Their saying that so-and-so does not narrate except from a trustworthy narrator: is this the general rule or absolute? And does the phrase imply the vindication of everyone from whom so-and-so narrated, for example, like Imam Malik?

The questioner : Their saying that so-and-so does not narrate except from a trustworthy narrator: is this the general rule or absolute? And does the phrase imply the vindication of everyone from whom so-and-so narrated, for example, like Imam Malik and Yahya ibn Abi Kathir?

The Shaykh : No, if the scholars do not accept the vindication of a man whose identity is not known, then a fortiori, this rule should not be accepted, as it is further from the vindication of a known person. That is to say, if a scholar or imam says, "A trustworthy narrator narrated to me," the chain of narration is not valid until it is revealed who this trustworthy narrator was that he meant. Similarly, the mere narration of an imam from a person about whom we do not know that anyone has vindicated him, where we only know this general statement that he does not narrate except from a trustworthy narrator, this is not relied upon, because it is reliance on a general statement, and this generality is often contradicted by some narrations... Please proceed?