المعنى الاصطلاحي :

The narration transmitted by a group of narrators from another group whereby it is impossible that they all colluded to fabricate it, due to its large number, from the beginning of the chain of narration to its end.

الشرح المختصر :

"Mutawātir" (successive chain of narration) is a narration that is reported from such a large group of narrators - not a specific number - who are known to be trustworthy that it is inconceivable that they all agreed on fabricating the narration; therefore, the narration is accepted as true with certitude. This large group must exist in each level of the chain of narration, meaning that for a narration to be "mutawātir", a large number of the Companions of the Prophet, must have transmitted it to a large number of "Tābi‘īs" (the generation after the Companions), and those "Tābi‘īs" transmitted it to a large number of the generation that followed them, and so on until the most recent level of narrators. "Tawātur" (successiveness) is divided into two subcategories: 1. "Tawātur" in both wording and meaning: This is where the narrators all used the same exact wording when reporting the narration. This is a rare type of narration. An example of this is the Hadith about the believers seeing their Lord in the Hereafter. 2. "Tawātur" in meaning but not in wording: This is where the narrators report the same meaning using a different wording. An example of this type is narrations about "‘Uluw" and "Istiwā’" (Allah being above His creation and over the Throne). "Tawātur" can also be categorized based upon the source of the narration into three subcategories: 1. The Quran, such as the ten modes of recitation. 2. The "mutawātir" Prophetic Hadiths. 3. The "mutawātir" reports about people in general in all times and places. Ahl-us-Sunnah, when making creed-related inferences or otherwise, do not make a distinction between "mutawātir" and "āhād" (singular) Hadiths.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر :

"Mutawātir": successive. Derived from "witr", which means uneven (in number). Opposite of "tawātur": "inqitā‘" (discontinuity). "Tawatur" can also mean the succession of things one after the other without a gap between them.