Question

I was wondering, what does it mean when a narrator is declared Maqbul by Ibn Hajar? Is it referring to his own definition, or that of the majority?

Answer 

I assume that you are referring to the usage of this term (maqbul) in the kitab: Taqribut Tahdhib.

In principle, the terms in this kitab are considered specific to this book only.

Even Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) himself (the author of this book) has different definitions of some terms in his other books.

For a detailed explanation on this, kindly refer to the in depth critique of Taqrib by my Esteemed Shaykh, Al-Muhaddith Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah (hafizahullah), that is published at the beginning of his edition of Taqribut Tahdhib.

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best,

Answered by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar