Does one who holds that mere contemporaneity suffices for the validity of the chain require other conditions, or is he content with absolute contemporaneity even if the possibility of meeting is very weak?
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The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Does one who holds that mere contemporaneity suffices for the validity of the chain require other conditions, or is he content with absolute contemporaneity even if the possibility of meeting is very weak, such as the shaykh being in the East and the student in the West, a very great distance apart?
The Shaykh : This is a matter in which, in my opinion, it is not possible to give a definitive answer, because the cause you mentioned is not a cause that necessarily occurs. We know that the scholars of the Muslims and their memorizers used to travel from East to West and from West to East. If there is something indicating that he did not leave his country, or at least his region, from the West to the East or from the East to the West, and if nothing of that is found, it is taken as connection based on mere contemporaneity, provided that trustworthiness and integrity are established. Yes.
The questioner : ... For example, the age of the period of transmission is fifteen years between the death of the shaykh and the birth of the student.
The Shaykh : It might be what?
The questioner : I say the age, the age of the period of transmission.
The Shaykh : The age.
The questioner : Fifteen years, for example, between them, so this student does not usually go out, like the custom of the memorizers that...
The Shaykh : So one looks at the circumstances. But if there is no such circumstance as you are now mentioning, the answer is what you heard.
The questioner : Does one who holds that mere contemporaneity suffices for the validity of the chain require other conditions, or is he content with absolute contemporaneity even if the possibility of meeting is very weak, such as the shaykh being in the East and the student in the West, a very great distance apart?
The Shaykh : This is a matter in which, in my opinion, it is not possible to give a definitive answer, because the cause you mentioned is not a cause that necessarily occurs. We know that the scholars of the Muslims and their memorizers used to travel from East to West and from West to East. If there is something indicating that he did not leave his country, or at least his region, from the West to the East or from the East to the West, and if nothing of that is found, it is taken as connection based on mere contemporaneity, provided that trustworthiness and integrity are established. Yes.
The questioner : ... For example, the age of the period of transmission is fifteen years between the death of the shaykh and the birth of the student.
The Shaykh : It might be what?
The questioner : I say the age, the age of the period of transmission.
The Shaykh : The age.
The questioner : Fifteen years, for example, between them, so this student does not usually go out, like the custom of the memorizers that...
The Shaykh : So one looks at the circumstances. But if there is no such circumstance as you are now mentioning, the answer is what you heard.
Source
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