Tadlīs in the works of the Mutaqaddimūn -With special peference to Yahyā b. Maʿīn, Ahmad b. Ḥanbal, Tīrmizī and Ibn Abī Ḥātim-

This thesis investigates the extent to which the established meaning of the term "tadlīs" reflects its original meaning in the early period. Since it is foreseen that they will contain many examples of tadlīs as a type of hidden defects (ʿilla) in aḥādīth, the early usage of tadlīs was determined by analyzing the selected works of al-ʿilal of the mutaqaddimūn. The determinations regarding the meaning of tadlīs in the period of the mutaqaddimūn were made by evaluating the examples of tadlīs in the aforementioned works with a method that aims to reach conclusions based on examples. As a result, it has been observed that, even today, there is no consensus on the exact terminological meaning of tadlīs, though the widely accepted meaning is: a narrator transmitting a ḥadīth from a teacher, whom he normally receives narrations from, but without actually hearing it from him, thereby giving the false impression of direct transmission." It has been determined that this common meaning does not entirely capture the various meanings that tadlīs carried in the early period. Moreover, it was concluded that the explanations and criticisms by ḥadīth critics (muḥaddithūn) regarding tadlīs were considered by the early compilers, showing how the various branches of ḥadīth science supported one another, especially in the context of tadlīs.