All of Isnad

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.

  1. رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ

    The Messenger of Allah ﷺ

  2. عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّاب

    Umar ibn al-Khattab

  3. عَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِي

    Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi

  4. مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِي

    Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi

  5. يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْأَنْصَارِي

    Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari

  6. سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَة

    Sufyan ibn Uyaynahthis road only

  7. عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ الْحُمَيْدِي

    Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr al-Humaydithis road only

  8. 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).

  1. رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ

    The Messenger of Allah ﷺ

  2. عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّاب

    Umar ibn al-Khattab

  3. عَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِي

    Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi

  4. مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِي

    Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi

  5. يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْأَنْصَارِي

    Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari

  6. يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُون

    Yazid ibn Harunthis road only

  7. أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَة

    Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybahthis road only

  8. 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