A mu‘allaq report has one or more narrators omitted from the chain's beginning, on the compiler's side. A compiler may skip the immediate teacher and cite a more distant transmitter, or omit several early intermediaries.
«فَالْأَوَّلُ: الْمُعَلَّقُ، سَوَاءٌ كَانَ السَّاقِطُ وَاحِدًا أَمْ أَكْثَرَ»
The first type is mu‘allaq, whether one or more narrators are omitted.
Schematic example: if the complete chain is “compiler ← A ← B ← Companion ← Prophet ﷺ” but the compiler begins “From B,” then the initial link A may be absent. The defining feature is omission on the compiler's side, not any missing name anywhere.
Ta‘liq includes omitting the entire chain, skipping the immediate teacher, or leaving out several initial links. Location remains the criterion.