A clear road. Used here for the working method a hadith scholar follows. (p.19)
Not the general rules for accepting a hadith, but the standard one compiler held himself to for his own book. (p.33)
Receiving a text from a teacher, and passing it on. There are eight recognised ways. (p.71)
A chain missing one or more narrators at the compiler's own end. This describes the chain's shape, not its strength. (p.123)
A Follower reports straight from the Prophet, skipping the Companion, so the chain is not connected. (p.127)
A report that stops at a Companion instead of reaching the Prophet. Maqtu' stops at a Follower. (p.132)
A hidden flaw in a chain that looks perfectly sound on the surface. (p.162)
The wording that shows HOW a narrator received a hadith: 'he narrated to us', 'he informed us', and so on. (p.168)
Someone who uses a stronger phrase than his actual way of receiving the text allows, making it sound as if he heard it directly. (p.85)
A chapter heading. In al-Bukhari especially, this is where the compiler states his own legal view. (p.180)
The letter ha (ح), written where two chains meet so the shared part is only written once. (p.146)
Abu Hatim al-Razi's rule for when to be loose and when to be strict. Taqmish is sweeping everything into your notes without screening the narrator; taftish is searching it through afterwards. Baqa'i settles where each belongs, following Yazid ibn Harun: relaxed while receiving, dictating and passing hadith on (الأخذ والتحديث والإملاء), strict when compiling a book, arguing in debate, or citing a hadith as proof (التصنيف والمناظرة والاحتجاج, p.59). (p.58)