What is the intent of al-Hakim in his statement

The questioner : What is the intent of al-Hakim in his statement: "On the condition of al-Bukhari and Muslim"?

The Shaykh : The point is that it is strange and unusual. It is clear, of course, that there are many hadiths that were not included inThe Shaykh : their two Sahihs, outside of the two Sahihs, and that meet the conditionsThe Shaykh : of the two Shaykhs. It is known that the conditions of the two Shaykhs, or some of their conditions, differ. However, 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 their like, even though he would not authenticate their hadiths, but only grade them as good if one of them narrated it alone, and authenticate it if he was supported by another narrator. We find Al-Hakim saying in a hadith that he narrates with a valid chain, hypothetically, from Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah: "This is a valid chain according to the condition of Muslim." There is no condition of Muslim for Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn 'Ujlan, and others like them. For instance, he did not mention a supporting narrator for them. Therefore, he is lenient when he states that it is according to the condition of Muslim. There are many examples of this. But the wonder is that it would be valid for him, even if he adhered to the conditions of the two Shaykhs with extreme precision, if he were of the same generation as the two Shaykhs, meaning he narrated directly from the Shaykhs of the two Shaykhs. But in reality, he is later than them by about a century or more. He narrates the hadith in his Mustadrak with a chain to a Shaykh of one of the two Shaykhs, and there are two or more intermediaries between him and this Shaykh. It is self-evident that these two intermediaries are not according to 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. That is because Ahmad is among the Shaykhs of the two Shaykhs, so he is of the generation of the Shaykhs. As for Al-Hakim, there are two intermediaries between him and a Shaykh of al-Bukhari or Muslim. This is a specific convention of his. But this knowledge obliges us, when we want to follow Al-Hakim in his authentication of a hadith according to the condition of al-Bukhari, or Muslim, or the condition of both together, to be cautious in two ways. The first is to remember... according to the condition... regarding the two intermediaries between him and a Shaykh of one of the two Shaykhs. The other observation, which is much more important, is that sometimes the chain is valid to the Shaykh, or the two Shaykhs, or one of them, so it is not permissible for us to say that that hadith is good, and without doubt we say it is according to the condition of Muslim, because the chain to a Shaykh 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.