There are four definitions of al-musnad:
Translator's note: Mawlānā Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī observed that, in our age, there is no real benefit in seeking shorter chains. [tr.] ↩
Scholars differ on the precise definition of al-munqaṭiʿ; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr makes it the broadest category, while for the mutaqaddimūn and the fuqahāʾ it is identical with al-mursal.
Al-marfūʿ (literally, that which is raised) is what is attributed to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ.
Al-muttaṣil (also called al-mawṣūl) is that whose chain of transmission is unbroken: every narrator has heard the report from the one above him, all the way back to its source.
When a single narrator takes a ḥadīth in solitary fashion from a prominent imām, it is called gharīb (literally, strange, or one who is alone).
