Does the rule of addition, anomaly, and acceptance apply in all contexts, or is it restricted to what is well-known and frequently used by scholars in matters of raising, stopping, and sending?

The questioner : Shaykh, also regarding the disagreement among scholars on accepting the addition of a trustworthy narrator and ruling it as anomalous: is this specific to the chapters of stopping and raising, the chapter of a narrator’s addition or omission, and the chapter of sending versus connected narration? Or does it extend to, for example, a case where a group of narrators narrated from a concealer (mudallis) using the "from" (an'anah) formula, while a single narrator, fewer in number or weaker in memorization, narrated from him explicitly stating he heard it? Likewise, in establishing the companionship of a Companion or that he is not a Companion? For example, in establishing that any matter which removes the defect present in the chain—perhaps a group narrates a hadith, or there is a defect in the hadith, and another contradicts them by narrating the hadith free from this defect—does the rule of addition, anomaly, and acceptance also apply in this place, or is it restricted to what is well-known and frequently used by scholars in stopping, raising, connecting, and sending?

The Shaykh : No, what I believe is that the matter encompasses all models of disagreement. However, one must look at the description of that narrator from whom we can initially say that he deviated from the group and contradicted them in raising, for example, or in adding to the text, or in the transmission of a concealed narration, which is what I mentioned.

The questioner : Specifying an ambiguous reference, and so on.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : One must look at the biography of the one who brought this addition. If he is among the ordinary people who are not noted for a distinction in memorization and precision, for example, then the rule, in its comprehensiveness and generality, applies. This is unlike the case where the one who contradicted the group in any of these matters or places I hinted at and expanded upon with examples, and praise be to Allah, is among the general narrators and there is nothing in his biography that distinguishes him from his peers. In that case, the rule applies in its generality and comprehensiveness; this is the original principle if we consider the cause or reason for which the scholars of hadith established the phrase "the addition of a trustworthy narrator is not accepted" except with the conditions you know, some of which we have mentioned on previous occasions. If it necessitates suspecting the reliability of trustworthy narrators for the sake of an ordinary trustworthy narrator, then the heart testifies that the opposite is correct. In other words, it is easier to suspect a trustworthy narrator who contradicted them than to suspect a group of trustworthy narrators, whether it is an addition to the text, to its chain, or to any of the other examples I pointed out. This is what appears to me, and Allah knows best.The questioner : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, having no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.