To resolve a muʾtalif/mukhtalif case, one preserves the actual manuscript reading and seeks explicitly verified pronunciation in reliable biographical or audition-based sources. One then tests candidate readings against the narrator’s teachers, pupils, and generation. A second chain with a fuller name or kunya may resolve the doubt.
When sound sources differ, the disagreement should be documented rather than silently normalized. A scribal slip and a real alternate name are distinct phenomena; emendation requires proportionate evidence.
This caution prevents taṣḥīf in personal names and avoids carrying one mistaken identification through multiple chains.