and prevents collusion. This is what - on the one hand - made it the basis of the first condition. It would be better if these were one condition, not making it the basis of this condition. The basis. from a large number from a large number. If the number of narrators falls below the required majority at any stage of transmission, the tawatur becomes invalid, even if the majority is achieved in all other stages. The scholars have agreed on this condition, considering that opinions derived from thought and related to the unseen are not suitable for tawatur to convey knowledge. More explanation on this will be given in defining the scope of tawatur. It seems that Al-Mahdi contented himself with this condition instead of another condition mentioned by the scholars, which is that the narration must be based on certain knowledge of what is narrated, not on conjecture or guesswork. Al-Ghazali alluded to this in his statement: The first condition is that they report from knowledge, not from conjecture. If the people of Baghdad informed us about a bird that they thought was a pigeon, or about a person that they thought was Zayd. We would not have gained knowledge that it was a pigeon and that it was Zayd. The reason for relying on the perceptible instead of the certain is that the perceptible, when observed, leads to certain knowledge, assuming the senses are sound. Thus, both matters return to a single origin. As for the conditions related to the state of the recipient, Al-Mahdi mentioned the following: Soundness of the sense of hearing. This condition is challenged by the fact that knowledge can be obtained - firstly - through tawatur The continuity of the transmission to the recipient. This - secondly - falls under the continuity of transmission that has been explained. is the same 46 Same source: (129) / 1 See its details in: Al-Ghazali, Al-Mustasfa: 47 Same source: (130) Al-Shawkani, Irshad 134 45 Al-Fuhul: 134/1 Al-Mustasfa: Al-Ghazali (131) 2304