Definition of gharīb:[1] That which is narrated by a single narrator.
Abū ‘Abdullāh bin Mandah, al-Ḥāfidh, al-Aṣbhānī and others[2] state that the gharābah need not be in every stage of the sanad, but can be at the stage of tābi’īn or tabi’ tābi’īn only.
However, Ibn Ḥajar and the muta`akhirīn mention that this gharābah must be in every stage of the sanad.
Al-‘Irāqī mentions in his Alfiyyah that in reality both are forms of gharābah.
[1] Literally: strange, or the person who is alone or far from his relatives.
[2] Such as Muḥammad ubn Ṭāhir al-Maqdisī, Ibn Ṣalāh, Nawawi, Ibn Daqeeq al-Īd, Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Ibn Kathīr and ‘Irāqī.
