Consider a hypothetical isnad “A from B from C from a Companion” and assess it against the intrinsic sahih standard.
1. Uprightness: What does reliable narrator criticism establish about A, B, and C?
2. Precision: Do they preserve this particular report at the fully reliable level?
3. Continuity: Did A receive it from B, B from C, and C from the Companion by established means?
4. No anomaly: Is there an established contradiction with a more strongly preserved version?
5. No hidden defect: Does comparison of routes and contextual evidence reveal a subtle defect that undermines the report?
Together these conditions support the grade sahih li-dhatihi. Even then, authentic reports can vary in strength. Where a modest and remediable difference in precision exists, corroborating routes may instead raise the question of sahih li-ghayrihi or hasan. The subsequent discussion moves to comparisons involving the two Sahih collections.