The Shaykh’s remarks on the merits of *Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Mizzi over the book *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib* by al-'Asqalani.

The Shaykh : And among the worst of our deeds is [the one] whom Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whom He causes to stray, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. As for what follows, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. As for the gathering present, they desire answers to their questions that have accumulated over many days, so I must respond to their desire and begin answering a question that was directed to me by one of our brothers while we were setting out for the mosque. I told him that the answer to such a question should not be given except in a specific scholarly session. But since the matter is as the common saying goes, "The owner of the house knows best what is in it," and since the owner of the house has desired me to proceed to answering the questions of the students of knowledge, it is now permissible for me not only to complete the answer to that question which was between me andThe questioner : but I must also repeat the question and answer it from the beginning so that the benefit is complete for all those present. That question was, in truth, something that made me feel that some of our brothers have begun to take an interest in the science of hadith and the study of its men and narrators. This study is one by which a student of knowledge cannot master the distinction between an authentic hadith and a weak one. That question was: What is the difference between two books, one being *Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi and the other *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib* by al-Hafiz al-'Asqalani? Or perhaps the question was not exactly like that, but rather: Which of the two books is preferred? So I answered with the following, and I was not able to complete it because the prayer overtook us. My answer was as follows: It is not possible to prefer one of the two books over the other, because each contains benefits specific to it that are not found in the other book. I began by explaining the merit of the first book, *Tahdhib al-Kamal* by al-Hafiz al-Mizzi. I mentioned first that this book includes, in the biography of the subject, all of his teachers and all of those who took from him, including them completely, to the point of being an exhaustive enumeration. Exhaustive enumeration is a difficult matter, especially in this field, but the researcher finds in the biographies of this book a great number, most of whom are the teachers of the subject or those who took from him or studied under him. This is the first benefit, which we hardly find in any other book, not only in *Tahdhib al-Tahdhib*, but in any other book regarding the exhaustive enumeration of the teachers and students of the subject. The second benefit is that it arranges the names of these teachers and students mentioned in the biography of a single subject in a precise alphabetical order, like the known dictionaries of the present era. This saves the researcher a great deal of time, because the person you are seeking and wishing to know whether he is among the teachers of this subject or not might, for example, be named Yahya or Yasin, meaning the first letter of his name is the letter Ya. For the other books that are not arranged in this precise order, you must read the names of the teachers or students from the beginning to the end, and then you may not find the Yahya you want to know whether he is among the teachers of this subject or among his students. But *Tahdhib al-Kamal* saves you from the search entirely, because you will go directly to the letter Ya in the same subject when the teachers are mentioned. The teachers are arranged as all the biographies are arranged. So instead of holding the names of the teachers from the beginning to the end, you jump directly to the letter Ya. And if his name is, for example, Ahmad, it saves you from reading dozens of names, because you will start with the letter Alif. So this second merit is also that it saves the researcher a long time. The third merit, and perhaps the last, is that due to the precision of this Imam al-Hafiz, truly, when he mentions the names of the teachers of the subject or the students of the subject, he symbolizes each name with a symbol for the book from which the subject narrated. He symbolizes, for example, with a Kha above the name, a Mim, a Dal, a Ta, a Kha, and so on. So he also provides you with this benefit directly without any effort, so you know that thisThe Shaykh : for this narrator, from which of the six books did he narrate from him, or this student who narrated from this subject, in which of these books did he narrate from him. These three merits are not found except in this book. But as I said at the beginning of the answer, one book does not suffice for another. Therefore, every student of knowledge should gather what is easy for him of the books so that it is easy for him to gather the most and the best of the benefits.The Shaykh : for this narrator, from which of the six books did he narrate from him, or this student who narrated from this subject, in which of these books did he narrate from him. These three merits are not found except in this book. But as I said at the beginning of the answer, one book does not suffice for another. Therefore, every student of knowledge should gather what is easy for him of the books so that it is easy for him to gather the most and the best of the benefits.