Should the narrations of a trustworthy narrator whose errors and objectionable narrations are numerous be considered sound in principle, or should they be suspended until their freedom from error is confirmed?

The narrators of Hadith (definition) are not all equal in their memorization and precision. Some students of knowledge fall into the error of confusing their ranks. One common mistake is not distinguishing between the scholars' statement about a narrator: "he has manakir" or "he narrated manakir", and their statement: "he is munkar al-hadith."

"He has manakir" or "He narrated manakir": This means that the narrator is fundamentally precise, but he made mistakes in a few specific hadiths that scholars deemed objectionable. This does not prevent the acceptance of his other narrations. "He is munkar al-hadith" or "His hadiths are manakir": This means that the narrator's errors and delusions became so numerous that they overwhelmed his hadith. Thus, his narrations are not accepted because he is excessively mistaken.

The munkar hadith of a narrator who "has manakir" is identified by one of two methods:

1. Scholarly Text: When scholars explicitly state that this hadith is among those objected to concerning him, or they counted it among his manakir. 2. Oppositional Singularity: When the narrator uniquely narrates a hadith from a shaykh, without being corroborated by reliable companions of that shaykh, especially if his singularity is not befitting of his state of memorization and precision, or if he contradicts reliable narrators.

If a narrator who "has manakir" narrates a hadith that scholars have not counted among his manakir, and he did not contradict others in it, and someone else corroborates his narration, then his hadith becomes hasan (definition) (good) and its nakarah (objectionability) is removed.