If narrator abundance reaches tawātur and its remaining conditions also hold, why not call it merely mashhūr on the grounds that there are more than three narrators?
Mashhūr Hadith and the Two Uses of Mustafīḍ
- Mashhūr requires exactly three narrators in every generation.
- The definition of mashhūr also requires remaining below tawātur.
- Mutawātir also requires equal narrator numbers in every generation.