"I am the city of knowledge, and ‘Ali is its gate. So whoever wants knowledge, let him come to the gate."
The Prophet (s) handed a handful of soil to Umm Salama (ra) and said:
This does not "cancel" the Muhaddithun; rather, it shows the depth of ijtihad (independent reasoning). The page reminds us that:
Before analyzing the specific volume and page, one must understand the book’s purpose. Imam al-Hakim observed that despite the monumental efforts of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim (compilers of the Sahihayn ), there were thousands of authentic Hadiths that met their stringent criteria but were omitted from their collections. Thus, he wrote Al-Mustadrak —literally, "The Supplement."