A general practice in interpreting Ahādīth is that each narrative is interpreted independently even if its variant texts exist. As a result, the complete picture in which a directive was given is sacrificed and one often ends up deducing a directive from incomplete data.

It needs to be appreciated that all the variant texts of a Hadīth must be studied in order to form an opinion about it. While explaining this important aspect, Ghāmidī writes:

Many a time a person may form an opinion about a Hadīth by not studying its variants; however, once he deliberates on all the variants his overall interpretation changes. One glaring example of this is the Ahādīth which mention the prohibition of pictures and portraits. If only some of the narratives are studied, one can easily conclude that this prohibition is absolute and every picture and portrait is prohibited in Islam. However, if all the variants are collected and analyzed, it becomes evident that the prohibition is regarding only those pictures which have been made for worshiping. Many similar examples can be cited from the corpus of the Hadīth literature. Thus it is essential that if one is not satisfied from the apparent words of a Hadīth, one must gather and collate all its variants to form an opinion.