Wahm as a deficiency in the retention of the transmitters and its relation to other defects

The quality of zabt, which refers to the ability of the narrator to preserve the hadith he has received until he transmits it, can be weakened by factors such as forgetfulness, making mistakes, and carelessness. Hadith scholars have drawn attention to such issues, which undermine the reliability of the narrator, using various expressions since the early periods. However, with Ibn Hajar's classification concerning the points of criticism of the narrator, these expressions have been encapsulated into specific terms with defined boundaries. After Ibn Hajar, one of the reasons for this criticism, understood within the framework he determined, is the concept of wahm, which refers to the errors of the narrator in his narrations. The main purpose of this study is to determine whether this term can be evaluated within the limits drawn for it. In this context, the relationship and semantic permeability of the defects of zabt, as put forward by Ibn Hajar, are discussed with a focus on "wahm." For this purpose, the nature of the term subject to the research was analyzed based on the expressions of jarh and taʻdīl used about transmitters. As a result, it was understood that the scholars of rijāl expressed points of criticism such as "making a mistake," "falling into delusion," and "being mistaken" while expressing their opinions about the narrators without indicating a specific terminological meaning. One of the objectives of this thesis is to determine the problems that wahm causes in the transmission of a narrator and its effect on his reliability. For this purpose, the works on 'ilal were scanned and the defects caused by wahm were examined. Accordingly, it was understood that, like other deficiencies in zabt, wahm opens the door to other types of defects such as "addition," "reversal," and "joining." Finally, as a result of the rāwī examinations, it was determined that the degree of weakness is directly proportional to the severity of wahm. In this context, the narrations of the narrators who were severely criticized for wahm were examined in Sahīhayn to see whether their narrations were included in the works compiling authentic hadiths. Consequently, it was determined that the hadiths of a weak narrator, who was severely criticized for extreme delusion without being supported by another narrator, were not recorded in the narrations related to legal matters.