Is the silence of al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim regarding a narrator considered a vindication and authentication of him, and on what basis did the scholars who stated this rule build their position?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you, my honorable father, he says:The questioner : Is the silence of al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim regarding a narrator considered a vindication and authentication of him, and on what basis did the scholars who stated this rule build their position? And peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : What confused me was that I thought I had misheard, because he mentioned Ibn Hibban alongside al-Bukhari. It appears that it was either a slip of the pen or a slip of the mind by the scribe. In any case, the correct thing is to correct the question!
The questioner : Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi.
The Shaykh : Al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi. So it was you who made the mistake. I mean, if it was you or him, the price is the same.
It is known among the people of knowledge that the one who remains silent about a narrator is not Ibn Hibban, the author of the two famous books, *Al-Thiqat* (The Trustworthy Ones) and *Al-Du'afa wa al-Majruhin* (The Weak and the Criticized), but rather it is Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in his well-known book *Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil* (Criticism and Vindication). Likewise, Imam al-Bukhari, who preceded Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi and was more memorizing and more knowledgeable than him. So when the silence of some scholars about a narrator in his biography is mentioned, it refers to al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi. The answer now is: Does their silence, the silence of these two memorizers, al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim, about the narrator whose biography they write in brief words, constitute an authentication or a criticism?
The answer is known to one who has practiced and spent his nights and days turning over these two books. He understands, through many, many experiences, that their silence does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism. Therefore, the researcher or student of this knowledge, if he finds a biography in these two books where neither of them explicitly stated an authentication or a criticism, let him look in the other books, especially the comprehensive books written after them, such as *Al-Kamil* by Ibn 'Adi, and the books that followed it, such as *Al-Kamil* by 'Abd al-Ghani al-Azdi, then *Tahdhib al-Kamil* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, then *Tahdhib Tahdhib al-Kamil* by al-Hafiz al-'Asqalani, and the like of these books, which are numerous. He should review the biography of the one about whom al-Bukhari was silent, and similarly Ibn Abi Hatim. If he finds there an explicit biography of authentication or criticism, he should adopt it. Otherwise, the silence of these two memorizers does not mean authentication or criticism. As for al-Bukhari, this has been known by comparing some of his other books with this book known as *Al-Tarikh al-Kabir* (The Great History) by Imam al-Bukhari, in which he collected thousands of biographies of hadith narrators, and he often remains silent about some of his narrators. Meanwhile, he has another book called *Al-Tarikh al-Saghir* (The Small History), and both are printed. The researcher finds that some of the few biographies about which al-Bukhari was silent in the first book, *Al-Tarikh al-Kabir*, he weakened the subject of the biography in *His Small History* or in what those scholars transmit, to some of whose books I referred to earlier.
As for Ibn Abi Hatim, he removed the difficulty himself, where he explicitly stated in the introduction of his book *Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil* that there are narrators about whom he did not mention authentication or criticism, but he wrote them in his book so that if authentication or criticism became clear to him regarding them, he would append that to their biographies. So this is a text from him (may Allah have mercy on him) that his silence about some of the biographies in his book does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism.
Then, the competent researcher in this knowledge sees, in the majority of cases, that these biographies in the two books, about whom their status is silent, are in the majority either from those unknown in identity or from those unknown in status. This is what is appropriate for the occasion in the answer.
The Shaykh : What confused me was that I thought I had misheard, because he mentioned Ibn Hibban alongside al-Bukhari. It appears that it was either a slip of the pen or a slip of the mind by the scribe. In any case, the correct thing is to correct the question!
The questioner : Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi.
The Shaykh : Al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi. So it was you who made the mistake. I mean, if it was you or him, the price is the same.
It is known among the people of knowledge that the one who remains silent about a narrator is not Ibn Hibban, the author of the two famous books, *Al-Thiqat* (The Trustworthy Ones) and *Al-Du'afa wa al-Majruhin* (The Weak and the Criticized), but rather it is Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in his well-known book *Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil* (Criticism and Vindication). Likewise, Imam al-Bukhari, who preceded Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi and was more memorizing and more knowledgeable than him. So when the silence of some scholars about a narrator in his biography is mentioned, it refers to al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi. The answer now is: Does their silence, the silence of these two memorizers, al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim, about the narrator whose biography they write in brief words, constitute an authentication or a criticism?
The answer is known to one who has practiced and spent his nights and days turning over these two books. He understands, through many, many experiences, that their silence does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism. Therefore, the researcher or student of this knowledge, if he finds a biography in these two books where neither of them explicitly stated an authentication or a criticism, let him look in the other books, especially the comprehensive books written after them, such as *Al-Kamil* by Ibn 'Adi, and the books that followed it, such as *Al-Kamil* by 'Abd al-Ghani al-Azdi, then *Tahdhib al-Kamil* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi, then *Tahdhib Tahdhib al-Kamil* by al-Hafiz al-'Asqalani, and the like of these books, which are numerous. He should review the biography of the one about whom al-Bukhari was silent, and similarly Ibn Abi Hatim. If he finds there an explicit biography of authentication or criticism, he should adopt it. Otherwise, the silence of these two memorizers does not mean authentication or criticism. As for al-Bukhari, this has been known by comparing some of his other books with this book known as *Al-Tarikh al-Kabir* (The Great History) by Imam al-Bukhari, in which he collected thousands of biographies of hadith narrators, and he often remains silent about some of his narrators. Meanwhile, he has another book called *Al-Tarikh al-Saghir* (The Small History), and both are printed. The researcher finds that some of the few biographies about which al-Bukhari was silent in the first book, *Al-Tarikh al-Kabir*, he weakened the subject of the biography in *His Small History* or in what those scholars transmit, to some of whose books I referred to earlier.
As for Ibn Abi Hatim, he removed the difficulty himself, where he explicitly stated in the introduction of his book *Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil* that there are narrators about whom he did not mention authentication or criticism, but he wrote them in his book so that if authentication or criticism became clear to him regarding them, he would append that to their biographies. So this is a text from him (may Allah have mercy on him) that his silence about some of the biographies in his book does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism.
Then, the competent researcher in this knowledge sees, in the majority of cases, that these biographies in the two books, about whom their status is silent, are in the majority either from those unknown in identity or from those unknown in status. This is what is appropriate for the occasion in the answer.