The Epithet "What I Learned of them is all good" by Imām Al-Dāraquṭni: Collection and Study

Abstract

‘Ilm al Rijāl is one of the most important branches of Ḥadīth Sciences due to its endurance and performance, it is vital for the calcification of Ḥadīth in its different categories of acceptable and non-acceptable. Many terminologies used by scholars of this branch have various meanings based on the methodology and style of the scholar. It is important to know the scholar's style in 'Ilm al-Rijāl before elaborating his rulings on Rijāl and Sanad. Among these terminologies, "What I learned of them is all good"(Ma ‘alimtu illā Khyran) is used by Imām al Dāraquṭnī, which has been questioned by some scholars of Ḥadīth whether it is from the terms of as al-Jarḥ (criticism) or al-Ta‘dīl (accreditation)? The study is mainly based on an inductive approach followed by a descriptive approach. This study traces the usage of this term and investigates the narrators, for whom the Dāraquṭnī used it. Furthermore, it explains the Dāraquṭnī 's style of using this term by exploring the context used. The study concludes that the term “Ma ‘Ullimtu illā Khyran” is not al-Jarḥ (criticism), but rather it is the word of al Ta‘dīl (accreditation), that does not bring down its owner from the degree of sincerity. It further concludes that there are thirty narrators embedded with this phrase by Al Dāraquṭnī. The students are recommended to heed attentively to Al Dāraquṭnī utterances in attracted vouching and discrediting to be unraveled and uncovered according to the conducive clues and inferences.