«الرِّوَايَةُ بِالْمَعْنَى»
Narration by meaning is the transmission of a hadith's substance in different wording while preserving the original intended meaning. It differs from abbreviation: the latter removes part of the original wording, while the former expresses some or all of the content in substituted words.
Classical authorities disagreed over permissibility and restriction. Their positions should not be collapsed into a claim of universal agreement. The central question concerns a narrator's command of language and legal meaning: can the alternative expression carry the same intended sense?
A single word can alter a ruling, generality, limitation, or emphasis. A paraphrase that merely sounds similar is therefore not necessarily equivalent.