If the one who conceals defects drops the shaykh of his shaykh, this is concealment of defects (tadlis), but we find some scholars saying: he has explicitly stated the narration from his shaykh, so his hadith is accepted.

The questioner : Okay, the question. ?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : Regarding the concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah). ?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Its form according to the scholars is that the narrator who conceals defects drops the shaykh of his shaykh and above.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : This definition, I do not find it matches the practical practice of the Imams where they say: there is a remainder (baqiyah) and he has explicitly stated the narration, so the... concealment is negated, even though he only drops the shaykh of his shaykh and does not drop his shaykh. Baqiyah says: narrated to us al-Awza'i from so-and-so... ?

The Shaykh : In my opinion, what you mention, it seems to me that I have passed through some of that, but I want to draw attention to something, which is that one of the narrators may be accused of concealment of defects (tadlis) absolutely, and their practice indicates that they mean the usual concealment like Baqiyah, which is established in my mind that Baqiyah's concealment is of this type and not concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah). The one who fits as an example for what you say is al-Walid ibn Muslim al-Dimashqi, he is the one who used to drop the shaykh of al-Awza'i, who is Yusuf ibn al-Safar or...

The questioner : Ibn Abi al-Safar.

The Shaykh : Yes, so he used to drop him, and he was asked about the reason for this dropping, he said: "It is more noble for al-Awza'i to narrate from this abandoned one," this is it. So this is a man whose concealment is concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah), yet they say in a hadith where Abu al-Walid ibn Muslim says: narrated to me so-and-so, that he has explicitly stated the narration. This is a valid example.
As for the case of Baqiyah, it remains that you need to clarify the type of concealment of defects (tadlis) with which Baqiyah was accused. Is it of this type, concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah) like the concealment of al-Walid ibn Muslim, or is it of the usual type, which is that he narrates from someone he met what he did not hear, or narrates from someone he did not meet? So I do not know, I mean, I say that what I find in my mind is that Baqiyah's concealment is not concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah). Some may say he was accused of that, and it is likely Ibn Hibban, but was it possible for you to clarify this aspect exactly regarding the concealment of Baqiyah?

The questioner : It is the saying of Abu Ma'shar: "The hadiths of Baqiyah are not pure, so be cautious regarding them," and I remember that other than Ibn Hibban accused Baqiyah of concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah) until...The Shaykh : Abu al-Ashbal Ahmad Shakir, meaning with his constant effort to point out the narrators or refute the weakness and the like, he affirmed the concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah) for Baqiyah. So in any case, if Baqiyah, for example, is like al-Walid, or al-Walid ibn Muslim and the like of those who practice concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah), the Imams say he explicitly stated the narration from his shaykh, even though this is not the place of research, how do we reconcile between the rule and the practical application, which appears to contradict the rule?

The Shaykh : You generalize the statement and say the Imams, do you mean what you say?

The questioner : Yes, meaning in Nasb al-Ra'yah I remember many places, and in al-Talkhis, and I remember that you also in some of your books say he explicitly stated, and it is likely in Dhilal al-Jannah, so-and-so practices concealment of leveling (tadlis al-taswiyyah) and explicitly stated the narration. So he explicitly stated the narration from his shaykh, but the research is about the shaykh of his shaykh. ?

The Shaykh : Okay, I remember that I say in some narrations of al-Walid ibn Muslim specifically that his narration is not relied upon until he explicitly states the narration in all levels. ?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : You do not remember.
The student: I remember...

The Shaykh : This is present in any case, meaning this example is before you and others like you, between... and between the students of knowledge and between those Imams, so I used with certainty this explicit statement mentioned by our companion, which is that it is not possible to authenticate the hadith of Baqiyah ibn al-Walid unless he explicitly states the narration in all levels of the narrators, because this saves us from the concealment of defects (tadlis) for which he is known. If there is another example you remember and memorize, treat al-Walid ibn Muslim as if he were a usual one who conceals defects, and this would be a failure to recall the reality of the concealment of defects (tadlis) with which he was accused. And with the same reasoning, we can explain the saying of the Imams you are referring to, meaning it is a failure to recall the type of concealment of defects (tadlis), and it is not a disagreement...