How do you respond to those who say that al-Mu'allimi's generalizations in classifying the narrators in Ibn Hibran's *Thiqat* into five tiers, and your comment on it that it is a precise detail, are general and floating?

The questioner : The author said, "As you mentioned, Shaykh al-Mu'allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) classified the narrators in Ibn Hibran's *Thiqat* into five tiers, and you commented on it as a precise detail. The author of the book of narrators, the book of narrators of the companions of narrators, the narrators of the silent hadith, is called 'Adab? Perhaps it reached you?"

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : "There is a point to consider regarding this statement by the two Shaykhs. The narrators biographed in the book of *Thiqat* are of two categories: the first category is those for whom Ibn Hibran alone provided a biography, or those whose later biographers relied on him; these number more than two thousand biographies in the book. The second category is the narrators for whom he shared the biography with others; these are of two types: the first type is the narrators to whom terms of criticism and validation were applied; terms of criticism and validation were applied to them." Then he said: "I found among those whom Ibn Hibran described as having sound hadith, as being a *hafiz*, a *thiqah*, and a *siddiq*, I found among them the criticized, the weakened, and the unknown according to the terminology of the later scholars. The second type is the narrators about whom Ibn Hibran was silent, and their number exceeds ten thousand narrators. These are of varying tiers, and it is not possible to give a precise or approximate ruling about them. Among them is the *thiqah* *hafiz*, among them is the *siddiq*, among them is the *mustawr* and the one of unknown status, among them is the weak and the one who narrates fabricated hadith, and so on." Then he said: "Therefore, I see that these generalizations by the honorableThe Shaykh : al-Mu'allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) are general and floating, and what the honorableThe Shaykh : al-Albani mentioned, that al-Mu'allimi's statementThe Shaykh : is a precise detail, is not precise and is not useful in scientific research in any way." So what I said in response to him, meaning this statement, some of the youth took it up, transmitted it, and approved of it, and some of them included it in their books. What I see in that, and you should correct me if I am wrong, is that he did not add anything except that he abolished the three middle tiers of al-Mu'allimi's classificationThe Shaykh : without evidence, and he did not bring forth anything.

The Shaykh : In any case, the detail mentioned by al-Mu'allimi, which I agreed with, does not mean that every category is free from error from before or behind it permanently. Rules are built on the predominant, numerous branches. Therefore, it is said that this deviates from the rule. For example, when the scholars of hadith say regarding *Sahih al-Bukhari* and *Sahih Muslim* that what al-Bukhari narrated or what Muslim narrated has crossed the bridge, that is the rule. But this does not mean that there is nothing to criticize. The same statement that Shaykh al-Mu'allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) made, which we agreed with, can also be said about it what we say about every statement made by scholars. The criterion is the predominant matter, just as we say regarding the *thiqah*, let alone the *siddiq*, that his hadith is authentic. But does this statement apply in one hundred percent of cases? The answer is no. Therefore, it means that if one criticizes a statement by making it a rule, then no sound rule will remain free from criticism, because as the scholars say, every rule has exceptions. Al-Mu'allimi's statement, based on the fact that it is a rule and a system he derived from his study of Ibn Hibran's *Thiqat*, is correct in general. But this does not mean that it is correct in every individual case, even if it is in the hundreds or thousands. No. The summary is that this statement is called what? A punishment?

The questioner : A punishment.

The Shaykh : What is this strange name? This statement he mentioned is also, in a way, valid from one aspect, but it needs detail from another aspect, and the detail was perhaps mentioned by me earlier. In any case, such precise issues are, first of all, ones that only one who has practiced this science practically and applied the branches to the principles can delve into. And I think this brother, and it seems to me that I met him here or in another place, I no longer remember, he is a graduate of the Islamic University, I think.

The questioner : What I remember, my Shaykh, is that he is from Makkah, Umm al-Qura University.

The Shaykh : Umm al-Qura University, you are correct. The important thing is that he studied theoretical studies, and the opportunity and time and life were not available for him to study practical studies to apply the practical to the theoretical, because this application is what liberates the general statement and restricts it, specifies the absolute and restricts it, and so on. So his criticism in general is not criticized, but the detail is necessary for what I mentioned earlier. The statement of Shaykh al-Mu'allimi (may Allah have mercy on him) is a correct statement as a rule, but that does not imply safety in every branch of this rule, as is the case with all rules, whether they are hadith principles or fiqh principles. Yes.

The questioner : My Shaykh, in fact, his master's thesis is on the methodology of Ibn Hibran in criticism and validation, so this does not change what you described as lack of experience, because the consideration here is only tracking the biographies.

The Shaykh : That is it.

The questioner : As for the comparison of chains and the rulings of the scholars on them, that is what you referred to regarding the issue of age and continuous study of the critiques of the hadith scholars.

The Shaykh : It is so.

The questioner : Yes.