to consult the books that have been compiled to elucidate the meanings of the hadith reports (1) and to resolve whatever in them is problematic. Many leading scholars produced extensive works in that field, such as al-Ṭaḥāwī (2), al-Khaṭṭābī (3), Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (4), and others (5).

[The Anonymity of Transmitters and Its Causes]

Next comes the question of a narrator whose identity is unknown; this constitutes the eighth ground for criticism (6). It arises from two causes:

The first: a narrator may possess numerous identifiers—his given name, teknonym, nickname, descriptive epithet (7), occupation, or lineage. He gains renown through one of them, yet for some purpose he is mentioned by another, leading people to suppose he is someone else (8); consequently, his actual status remains unknown.

Scholars have written on this specific issue, among them al-Muḍiḥ li-Awhām al-Jamʿ wa-al-Tafrīq, a work in which al-Khaṭīb excelled (9); he had, however, been preceded in it by (10)