A question regarding corroborating narrations and supporting chains, and the difference between them.
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The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : If a hadith comes, for example, from al-Zuhri from Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah with a certain hadith, and then the hadith comes from a route other than al-Zuhri from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, then this other narrator is said to have followed al-Zuhri. But this route of al-Zuhri goes on its own; a hadith comes, or if you wish, you can say a second route from Abu Hurayrah, not through the route of whom? Ibn al-Musayyib, but rather it is from a route other than Abu Hurayrah: a hadith from one Companion from another Companion, with a different chain of narration. This is called the first corroborating narration (shahid). But in reality, that is why they said this is expressed as that; there is no objection to saying this is a supporting chain (mutaba'ah) for that. Why? If you start with the Companion, then the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in the example has a corroborating narration from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar is a supporting chain for Abu Hurayrah. The Successor (Tabi'i) who narrated from Abu Hurayrah is a supporting chain for the Successor who narrated from Ibn 'Umar, and so on through all the levels. So the corroborating narration is a supporting chain, and the supporting chain is a corroborating narration; it is a term that, as I told you, is not narrow but has breadth. Yes.
The Shaykh : If a hadith comes, for example, from al-Zuhri from Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah with a certain hadith, and then the hadith comes from a route other than al-Zuhri from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, then this other narrator is said to have followed al-Zuhri. But this route of al-Zuhri goes on its own; a hadith comes, or if you wish, you can say a second route from Abu Hurayrah, not through the route of whom? Ibn al-Musayyib, but rather it is from a route other than Abu Hurayrah: a hadith from one Companion from another Companion, with a different chain of narration. This is called the first corroborating narration (shahid). But in reality, that is why they said this is expressed as that; there is no objection to saying this is a supporting chain (mutaba'ah) for that. Why? If you start with the Companion, then the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in the example has a corroborating narration from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar is a supporting chain for Abu Hurayrah. The Successor (Tabi'i) who narrated from Abu Hurayrah is a supporting chain for the Successor who narrated from Ibn 'Umar, and so on through all the levels. So the corroborating narration is a supporting chain, and the supporting chain is a corroborating narration; it is a term that, as I told you, is not narrow but has breadth. Yes.