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 it?
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The questioner: Your honorable father - may Allah preserve you - saysThe 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 it? And peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Repeat that for me.
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 it?
The Shaykh: What confused me is that I thought I had erred...; because he mentioned Ibn Hibban with...; and it appears that it is either a slip of the pen or a slip of the mind by the writer; so in any case, the correct thing is to correct the question: al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi; that is more appropriate than that.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Meaning, if you say...; it is known to the people of knowledge that the one who writes about al-Razi is not Ibn Hibban, the author of the two famous books "Al-Thiqat" (The Trustworthy) and "Al-Du'afa wa al-Matrukun" (The Weak and the Abandoned); rather, the one who omits is Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in his famous book "Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil" (Criticism and Vindication); likewise Imam al-Bukhari, who is before Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, and more memorizing and more knowledgeable than him; so when the silence of some scholars regarding a narrator in his biography is mentioned; it is only al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi; and the answer now is: does the silence of these two memorizers, al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim, regarding the narrator whose biography they write in short words; does that constitute authentication or criticism?
The answer: The one who knows... and has spent his night and day turning over these two books understands through very, very many experiences that their silence does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism; and therefore, the researcher or student of this knowledge, if he finds a biography in these two books where neither of them explicitly stated authentication or criticism; let him search in the other books; and especially the comprehensive books that were compiled after them; such as the book "Al-Kamil" by Ibn 'Adi and the books that followed it, such as the book "Al-Kamal" by 'Abd al-Ghani...; then "Tahdhib al-Kamal" by the memorizer al-Mizzi; then "Tahdhib Tahdhib al-Kamal" by the memorizer...; and the like of these books, which are many; he should review the biography of this one about whom al-Bukhari was silent and similarly Ibn Abi Hatim; if he finds there an explicit biography in authentication or criticism, he should adopt it; otherwise, the silence of these two memorizers does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism.
As for al-Bukhari, that has become known by comparing some of his other books with this book known as "Al-Tarikh al-Kabir" (The Great History) by Imam al-Bukhari; where he collected thousands of biographies of hadith narrators and he explicitly states about some of his narrators; while he has another book there named "Al-Tarikh al-Saghir" (The Small History); and both are printed; so 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 biographee in "His Small History," or in what the scholars transmit to him, 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 rather 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; this is a text from him - may Allah have mercy on him - that his silence regarding some of the biographees in his book does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism; then, the established researcher in knowledge, based on the general rule, that these ones who are close in the two books and whose status is silent upon, are generally either from the unknown in identity or from the unknown in status.
This is what is appropriate for the occasion from the answer.
Yes.
The Shaykh : Repeat that for me.
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 it?
The Shaykh: What confused me is that I thought I had erred...; because he mentioned Ibn Hibban with...; and it appears that it is either a slip of the pen or a slip of the mind by the writer; so in any case, the correct thing is to correct the question: al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi; that is more appropriate than that.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Meaning, if you say...; it is known to the people of knowledge that the one who writes about al-Razi is not Ibn Hibban, the author of the two famous books "Al-Thiqat" (The Trustworthy) and "Al-Du'afa wa al-Matrukun" (The Weak and the Abandoned); rather, the one who omits is Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi in his famous book "Al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil" (Criticism and Vindication); likewise Imam al-Bukhari, who is before Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, and more memorizing and more knowledgeable than him; so when the silence of some scholars regarding a narrator in his biography is mentioned; it is only al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi; and the answer now is: does the silence of these two memorizers, al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim, regarding the narrator whose biography they write in short words; does that constitute authentication or criticism?
The answer: The one who knows... and has spent his night and day turning over these two books understands through very, very many experiences that their silence does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism; and therefore, the researcher or student of this knowledge, if he finds a biography in these two books where neither of them explicitly stated authentication or criticism; let him search in the other books; and especially the comprehensive books that were compiled after them; such as the book "Al-Kamil" by Ibn 'Adi and the books that followed it, such as the book "Al-Kamal" by 'Abd al-Ghani...; then "Tahdhib al-Kamal" by the memorizer al-Mizzi; then "Tahdhib Tahdhib al-Kamal" by the memorizer...; and the like of these books, which are many; he should review the biography of this one about whom al-Bukhari was silent and similarly Ibn Abi Hatim; if he finds there an explicit biography in authentication or criticism, he should adopt it; otherwise, the silence of these two memorizers does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism.
As for al-Bukhari, that has become known by comparing some of his other books with this book known as "Al-Tarikh al-Kabir" (The Great History) by Imam al-Bukhari; where he collected thousands of biographies of hadith narrators and he explicitly states about some of his narrators; while he has another book there named "Al-Tarikh al-Saghir" (The Small History); and both are printed; so 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 biographee in "His Small History," or in what the scholars transmit to him, 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 rather 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; this is a text from him - may Allah have mercy on him - that his silence regarding some of the biographees in his book does not mean authentication and does not mean criticism; then, the established researcher in knowledge, based on the general rule, that these ones who are close in the two books and whose status is silent upon, are generally either from the unknown in identity or from the unknown in status.
This is what is appropriate for the occasion from the answer.
Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.