The Selected Hadiths of al-Diya' al-Maqdisi and a discussion of his methodology in the critique and vindication of narrators?

The questioner : The Selected Hadiths of al-Diya' al-Maqdisi, O Shaykh, you refer to it frequently in your investigations. Some officials at Umm al-Qura University are working on the investigation, and these documents... they hesitated to trace the hadiths or publish this work, which is a prevention on their part regarding the manuscripts. They say that...The Shaykh : Nasser refers to it, so we do not know if the matter will be resolved. I do not know what...

The Shaykh : No, you should tell the officials there that if they wish to publish it, may Allah reward them with good, for they would be presenting to us a missing source. As for me, I have actually completed the tracing of the Musnad of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, except for a little from the Musnad of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. However, unfortunately, time does not allow me, as with many of my projects, to go back and return to complete it. They should publish the book.

The questioner : Its hadiths are strong, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : By Allah, I have mentioned in more than one place that al-Diya' al-Maqdisi (may Allah have mercy on him) has some leniency, because his methodology resembles the methodology of al-Hakim. Although his book, as Ibn Taymiyyah said, is safer and cleaner than al-Hakim's book, the methodology is the same: he narrates from many unknown narrators about whom Ibn Abi Hatim was silent in his book on the critique and vindication of narrators, and yet he still narrates from such people. So there is some leniency in it. Now, permission is given for the 'Isha' prayer.