But Muslim cannot be faulted for including his hadith, for he selects from the reports of narrators of this kind those he knows they retained accurately, just as he excludes reports from a reliable narrator when he knows that the narrator erred in them. Thus, those who fault him (1) for not including every report from such a reliable narrator (2), and those who declare every report from a narrator with poor memory to be weak (3), are both mistaken in this regard. The first is the approach of al-Hākim and others like him; the second is the approach of Ibn Hazm and his like. Muslim’s approach, however, is that of the leading authorities (4) in this field. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

It is authentically reported from Abū Hurayra (5) that he prostrated with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during the recitation of “Recite in the name of your Lord” and “When the sky is split open.” Yet he only embraced Islam six or seven years after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived in Medina. Even if the two hadiths contradicted one another in every respect and were equally authentic, Abū Hurayra’s hadith would necessarily take precedence, because he affirms that the event occurred and possesses additional knowledge of which Ibn ‘Abbās was unaware. How much more so, then, when Abū Hurayra’s hadith is of the highest degree of authenticity, with its authenticity agreed upon, whereas Ibn ‘Abbās’s hadith has the weaknesses already mentioned? Allah is the One who grants success (6).