If a student of knowledge learns the terminology of hadith and the biographies of the narrators, does he enter into the field of tracing hadiths to their sources?

The questioner : After that, is he concerned about tracing hadiths to their sources?

The Shaykh : Yes, if he combines his knowledge of the terminology with his knowledge of the biographies of the narrators, then, as I said, he enters into the field of tracing hadiths to their sources.

The questioner : How does he begin entering into the field of tracing hadiths to their sources? What is the best book, or how does he start?

The Shaykh : There is no single best book; any book will do. However, for the beginner, it is required that the chain of narration contains few narrators, or, in technical terms, that the author has a high chain of narration. This means that the closer the work is to the time of the Prophethood and the Message, the fewer the narrators and intermediaries between the author and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Conversely, the later the work, the more intermediaries there are. This makes a great deal of difference, indeed a very great difference, for beginners. If they try to trace the hadiths in a book by one of the later scholars, they will be unable to find the biographies of many of the narrators in the chain. This is because as time passes, the care taken in documenting the biographies of narrators decreases, whereas in earlier times, scholars were more concerned with knowing them, their lives, and their circumstances.

The questioner : The first sentence, the part about them being unable to... needs a bit of detail.

The Shaykh : How?