—yet (1) it still calls for (2) further scrutiny!!
[al-Maqṭūʿ]
Or (3) the chain may terminate with a Successor—that is, with someone who also met a Companion. This definition hinges on the fact of having met him and the other conditions previously mentioned, save for the qualification (4) of believing in the one encountered; that stipulation is reserved exclusively for the Prophet ﷺ. This is the preferred view, in contrast to those who require of a Successor prolonged companionship (5) (6), verified audition (7), or the capacity for discernment (8).
[al-Mukhḍaramūn]
Between the Companions and the Successors there remains a class (9) whose affiliation with either group is disputed: the mukhḍaramūn (10)—those who experienced both the pre-Islamic era and Islam yet never saw the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr counted them among the Companions (11), while Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and others claimed that Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr actually holds that they
(1) MS H reads wa-yuhtaju (with the ya vocalised with a ḍamma); the edition follows the reading of MS K.
(2) Al-Qari, may Allah have mercy on him, remarks in Sharh Sharh al-Nukhba (p. 594): “That is, the permissibility of a case such as this, which entails circular reasoning.”
(3) MSS B, J, H, and W read tanthahi; in MS A the letters are left undotted.
(4) MS W has qaydu in the nominative; the adopted reading is that of MSS J and D.
(5) MS K has tawlu in the nominative; the adopted reading is that of MSS A, J, and D.
(6) This is the view preferred by al-Khatib; see al-Kifaya, p. 22.
(7) It is also the position Ibn Kathir inferred from al-Hakim’s words; see al-Hakim, Maʿrifat ʿUlum al-Hadith, p. 45, and Ibn Kathir, al-Baʿith al-Hathith, p. 381.
(8) Ibn Hibban stipulated that, when the narrator actually saw him, he was already of an age from whom reliable transmission is possible; see Ibn Hibban, al-Thiqat, 6:270.
(9) MSS D, H, W, and Z add the word ukhra (“another”).
(10) MS B adds the preposition min (“from”).
(11) Al-Istiʿab, 1:24.