sons of ali al hadi imam ali naqi there is no conclusion over three sons or seven why it is considered necessary to place a full stop after mentioning three sons therefore it is necessary to evaluate the reliability of reference being emphasized with the availability of an isbn and its publishing in english language by a foreign expert his dignity is recognized but critical view is our right in my discussion abu mikhnaf is one of primary sources per norm of social science history primary sources relate to an event written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question by letters memoirs journals speeches manuscripts etc secondary sources function to interpret primary sources secondary sources interpret to assign value and draw conclusions about the events reported in primary sources when evaluating primary or secondary sources the very basis warrants to know i how does the author know these details ii was the author present at the event or soon on the scene iii where does this information come from i e personal experience eyewitness or reports written by others thus the reliability of an scholar wilferd madelung belonging to a belated period th century depending on single source of tenth century does not sense to overrule the very old primary source of th century which is not only supported by millions of naqvis naqavis of the world particularly the sub continent but also evident from the various published secondary sources e g gulzar e naqi riaz ulnasab compiled with the help of books annexing pedigrees by a family member of ali naqi naqvi the writer belongs to well educated family his two elder brothers were college principals in colleges of punjab among his brothers dr sohail bukhari was an authority in urdu literature in his time besides being an author for punjab text books for school and colleges in view of above discussion the section which provides explanation to the confusion in numbering and names of sons should remain in the main article for research and reference in terms of en wp being the tertiary source