Hadith scholars discussed the precise placement of this transitional generation. Differences are reported over the breadth with which figures of this period were included among the Companions, including discussions involving Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr and other critics.
The central issue: Does being Muslim during the Prophet’s lifetime, without meeting him, suffice for Companion status? Under the adopted definition, an encounter is required, so mere contemporaneity does not qualify.
A strictly conditional question concerning a general vision on the Night Journey is also raised: were such a vision demonstrably established, its implications for the definition would warrant investigation. This hypothesis must not be presented as an established historical event.
When analyzing these transmitters and their reports, distinguish historical coexistence, an actual qualifying encounter, and direct audition of a particular narration. These are independent facts even where they occur within the same generation.