What is the difference between mutawatir and ahad hadith?

Hadith scholars classify reports by how many independent chains of narration carry them. A mutawatir hadith is transmitted at every stage, from the Prophet down to its being written in books, by such a large number of narrators in different locations that it would have been practically impossible for them all to have conspired to fabricate or accidentally agree on the same story. Because collusion or coincidence on that scale is considered inconceivable, mutawatir hadith are treated as certain knowledge, comparable in certainty to the Quran itself, though there are very few of them; scholars typically count only a small number, such as the report that whoever deliberately lies about the Prophet will have a seat prepared for him in the Fire. An ahad ('solitary' or 'singular') hadith, by contrast, is transmitted by one or a small number of narrators at some point in its chain. The vast majority of hadith, including many sahih ones relied upon for law and worship, are ahad; they yield strong probable knowledge rather than absolute certainty, which is precisely why the science of isnad criticism matters so much for them.

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