regarding this point that might be a problem for me. Yes. And that is, suppose that among the students, the one who narrated from Ibn Ma'in, the one who narrated from him, two narrated from him the declaration of weakness. And one narrated the declaration of reliability. So your statement is that we take the majority. Yes. So we say he is weak. Yes. We do not look to the declaration of reliability. Yes. The situation differs if, for example, two imams declared him reliable and one imam declared him weak, then we combine. Yes. This is what I wanted to ask about. Yes. There is a difference between the imams who speak differing about a narrator, and when it is one imam and his students differ regarding him.

The Shaykh : There is no doubt there is a difference, but the determination of the stronger opinion differs.

The questioner : Yes, I know that the determination of the stronger opinion differs, but in the case where there is disagreement regarding one imam, we take the statement of the majority and discard the statement of the minority.

The Shaykh : Yes, the materials. No, no, we discard it.

The questioner : We discard it.

The Shaykh : We take the statement of the majority.