Quoting part of a hadith in its original words differs from conveying its sense in different words: the first is partial transmission; the second, narration by meaning. Even a verbatim excerpt is unacceptable if omitting its context changes the implication of the remaining passage.
Al-Nawawī records four positions: (1) absolute prohibition, based on prohibiting narration by meaning; (2) prohibition, even for some who allow narration by meaning, where neither the transmitter nor another person had previously transmitted the complete hadith; (3) unrestricted permission, attributed to Muslim by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ; and (4) the majority of investigating scholars’ qualified permission: a knowledgeable transmitter may omit material unrelated to the excerpt if its explanation and implication remain intact, whether or not narration by meaning is allowed and whether or not the whole report was narrated earlier.
This permission also requires freedom from grounds for suspicion. A transmitter should not abbreviate a report previously given in full if that would suggest an addition or lapse of memory; nor may he omit what he is obliged to transmit in full. A compiler’s distribution of relevant portions across chapters is more readily permissible. Imam Muslim’s immediate discussion concerns faithful partial quotation, not distortion or unrestricted paraphrase.