The Method of the Muhaddithin in Their Writings for Indicating the End of a Phrase

The Shaykh : The muhaddithin, may Allah reward them with good, in their writings followed a wonderful convention: when a phrase ended, they used a circle instead of a dot.

The questioner : A circle with a dot in its center.

The Shaykh : Without a dot, when the phrase ended, a circle separated it from the next phrase without a dot, and the book was finished. Then, as part of their precision, they would collate the book either against the original manuscript, if it had one, or against the author who dictated it to them. So, whenever they finished collating a phrase, and the phrase was complete, instead of a dot, they would place a dot in the center of the circle. This dot indicates that the phrase is complete because of the circle, and that it was collated against the original because of the dot in the center of the circle. Therefore, I say you must place a dot in the manner of the muhaddithin, meaning it should be clear so that one question does not get mixed up with another, and so that the matter does not become confusing for the respondent. Now, I understand that this is related to your question. Why, then, did the scholars differ?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : If you consider this a separate question from the first question, then we erase what has passed of the question and the answer.