In the isnād of aḥādīth one often sees a narrator say "حدّثنا" or "أخبرنا" when reporting what he heard from his teacher. Is there a difference between the two?
Imām al-Nawawī notes that Imām Muslim (raḥimahu Allāh) drew a firm distinction between the two terms:
In other words, a technical distinction was drawn:
حدّثنا: the shaykh narrated to us.
أخبرنا: we read to the shaykh, while he listened and approved.
Imām Muslim's careful use of taḥdīth and ikhbār is one reason why many scholars prefer memorising the wording of a ḥadīth as it appears in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim when the report is muttafaq ʿalayh (narrated by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim): Muslim's greater precision in citing the mode of transmission gives the wording a firmer footing.
Some scholars upheld this distinction; others pointed out that it was a matter of technical convention (اصطلاح), not of language, and that the two terms came in practice to be used interchangeably.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī in Sharḥ Nukhbat al-Fikar explains:
When the addition of a thiqa narrator is accepted: positions of al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Ḥibbān, Muslim, al-Ḥākim and the Ḥanafīs, with the majlis distinction.
