«وَإِنْ وَقَعَتِ الْمُخَالَفَةُ مَعَ الضَّعْفِ، فَالرَّاجِحُ يُقَالُ لَهُ: الْمَعْرُوفُ، وَمُقَابِلُهُ يُقَالُ لَهُ: الْمُنْكَرُ»
When the conflicting narration comes from a weak transmitter, the preferred version is called ma`ruf and the opposing weak version munkar.
Ma`ruf is the stronger report in this comparison. Munkar refers here to an inferior conflicting transmission from a weak narrator. In this precise formulation, mere rarity is not sufficient; contradiction is a central element.
Shadh and munkar both involve conflict with a better-established account, but differ in the narrator's standing: one version comes from an accepted narrator, the other from a weak narrator.