Why do many scholars, despite their extensive experience in knowledge, have weak hadiths in their books?

The questioner : Another question, our professor. How do you explain the fact that the early scholars, such as al-Dhahabi or Ibn al-Jawzi, who are known to be strict in matters of narrators and hadith, include many weak and sometimes fabricated hadiths in their books, such as al-Dhahabi’s *Kitab al-Kabair* or some of Ibn al-Jawzi’s writings, given their long experience? What is the reason?

The Shaykh : The reason, my brother, is very simple. Imagine with me the development of a scholar. Was he born a scholar? I say no. Did he jump straight to becoming a scholar? You will say no. So, every person passes through stages in knowledge or advances in knowledge, and dies, reminding us of the saying of al-Zamakhshari (may Allah have mercy on him):
"What is the use of dust and knowledge, but that he strives to know that he does not know?"
He strives to know that he does not know. Nevertheless, the student of knowledge at the beginning of his pursuit is not like he is at the end of his pursuit, that is, at his death, because this pursuit has no end. This is something we know about ourselves. Therefore, al-Dhahabi, Ibn al-Jawzi, or others reached a stage in knowledge where they would take whatever came their way or accept a popular opinion without scientific conviction based on clear proofs. Then, over time, they rise and rise, and their later works differ from their first and second works and those that followed. For this reason, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, who is one of those about whom we can rightly say that women have not given birth to his like in the science of hadith, said: "I am not satisfied with any book I have authored except *Fath al-Bari*. Why? Because he used to correct himself, let alone the corrections of others. And this is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation " Personally, as a man known for his pursuit of this knowledge, I have a book, and many of our brothers present know it personally, and some know it by hearing, namely *Al-Rawd al-Nadhir fi Tartib wa Takhrij Mu'jam al-Tabarani al-Saghir*. It is two volumes containing over a thousand hadiths. This was the first book I worked on in terms of tracing hadiths to their sources. I am now at an ageThe Shaykh : where I benefit from this book, but I do not allow it to be printed, due to the many corrections I make to myself. So this is the answer to that question, and may it be clear, if Allah wills.