If the dropping of a narrator from the sanad occurs with the intention of deceit then this ḥadīth is termed mudallas.[1] If there is no intention of deceit then it is a mursal narration.[2]
For example, if a student narrates a ḥadīth which he did not hear from his teacher, although he may have heard other aḥādīth, using words such as “my teacher said”, this would be a form of tadlīs. This is because it gives the impression the student heard the teacher narrate the ḥadīth, whereas he did not hear it directly from him.
As for mursal narrations, they can be categorised into two;
- Mursal khafi
- Mursal wāḍiḥ
[1] From the word tadlīs, literally; concealed in the dark.
[2] For example it is agreed that the narrations of the mukhadramīn (those who were alive at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and believed in his message, but did not meet him) such as narrations by Abū Uthmān al-Nahdī and Qays Ibn Abī Ḥāzim from the Prophet ﷺ are termed as irsal, and not tadlīs. (Nuzhat al-Naẓr)
