What is the meaning of al-Hakim's statement: "According to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim"?
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The questioner : What is the meaning of al-Hakim's statement: "According to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim"?
The Shaykh : The point in question is strange and peculiar. It is clear, of course, that there are many hadiths that the two Shaykhs did not include in their *Sahih*s, which are outside the *Sahihayn* yet meet the conditions of the two Shaykhs. It is well known that the conditions of the two Shaykhs differ, or at least some of their conditions differ. However, because al-Hakim was lenient in applying the conditions of the two Shaykhs—for example, he would authenticate a hadith from Muhammad ibn Ishaq or Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, or others like them, whose hadiths he would not authenticate but only grade as *hasan* if one of them narrated it alone, and would authenticate it if it was supported by another narrator—we find al-Hakim saying in a hadith he narrates with a chain that is valid in principle from Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayrah: "This is a sound chain according to the condition of Muslim." There is no condition of Muslim for Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, and others like them, because he did not mention a supporting narrator for them. Therefore, he is lenient when he states that a hadith is "according to the condition of Muslim." There are many examples of this. But the strange thing is that it would have been valid for him, had he strictly adhered to the conditions of the two Shaykhs, if he had been of the same generation as the two Shaykhs, meaning he narrated directly from the teachers of the two Shaykhs. In reality, he is later than them by about a century or more. He narrates a hadith in his *Mustadrak* with a chain leading to a teacher of one of the two Shaykhs, and there are two or more intermediaries between him and that teacher. It is self-evident that these two intermediaries do not meet the condition of either of the two Shaykhs. So how did he rule that the hadith is according to the condition of the two Shaykhs? We say, for example, regarding what Imam Ahmad narrates in his *Musnad*, that it is according to the condition of al-Bukhari, or according to the condition of Muslim, or according to the condition of both. This is because Ahmad is among the teachers of the two Shaykhs, so he is of the generation of the teachers. As for al-Hakim, there are two intermediaries between him and a teacher of al-Bukhari or Muslim. This is a specific convention of his. However, this knowledge obligates us, when we want to follow al-Hakim in authenticating a hadith according to the condition of al-Bukhari, or Muslim, or both, to be cautious in two ways: first, to remember... according to the condition... regarding the two intermediaries between him and a teacher of one of the two Shaykhs.
As for the other observation, which is much more important, it is that sometimes the chain is valid up to the Shaykh, or the two Shaykhs, or one of them, so it is not permissible for us to say that that hadith is *hasan*, and of course we say "according to the condition of Muslim," because the chain to a teacher of Muslim is not valid because it contains weakness, and perhaps more than that. This is something we have touched with our hands in no small number of hadiths in the *Mustadrak*. This is also the answer to what you asked.
The Shaykh : The point in question is strange and peculiar. It is clear, of course, that there are many hadiths that the two Shaykhs did not include in their *Sahih*s, which are outside the *Sahihayn* yet meet the conditions of the two Shaykhs. It is well known that the conditions of the two Shaykhs differ, or at least some of their conditions differ. However, because al-Hakim was lenient in applying the conditions of the two Shaykhs—for example, he would authenticate a hadith from Muhammad ibn Ishaq or Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, or others like them, whose hadiths he would not authenticate but only grade as *hasan* if one of them narrated it alone, and would authenticate it if it was supported by another narrator—we find al-Hakim saying in a hadith he narrates with a chain that is valid in principle from Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayrah: "This is a sound chain according to the condition of Muslim." There is no condition of Muslim for Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, and others like them, because he did not mention a supporting narrator for them. Therefore, he is lenient when he states that a hadith is "according to the condition of Muslim." There are many examples of this. But the strange thing is that it would have been valid for him, had he strictly adhered to the conditions of the two Shaykhs, if he had been of the same generation as the two Shaykhs, meaning he narrated directly from the teachers of the two Shaykhs. In reality, he is later than them by about a century or more. He narrates a hadith in his *Mustadrak* with a chain leading to a teacher of one of the two Shaykhs, and there are two or more intermediaries between him and that teacher. It is self-evident that these two intermediaries do not meet the condition of either of the two Shaykhs. So how did he rule that the hadith is according to the condition of the two Shaykhs? We say, for example, regarding what Imam Ahmad narrates in his *Musnad*, that it is according to the condition of al-Bukhari, or according to the condition of Muslim, or according to the condition of both. This is because Ahmad is among the teachers of the two Shaykhs, so he is of the generation of the teachers. As for al-Hakim, there are two intermediaries between him and a teacher of al-Bukhari or Muslim. This is a specific convention of his. However, this knowledge obligates us, when we want to follow al-Hakim in authenticating a hadith according to the condition of al-Bukhari, or Muslim, or both, to be cautious in two ways: first, to remember... according to the condition... regarding the two intermediaries between him and a teacher of one of the two Shaykhs.
As for the other observation, which is much more important, it is that sometimes the chain is valid up to the Shaykh, or the two Shaykhs, or one of them, so it is not permissible for us to say that that hadith is *hasan*, and of course we say "according to the condition of Muslim," because the chain to a teacher of Muslim is not valid because it contains weakness, and perhaps more than that. This is something we have touched with our hands in no small number of hadiths in the *Mustadrak*. This is also the answer to what you asked.