«الْمُضْطَرِبُ»
A muḍṭarib report is transmitted through materially conflicting variants with no evidentiary basis to prefer one version over the others.
Disagreement alone does not establish iḍṭirāb. If the versions can be reconciled, they should be reconciled; if one is better preserved, it is preferred and the weaker version identified. Genuine iḍṭirāb arises when neither reconciliation nor preference is available.
Such unresolved inconsistency indicates a problem with accurate preservation, and the affected report is judged weak on that account. A harmless difference or a disagreement resolved by stronger evidence does not justify indiscriminately labeling the whole narration muḍṭarib.