If a narrator’s ikhtilāṭ is established but a particular pupil’s hearing cannot be placed securely before or after it, the audition becomes chronologically uncertain. One may not simply assume it preceded the deterioration.
Critics compare the pupil’s age, travels, the teacher’s residence, evidence of meetings, and earlier scholars’ evaluations. If those indicators do not settle the issue, suspended judgment or caution is appropriate for that route. This does not necessarily amount to pronouncing the report’s content definitively false.
Compare: verified early hearing is assessed by earlier precision; verified late hearing is affected by deterioration; unknown timing calls for further evidence.