Muttaṣil: The chain is continuous through valid transmission between successive narrators; the label concerns the connection of its links.
Marfūʿ: The report's content is attributed to the Prophet ﷺ, irrespective of whether every chain link is established.
Musnad: In the preferred technical usage here, a Companion's marfūʿ report with an apparently connected isnād.
Case 1: A Companion's own legal statement may arrive through a connected chain and remain mawqūf—not musnad under the defined usage.
Case 2: A Successor's direct attribution to the Prophet is marfūʿ but mursal, because the Companion link is omitted.
These categories overlap, but no one category replaces the others.