The text also discusses an unqualified “Muḥammad”, with possible identification among recognized transmitters such as Muḥammad ibn Salām and Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Dhuhlī.
A shortened name is not itself praise or disparagement. A pupil may have used a familiar abbreviation for his teacher, while a later researcher needs to supply the distinguishing lineage.
Research sequence: 1. Compare another route of the same report; 2. check known pupil-teacher relationships; 3. examine chronology and locality; 4. avoid a definitive identification until the evidence establishes it.