it seems we're talking past each other because "Silent approval relies on the character of the transmitters themselves" seems like we're both prioritizing isnad but saying it differently, lol. all i was saying is that the allegation something was relayed from aisha is not helpful for establishing paucity of hadith, because she's the source of uncontroversial hadith too; which incidentally makes her a good spot to source a fabrication from, if you wanted to

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sorry I should've been more clear, when I said "attributed to Aisha" I didn't mean that she was the original transmitter of the hadith and that alone somehow puts its isnad in question, I meant she was the subject of the hadith and the transmitters (inauthentic as they were) are supposedly sourcing the contents of the hadith (it's matn) from her life and not the prophet, which does beg the question in what respect could that be considered a hadith and not simply an historical assertion about someone the prophet knew

Basically, if the prophet is not the main subject nor the original speaker of the content (isnad notwithstanding), then is it really a hadith in essence