Yet that example is unsound, for ʿUmar ibn Nāfiʿ and al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān concur with Mālik on it; and Allah knows best.
Type Seventeen: Identifying Singular Reports
The intent of this category has already been mentioned. A singular report (mufrad) is of two kinds:
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Absolutely unique, transmitted by no one other than its single narrator—this has been discussed above.
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Unique only with respect to a particular group, as when scholars say, “Only the people of Mecca and al-Shām narrated it,” or “So-and-so alone relates it from so-and-so,” or “It is exclusive to the people of Basra as opposed to those of Kufa,” and the like. Such relative uniqueness does not in itself imply weakness, unless the statement “the Medinese alone narrated it” means that only one Medinese transmitter reported it—in which case it reverts to the first category. And Allah knows best.
Type Eighteen: The Muʿallal Report
It is also termed the maʿlūl, although that expression is linguistically flawed. This is among the most important and delicate branches of the discipline, mastered only by those endowed with strong memorization, wide-ranging expertise, and penetrating insight,