Perhaps among the good that Allah decreed for us during this long interval before the book could be printed, and amid the difficulties mentioned above, was that He, glorified and exalted is He, gave me the opportunity to benefit from certain photographic editions of hadith books, or from books that had been newly printed. I came across them only after this volume had been typeset, and had not previously been able to benefit from them. This enabled me to draw from them most of the material for the supplement that the reader will find at the end of the book, thereby confirming his statement—may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “...the believer’s entire affair is good.” Praise be to Allah, by Whose favor righteous deeds are brought to completion.
It may be useful here to point out an important matter about which I have often been asked, both in writing and orally. They ask:
“What is the reason for your differing from some of the earlier hadith authorities, such as al-Suyuti, al-Manawi, and others, in judging hadiths authentic or weak—not to mention some contemporary scholars engaged in hadith studies?”
The answer:
A. With regard to the earlier hadith authorities, the reason goes back to two fundamental matters. First, it is human nature to err and forget; in this respect, there is no difference between earlier and later scholars. An earlier scholar may forget or overlook something, and a later scholar may correct it. As has long been said: “How much the earlier scholars have left for the later ones!”
The judgment, therefore, rests upon the evidence and proof: whichever side they support is to be followed.
The second matter—and it is the more important—is that a later scholar who is knowledgeable in this discipline may examine more extensively the various chains of transmission for a given hadith in the compilations of the sunnah. This may help him strengthen the hadith by becoming aware of its supporting narrations and corroborating reports. This forms part of my methodology in tracing hadiths to their sources, as I shall indicate below,