What is your opinion regarding the hadiths on which al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar remained silent in "al-Fath"?

The questioner: Your Eminence, the father—may Allah preserve you—what is your opinion regarding the hadiths on which al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar remained silent in "al-Fath"? And may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh: Here, too, people’s positions differ regarding this issue. People are of two types: a scholar—as you heard in the previous verse—or a non-scholar, . The scholars know the true position that scholars should take toward every hadith on which al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar remained silent in his aforementioned book, "Fath al-Bari." The Hafiz himself established a rule in this book and laid down a principle: that a hadith on which he remained silent is, at the very least, in the lowest rank of being relied upon as evidence, which is hasan (good). It may be hasan, or it may be sahih (authentic). The important point is that if he remained silent, that is evidence that he approved of this hadith and relied upon it; therefore, he did not classify it as weak. This is his rule. However, people, as we mentioned, are of two types. If one of them is a scholar of the methodology of authenticating and weakening hadiths, and he sees that the Hafiz deviated from the principle he established in this book regarding a certain hadith, then he may contradict him, because he is among the scholars who are not permitted to follow one another in taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence). But if he is of the other type, it is not permissible for him to contradict the Hafiz’s silence, which indicates the hadith’s goodness, unless he has among the scholars I referred to earlier someone capable of expressing an opinion that contradicts al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar. In that case, this second issue returns to the first issue; that is, this Muslim finds himself facing two statements: a statement by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar and a statement by another scholar who has the ability to distinguish between what is authentic in the Hafiz’s statements and what is weak. At that point, this Muslim applies the known rule previously presented, without also casting doubt on any of the Salaf (the earliest generations) or any of the Khalaf (the later generations).
Yes.