Itibar

Compare two roads of one report

A single isnad is a witness. The critic lays a second road beside it — same companion (mutabi) or another companion with the same meaning (shahid). Shared names are the trunk. Names that appear on only one side are the test.

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ

Mutabi — same Companion, another student

Bukhari opens the Sahih with this sitting.

رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ
عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّاب
Umar ibn al-Khattab
عَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِي
Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِي
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi
يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْأَنْصَارِي
Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari
سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَة
Sufyan ibn Uyaynahthis road only
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ الْحُمَيْدِي
Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr al-Humaydithis road only
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ الْبُخَارِي
Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukharithis road only

Read the hadith · Bukhari 1

Ibn Majah keeps the same trunk in Zuhd (4227).

رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ
عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّاب
Umar ibn al-Khattab
عَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِي
Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِي
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi
يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْأَنْصَارِي
Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari
يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُون
Yazid ibn Harunthis road only
أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَة
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybahthis road only
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ ابْنُ مَاجَه
Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Majahthis road only

Read the hadith · Ibn Majah 4227

Names on both roads5

Bukhari and Ibn Majah share the Madinan trunk: Yahya from al-Taymi from Alqamah from Umar. The split is late — Sufyan and al-Humaydi versus Yazid and Ibn Abi Shaybah. That is a mutabi. The wording is not lonely. Ibn Majah’s wider net here agrees with the soundest book.

Examine Sunan Ibn Majah