The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—also said:

Section: Types of Transmission and Their Designations

These include “He narrated to us,” “He informed us,” “He notified us,” “I heard,” “I read,” oral communication, handing over written material, written correspondence, authorization to transmit, transmission from a discovered manuscript, and similar forms.

We say: the discussion concerns two matters. The first is the means by which transmission is valid and continuity of the chain is established. The second is the wording used to express this.

There are several types. The first is hearing the narrator’s own words, whether one sees him or not, just as the Companions heard the Quran, as well as hadith, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; and as he used to recite it to them and recited Sūrat Lam Yakun (“They Were Not”) to Ubayy. In this matter, people have made no distinction between the two situations, unlike the distinction some jurists have made regarding testimony. Then that speaker