The Shaykh’s remarks on the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators) and that it is obligatory for one who is proficient in it to prefer one opinion over another when the imams disagree, such as the disagreement between the two hafidhs, al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar, regarding the ruling on a certain narrator.
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The Shaykh : In that case, whoever has become proficient in this science is able to prefer al-Dhahabi’s opinion over Ibn Hajar’s at times, and the reverse at other times, by returning to the source of these books, which is *Tahdhib al-Kamal*. *Tahdhib al-Kamal* is by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, who was also from Damascus, and this indicates to you that Damascus was once the capital of Islamic sciences.
*Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi is currently being printed in Oman, and more than ten volumes have been published. One is amazed at the ability and the ambition of those scholars, which does not resemble the ambitions of the men of the last times!
Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi has a style in his book *Tahdhib al-Kamal* that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not adhere to in his abridgment of it in the book he named *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*—which means: the refinement of *Tahdhib al-Kamal*—in *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*. This is due to its difficulty and because it requires a long time, and a very long time at that.
Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, in the precision of his composition of this book, mentions the subject of the biography, then mentions his teachers, then the narrators from him. And when he mentions these and those, he arranges them according to the letters of the alphabet. He arranges the teachers of the subject of the biography, these teachers, according to the letters of the alphabet, as is the case with all biographical dictionaries; the ranks in the books *Tahdhib* and *al-Taqrib* are all arranged according to the letters A, B, T, to facilitate reference. So, if a researcher or student comes across a man in a chain of narration who narrated from so-and-so, and he wants to find out who this so-and-so is—let us suppose it is Urwah, the Shaykh Urwah, but he is not named with his full lineage—he returns to the biography of, for example, Ahmad ibn Mas'ud. He looks for the biography of Ahmad ibn Mas'ud in the book *Tahdhib al-Kamal*. You want to know who Urwah is. Ahmad ibn Mas'ud has fifty teachers, so al-Hafiz al-Mizzi lists the names of these fifty arranged according to the letters. If you are aware of this convention, you do not need to read the names of all these teachers; rather, you jump directly to the letter 'Ayn and the letter Ra, and you look for Urwah ibn al-Zubayr; this is him. Thus, in the least amount of time, this Imam al-Hafiz, with his strong and mighty effort, has arranged not only the names of the subjects of the biographies, but also the names of the teachers of the subjects, and also the names of the narrators from them. This precise arrangement saves the researcher a great deal of time, and a very great deal. If you return to *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar neglected this precise organization, and therefore the researcher sometimes needs to review all the names of the teachers or all the names of the narrators to know who this man is who was not named with his full lineage. This is *Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi.
*Al-Kamal* is the book composed by Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi. There is no doubt that this is a good fruit, and it is a selection from the books of the early scholars, such as *Al-Kamil* by Ibn 'Adi, *Al-Du'afa'* by al-'Uqayli, *Tarikh Baghdad* by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and so on. However, *Al-Kamal* specialized in the Six Books. Accordingly, *Tahdhib al-Kamal* and *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib* proceeded, and everyone who came after them, such as *Khalasat Tahdhib al-Kamal*. This is sufficient regarding this issue.
*Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi is currently being printed in Oman, and more than ten volumes have been published. One is amazed at the ability and the ambition of those scholars, which does not resemble the ambitions of the men of the last times!
Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi has a style in his book *Tahdhib al-Kamal* that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not adhere to in his abridgment of it in the book he named *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*—which means: the refinement of *Tahdhib al-Kamal*—in *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*. This is due to its difficulty and because it requires a long time, and a very long time at that.
Al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, in the precision of his composition of this book, mentions the subject of the biography, then mentions his teachers, then the narrators from him. And when he mentions these and those, he arranges them according to the letters of the alphabet. He arranges the teachers of the subject of the biography, these teachers, according to the letters of the alphabet, as is the case with all biographical dictionaries; the ranks in the books *Tahdhib* and *al-Taqrib* are all arranged according to the letters A, B, T, to facilitate reference. So, if a researcher or student comes across a man in a chain of narration who narrated from so-and-so, and he wants to find out who this so-and-so is—let us suppose it is Urwah, the Shaykh Urwah, but he is not named with his full lineage—he returns to the biography of, for example, Ahmad ibn Mas'ud. He looks for the biography of Ahmad ibn Mas'ud in the book *Tahdhib al-Kamal*. You want to know who Urwah is. Ahmad ibn Mas'ud has fifty teachers, so al-Hafiz al-Mizzi lists the names of these fifty arranged according to the letters. If you are aware of this convention, you do not need to read the names of all these teachers; rather, you jump directly to the letter 'Ayn and the letter Ra, and you look for Urwah ibn al-Zubayr; this is him. Thus, in the least amount of time, this Imam al-Hafiz, with his strong and mighty effort, has arranged not only the names of the subjects of the biographies, but also the names of the teachers of the subjects, and also the names of the narrators from them. This precise arrangement saves the researcher a great deal of time, and a very great deal. If you return to *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar neglected this precise organization, and therefore the researcher sometimes needs to review all the names of the teachers or all the names of the narrators to know who this man is who was not named with his full lineage. This is *Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi.
*Al-Kamal* is the book composed by Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi. There is no doubt that this is a good fruit, and it is a selection from the books of the early scholars, such as *Al-Kamil* by Ibn 'Adi, *Al-Du'afa'* by al-'Uqayli, *Tarikh Baghdad* by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and so on. However, *Al-Kamal* specialized in the Six Books. Accordingly, *Tahdhib al-Kamal* and *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib* proceeded, and everyone who came after them, such as *Khalasat Tahdhib al-Kamal*. This is sufficient regarding this issue.