The jarh-ta'dīl method of Yahya b. Ma'īn with a special focus on extreme and dā'ī narrators

In the hadith methodology, the reliability of a narrator is associated with his possession of the attribute of "adālah". According to some muhaddiths, this attribute includes the condition that the narrator "should not be a propagandist of his bid'ah sect (dā'ī)". In this study, the jarh-ta'dīl method of Yahya b. Ma'īn, one of the most important munakkids of the third century of Hijrah, who put forward a similar condition, is analyzed with a special focus on the narrators whom he characterized as inviting to their sects and being extreme in bid'ah. In this thesis, the method he utilized in criticizing the relevant narrators is questioned, and the meanings of the words "extreme", "dā'ī", and other terms of jarh-ta'dīl were explained. This thesis is limited to the encyclopedia entitled Mawsūatu aqwāli Yahya b. Ma'īn fī rijāli'l-hadīth wa ilelihī, which compiles Ibn Ma'īn's views on the criticism of narrators. The analysis is based on 27 narrators mentioned in the encyclopedia, which Ibn Ma'īn himself gave information about their extremism or their being a dā'ī, or made a statement pointing to it and about whom he made judgment of jarh-ta'dīl. The evaluations of Ibn Ma'īn and the critics of the first five centuries of the Hijrah on these narrators are compared and thus it was observed that Ibn Ma'īn made judgments consistent with the opinions of other munaqqids. As a result, it has been established that Ibn Ma'īn did not consider a narrator's being an extremist in bid'ah or a dā'ī as an absolute reason for discrediting and abandonment, and he wrote down hadiths from some of the narrators who were extremists in bid'ah and who invited others to their sect if they were reliable and competent in narrating hadiths. The most general conclusion on the subject is that there is a distinction between theory and practice in hadith methodology and that some commentators such as Ibn Maīn did not make an evaluation based on a single rule such as "Hadiths of dā'ī narrators shall not be written down" and that each narrator and their narrations were treated individually. Key Words: Yahya b. Ma'īn, ahl bid'ah, jarḥ-ta'dīl, extreme, dā'ī.