«Laqiya» claims a meeting, «ḥaddathanā» asserts direct transmission, and «mushāfahatan» makes face-to-face hearing explicit. Mere contemporaneity or residence in the era of a teacher does not independently establish audition.
For Nufayʿ b. al-Ḥārith, Abū Dāwūd al-Aʿmā, al-Nawawī transmits specific critical assessments: ʿAmr b. ʿAlī said «matrūk» (abandoned), Yaḥyā b. Maʿīn and Abū Zurʿah said «laysa bi-shayʾ» (of no standing as a hadith transmitter), and Abū Ḥātim said «munkar al-ḥadīth» (one who transmits objectionable reports). These are the named critics’ reported judgments; Qatādah’s accounts provide particular circumstantial evidence concerning his claimed hearing. The criticism is not inferred from poverty alone.