When a chain raises questions of interruption or tadlis, begin by establishing its named transmitters and exact transmission formulas. Then investigate the location of the omission, chronology, contact, and hearing of the specific report. Finally evaluate independent routes to determine whether the report's overall status is different from that of the defective route.
Summary: Mu‘allaq concerns the omitted beginning; mursal the Successor's direct attribution; mu‘dal consecutive loss of at least two links; munqati‘ another overt interruption; tadlis ambiguity from a teacher actually met; and mursal khafi apparent transmission between contemporaries without contact.
These questions concern continuity. The other major basis for rejection is criticism of narrators, involving their integrity and accuracy and the degrees of defect established by the evidence.