Continuation of the Shaykh's answer and clarification regarding the issue of suspended hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari, and an explanation of al-Bukhari's condition in them.

The Shaykh : Regarding the previous research, a question was raised about the suspended hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Someone said earlier that some scholars state that the hadiths al-Bukhari mentions as suspended in his Sahih with a form of certainty are authentic, and those that are not are not authentic! This is not correct in its absolute generality. It is true that what al-Bukhari mentioned with a form of certainty means the authenticity of the attribution to the person upon whom the hadith is suspended. Here is a nuance, so I hope you pay attention to it: It is true that what al-Bukhari suspended from the suspended hadiths in his Sahih with a form of certainty means that it is authentic, but it does not mean that it is authentic up to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) always, but rather up to the person upon whom the hadith is suspended. To clarify this: Either the hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari" is suspended directly to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which is when he says: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," or "It was reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said." This is suspended from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a form of certainty, and this means that it is authentic. Likewise, if he says: "Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah said," that is because all the Companions are trustworthy, upright, and preservers, so there is no issue in this case. Likewise, for example, if he says: "From Sa'id," or "Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Hurayrah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," this also means that it is authentic. Why? Because Sa'id is also trustworthy, and his narration from Abu Hurayrah is well-known, and so on. But it is not so if he says: "From Tawus"—and he actually did say this—it is not so if he says: "From Tawus from Mu'adh." This is a form of certainty, but look with me at whom the hadith is suspended? It is suspended to Tawus. Tawus is trustworthy, so it means that the chain which he omitted and did not state explicitly, as is his practice in the fully attributed hadiths, is authentic up to whom? Up to Tawus. But when he tells you: "From Tawus from Mu'adh," look! Here is a subtle point to which he alluded by suspending the hadith to Tawus and not to Mu'adh, because Tawus's hearing from Mu'adh is not authentic. So, as if al-Bukhari held you by the cause of the hadith with a very gentle gesture, by telling you: "From Tawus from Mu'adh." If the hadith had been authentic with him, he would have said, for example: "From Mu'adh, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said." So this is also suspended with a form of certainty, but it does not give you the authenticity of the hadith, and the reason is that it is broken between Tawus and Mu'adh. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, the opposite of this is that sometimes al-Bukhari suspends an authentic hadith with a form of weakness. Sometimes he brings you the hadith suspended with the form "it is narrated." Does this mean that the hadith is weak? The answer is: No. And its unique commentator, al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, says that he has a technical term for this, which is that when he brings an authentic hadith prefixed with a form of weakness like "it is narrated," he is indicating that he extracted this hadith from a fully attributed hadith he has in another place. Therefore, it is not correct for us to take a general rule and say: "What al-Bukhari suspended with a form of certainty is authentic, and what al-Bukhari suspended with a form of weakness is weak." No, in this case and that case, it is not said: "What he suspended with a form of certainty is authentic," as explained previously. Likewise, it is not said that "what he suspended with a form of weakness is weak," as we also mentioned earlier. The conclusion is that you, O student of knowledge, should not be deceived by al-Bukhari's certainty in suspending the hadith, or by his lack of certainty, because he has precise observations and technical terms in this matter that are known only to those who have a concern for studying Sahih al-Bukhari. This is what is known of al-Hafiz Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, for he is the one who served this Sahih. So if something of this is unclear to you, you must first refer to his famous commentary, "Fath al-Bari," or otherwise, he has a volume of this book called "Muqaddimat Fath al-Bari." There, he details many of these suspended hadiths and other matters.