Reliable Narrators Can Make Mistakes

Can Reliable Hadith Narrators (الرواة الثقات) make mistakes?

Yes.

Reliability does not mean Infallibility.

Reliable narrators are still human beings – prone to err, forget and get confused sometimes – like a reliable witness in court.

Al-Iraaqi says:

حيث قال أهل الحديث : هذا حديث صحيح ، فمرادهم فيما ظهر لنا عملا بظاهر الإسناد ، لا أنه مقطوع بصحته في نفس الأمر ، لجواز الخطأ والنسيان على الثقة
هذا هو الصحيح الذي عليه أكثر أهل العلم
وكذا قولهم : هذا حديث ضعيف فمرادهم أنه لم يظهر لنا فيه شروط الصحة ، لا أنه كذب في نفس الأمر ، لجواز صدق الكاذب ، وإصابة من هو كثير الخطأ

“When the people of Hadith say: This Hadith is authentic.

They mean, this is how it appears to us based on its chain.

They do not mean that it is established with certainty, because a reliable narrator can also forget and make mistakes.

This is the truth and this is what the majority of scholars are upon.

Similarly, when they say: This Hadith is weak.

They mean, the authenticity of this report has not become apparent to us.

They do not mean that it is a lie, because a liar can speak the truth and someone who makes a lot of mistakes can be correct at times.”

[‘Sharh al-Tabsirah’, 1/105].

An exception to this rule are the mass transmitted narrations (المتواتر).

They are established with certainty.