And as for its superiority with respect to the narrators’ integrity (1) and precision (2), it is because (3) the number of transmitters who have been subjected to criticism in Muslim’s collection is greater than the number criticized among al-Bukhārī’s (4). Moreover, al-Bukhārī seldom cites the reports of such men; most of them are in fact his own teachers from whom he received hadith (5) and whose narrations he scrutinised firsthand, whereas Muslim, on both counts, followed a different course.
As for its superiority in terms of freedom (6) from anomalies and hidden defects (7), the hadiths that have been faulted in al-Bukhārī are fewer in number (8) than those faulted (9) in Muslim (10). Added to this is the scholars’ consensus that al-Bukhārī was more eminent than Muslim in the various sciences and more proficient in the craft of hadith than he (11), and that Muslim was his pupil and protégé (12), continually benefiting from him and following his lead (13).
(1) In MS W the word al-ʿadalah (probity) is written with both nominative and genitive vowels; the adopted reading follows MSS D, K, L, and M.
(2) MSS W and Z read wa-l-dabti (and accuracy) in the genitive; the adopted text is that of MSS D and K.
(3) MS H adds the particle fa-in (for indeed).
(4) See the author’s al-Nukat, 1:278, for the total number of narrators who were criticised and a discussion of their standing.
(5) MS T reads ʿalayhim (concerning them).
(6) MSS H and W have ʿadami (absence) in the genitive; the adopted reading follows MSS B, D, and K.
(7) MS H reads wa-l-iʿtilal. Al-Qari, Sharh Sharh al-Nukhbah, p. 279, notes that al-aʿlal—with a fatḥah on the hamzah—is the plural of al-ʿilal, the plural of ʿillah (hidden defect); with a kasrah it becomes the verbal noun of aʿalla (to declare defective).
(8) MS Y has ʿadadin (a number) with tanwīn in the genitive; the adopted text follows MSS A, B, J, D, H, W, Z, Ṭ, K, L, and M.
(9) MS H reads ʿilm (knowledge), an obvious scribal error.
(10) See Ibn Hajar, Huda al-Sari, 1:12, for a detailed count of the hadith criticised in the two Sahihs and his replies to the objections raised against al-Bukhari. Al-Hafiz al-ʿIraqi had already answered those objections in a now-lost booklet; see his Taqyid wa-l-Idah, p. 42.
(11) The word minhu is missing from MSS A, H, Ṭ, and K.
(12) MSS Z and H read wa-kharijahu (and what lies outside it) with a fatḥah on the jīm; the adopted reading follows MSS B, D, H̱, W, Y, and M.
(13) MSS J, K, and M read wa-yattabiʿ; MS D has wa-yattabʿ (with sukūn); MS Y records wa-yutabbaʿ (with shadda); the adopted text follows MSS B, W, Z, and L. Al-Laqani, Qadaʾ al-Watar, p. 742, comments: “yuttabiʿ is pronounced like yajtamʿ.”