An example of a previous question is that Ibn Hajar quotes from al-Dhahabi's Takhrij in al-Du'afa (2337).

The questioner : Well, in order to record an answer for you regarding a previous question about al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar and al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi's Takhrij in al-Mustadrak—may Allah reward the brothers with good—they quoted from you that you came across an example where al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar quotes from al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi's Takhrij, and you said, may Allah preserve you, here in al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, number 2327, what Allah willed, you mentioned in the hadith You said, may Allah preserve you, after mentioning a narrator named 'Abd al-Qudus, who is trustworthy (siddiq) among the shaykhs of al-Bukhari, but between him and Abu Dharr, I did not know them. And al-Hafiz quoted in al-Lisan from al-Dhahabi's Takhrij that he said, al-Muntasir ibn 'Ammarah and his father are unknown. This supports what you previously mentioned.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.

The questioner : It is possible to come across it, but given the proximity of the era, yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, I mentioned at that time two aspects. One of them, or rather, I mean, the outcome of the session was that there were two aspects. One aspect is that al-Hakim, that al-Hafiz did not come across al-Dhahabi's Takhrij.

The questioner : This is what our brother 'Ali said.

The Shaykh : This was one aspect, and the other aspect is that it is possible that al-Hafiz did come across it, but he, as a person, was truly the Commander of the Faithful in hadith at that time. There is no harm in a person knowing his own worth, provided that he does not boast with it or become arrogant over others, but rather in the sense of So it is permissible that al-Hafiz al-'Asqalani took pride in his knowledge, and he had the right to do so. He did not act as we do today when we judge a hadith as authentic and say, "Al-Hakim authenticated it and al-Dhahabi agreed with him," because we are not like them in knowledge, jurisprudence, and understanding. We need to support our independent legal reasoning and opinions with such a chain. But al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar is not like that. So I said at that time that it is possible that this is the reason, not that he did not come across it. And when I came across this example while reviewing on some occasions—not with the intent of thorough investigation, which I am now incapable of due to my age and lack of time, and so on—I found this example and decided to present it to you. And now I mention something: al-Hafiz al-'Asqalani, on the one hand, appreciated the worth of al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi, but at the same time, what I will mention supports, even if from a distant angle, what I mentioned earlier regarding the reasoning that he did not support his ruling by quoting from al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi. I mean, because he narrates about himself that in some of his pilgrimages or 'Umrahs, when he stopped at Zamzam and remembered the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) he supplicated to Allah to make him like al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi.The questioner : He drank it with this intention, yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, with this intention, and it seems he felt that he was given [what he asked for] or that his supplication was answered, and perhaps he surpassed al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi in some areas, meaning.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, it is truly very unlikely that someone like al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not come across al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi's Takhrij.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.

The questioner: Yes.