Editing Biographical evaluation (section)

===Time of the Companions===
While many [[Sahaba|Companions]] narrated hadith, according to [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]] there were six who were the most prolific narrators of them, who lived long lives enabling them narrate to a large extent. They were: [[Abu Hurairah|Abu Huraira]], [[Abd Allah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab|Abdullah ibn Umar]], [[Aisha]], [[Jabir ibn Abd-Allah|Jabir ibn Abdullah]], [[`Abd Allah ibn `Abbas|Ibn Abbas]] and [[Anas ibn Malik]] with [[Abu Hurairah|Abu Huraira]] being the most prolific of them.<ref name="Muqaddimah 492">''Muqadimah Ibn al-Salah'', by Ibn al-Salah, edited by 'Aishah bint 'Abd al-Rahman, p. 492, ''Dar al-Ma'arif'', Cairo.</ref> According to Ibn al-Salah the most prolific narrators from the Companions was Abu Huraira followed by Ibn Abbas.<ref name="Muqaddimah 492"/>

In spite of the Companions' efforts in narrating their hadith, there was no need for them to evaluate each other's narrating capabilities or trustworthiness. This is because, as [[Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi]] said, that Allah and his Prophet declared the Companions to be upright and trustworthy, and, therefore, there is no need to investigate their reliability, however, one must investigate the condition of those after them.<ref>''Al-Kifayah'', by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, p. 46, ''Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah'', Beirut, Lebanon, 1988; this edition is apparently based upon the original Indian printing.</ref> However, there are many established narrations originating from the Companions praising some of the [[Tabi'un]] with some criticism of specific individuals from them.<ref name="Ilm R 18-20"/> and al-Baghdadi's stance is contrary to modern approaches like [[historical criticism]].