al-Qattān, Yazīd ibn Hārūn, and many others from Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra, Syria, and elsewhere, who taught al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad, Ishāq and others of their generation, as well as Yahyā ibn Maʿīn, ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, and Abū ʿUbayd.

This hadith has parallels among authentic hadiths with singular chains, such as the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar reporting that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“forbade selling or giving away rights of patronage.” Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded it. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār alone narrated it from Ibn ʿUmar.

Another example is the hadith of Anas:

“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered Mecca wearing a mail helmet. He was told, ‘Ibn Khatal is clinging to the coverings of the Kaaba.’ He said, ‘Kill him.’”

Both al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded it. Al-Zuhrī alone narrated it from Anas, and it is said that Mālik alone narrated it from al-Zuhrī.

A singular hadith is one transmitted by a single narrator. Its singularity may concern its text or its chain of transmission. For example, its text may be authentically transmitted through a known chain, yet also be narrated through another, singular chain.

Some singular hadiths are authentic, but most are not, as Ahmad said:

“Beware of these singular reports, for most of them come from liars.”

This is why al-Tirmidhī says of certain hadiths, “It is singular through this route.” Al-Tirmidhī was the first to classify hadiths as authentic, good, singular