A question regarding corroborating narrations, supporting chains, and the differences between them.
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The questioner : ... the follow-up narrations.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : The follow-up narrations and corroborating narrations.
The Shaykh : What is the matter with it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : If a hadith comes, for example, from al-Zuhri from Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah, and then the hadith comes from a route other than al-Zuhri from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, this other narrator is said to have followed al-Zuhri. But al-Zuhri's route stands on its own. A hadith comes—and if you wish, you can call it a second route—from Abu Hurayrah, not through the route of whom? Ibn al-Musayyib. Rather, it is from a route other than Abu Hurayrah's; a hadith from one Companion from another Companion with a different chain of narration. This is called a corroborating narration (shahid) for the first one. But in reality, as they said, there is no objection to calling this a follow-up narration (mutaba'ah) for that one. Why? If you start with the Companion, the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in the example has a corroborating narration from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar is a follow-up to Abu Hurayrah. The Successor narrator who narrated from Abu Hurayrah is a follow-up to the Successor who narrated from Ibn 'Umar, and so on in every tier. Thus, the corroborating narrator is a follower, and the follower is a corroborator. So it is a technical term that, as I told you, is not narrow, but rather has breadth.
Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : The follow-up narrations and corroborating narrations.
The Shaykh : What is the matter with it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : If a hadith comes, for example, from al-Zuhri from Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah, and then the hadith comes from a route other than al-Zuhri from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, this other narrator is said to have followed al-Zuhri. But al-Zuhri's route stands on its own. A hadith comes—and if you wish, you can call it a second route—from Abu Hurayrah, not through the route of whom? Ibn al-Musayyib. Rather, it is from a route other than Abu Hurayrah's; a hadith from one Companion from another Companion with a different chain of narration. This is called a corroborating narration (shahid) for the first one. But in reality, as they said, there is no objection to calling this a follow-up narration (mutaba'ah) for that one. Why? If you start with the Companion, the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in the example has a corroborating narration from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar is a follow-up to Abu Hurayrah. The Successor narrator who narrated from Abu Hurayrah is a follow-up to the Successor who narrated from Ibn 'Umar, and so on in every tier. Thus, the corroborating narrator is a follower, and the follower is a corroborator. So it is a technical term that, as I told you, is not narrow, but rather has breadth.
Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.