What is the view of the later Hanbalis regarding the acceptance of an Ahad report from a disbeliever with a specious argument (kafir muta’awwil) and a transgressor with a specious argument (fasiq muta’awwil)?

The Hanbalis held that the report of a disbeliever (kafir) or an open sinner (fasiq) is not accepted. However, some of them, like Abu al-Khattab, accepted the report of an interpreter (muta'awwil) who does not proselytize, such as a disbeliever whose innovation (bid'ah) is based on what he believes to be true evidence, or a fasiq who interprets with an innovation that does not amount to disbelief. As for the conditions for an accepted narrator, they are: Islam, legal capacity (taklif), uprightness (adalah), and precision (dhabt). The report of a fasiq is not accepted, based on the Almighty's saying: ﴿O YOU WHO HAVE BELIEVED, IF THERE COMES TO YOU A FASIQS WITH ANY NEWS, VERIFY IT﴾. Nor is the report of a disbeliever accepted due to suspicion regarding his religion and his enmity towards the Divine Law. A proselytizing innovator (mubtadi' da'iyah) is rejected, whereas the narration of a non-proselytizing innovator (mubtadi' ghayr da'iyah) whose innovation does not amount to disbelief is accepted. This is the sounder of the narrations from Imam Ahmad.