The field of jarḥ wa-taʿdīl — the evaluation of narrators of ḥadīth — represents one of the most sensitive and delicate sciences in the history of Islam. The preservation of the Sunnah demanded that Muslims know who could be trusted to transmit the words of Rasūlullāh ﷺ and who could not. At the same time, Islam has placed immense weight upon the prohibition of gheebah (backbiting), which is among the most destructive sins of the tongue.
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