Why, then, was Imam Muslim’s criticism of al-Bukhari so severe because he conditions [the validity of a hadith] on hearing it?

The student : This is a matter; the matter connected to the words of our brother Abu Ubaydah. Our brother is well known in this issue, which is al-Bukhari’s condition: is it a condition in his *Sahih* (the book) or is it a condition for validity (authenticity)? Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, and as I recall now, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his commentary on *'Ilal al-Tirmidhi*, says it is a condition for validity. He grades hadiths as weak in his other books; in his book *al-Tarikh*, he explicitly states that certain hadiths are weak because he did not know of the hearing, or because it was not established that he heard them. He said it is a condition for validity, not a condition for the *Sahih* (the book). By the *Sahih*, I mean the book. He mentioned that the early Imams held a position more specific than al-Bukhari’s condition, stating that so-and-so met so-and-so and so-and-so heard from so-and-so, and they reject the condition of hearing. He said, if a person were to be fair, he would say that this is the methodology of the most precise scholars, and it is almost a consensus on what Imam al-Bukhari held. It is almost a consensus on what al-Bukhari held, not what Muslim held. The positions you mentioned are tangible, as you said, as clear as touch. In these places, he explicitly stated the goodness of the hadith despite the absence of the condition.

The Shaykh : We must distinguish between a condition for validity and a condition that is not a condition for goodness.
The student : Yes, that is the distinction.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : So that he can reconcile his words in *al-Tarikh* with his words here and his words that you found in *Su'alat al-Tirmidhi*.

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : What Allah willed.

The Shaykh: Yes.