When is the addition of a trustworthy narrator accepted, and when is it anomalous? What is the criterion for this?

The questioner : When is the addition of a trustworthy narrator accepted, and when is it anomalous? What is the criterion for this?

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner: ... May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : The addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted if he does not contradict someone who is more trustworthy. If he contradicts such a person, his addition ceases to be accepted and becomes anomalous. Yesterday, for example, I cited the hadith: , in which Sa'id ibn Mansur, the trustworthy hafiz, uniquely added: . However, he contradicted the majority of trustworthy narrators who narrated this hadith without this addition. Here, if we take the first rule, "the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted," in its absolute sense, we would have to accept this addition. But the research based on the rules of hadith science first, and on sound logic second, does not allow the addition of this trustworthy narrator to be followed. Because that would mean rejecting the memory of the majority regarding the hadith and attributing weak memory to them. This majority did not memorize this addition, and only one man uniquely memorized it. This is, without a doubt, an error. The error of one individual is closer to being accepted than the error of a group. This is the view of those who say that the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted only when there is equality between the narrator who added it and the one upon whom it is added. But if the one upon whom it is added is a group, or an individual with better memory than the one who added it, then the hadith moves from the category where the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted to the category of the anomalous hadith.

The questioner : But what if this trustworthy narrator, for example, contradicted a group who are less trustworthy than him?

The Shaykh : Yes, it remains a precise operation. That is, if each individual in that group, on his own, has less memory than the trustworthy narrator who added it, then one should look at the collective memory of this group. If it exceeds the memory of the single trustworthy narrator, then the addition of the trustworthy narrator remains.
-- Another questioner : If it is... alone.

The Shaykh : Yes, please, I have no objection --

The Shaykh : If the collective memory of the group exceeds the memory of the individual, the group is preferred; otherwise, the memory of the individual is preferred.

The questioner : What is the criterion for this, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : The criterion?

The Shaykh : The criterion requires studying the memory of each individual separately, meaning whether his memory is average or below that. This requires a personal study. I believe this is a reality, but it is rare. In truth, hadith science is a logical science, a science of reflection and the exercise of the mind, not a science where rules are laid down and we accept them without exercising reflection and thought.