Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 15 volumes + study

Author's name: Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani al-Shafi'i

Tahdhib al-Tahdhib is a book that specializes in the science of the men of hadith, written by Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani. [1] This book is an abridgement of a large book on the names of the men of the six books of hadith and their conditions, written by Al-Hafiz Abdul-Ghani Al-Maqdisi Al-Hanbali, who called it (Al-Kamal fi Asma’ al-Rijal) and included in it the sayings of the imams on the men of the two Sahihs and the four Sunans, relying on the histories of Al-Bukhari and the book of Ibn Abi Hatim (Al-Jarh wa Al-Ta’dil). Then Al-Hafiz Al-Mizzi came and abridged the book of Al-Hafiz Al-Maqdisi in a new book that he called (Tahdhib Al-Kamal), then Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani came after him, abridged it and added to it things that they had missed, which were many, and commented on them, and called his abridgement: (Tahdhib Al-Tahdhib), then he abridged it in the book (Taqrib Al-Tahdhib).
Tahdhib al-Tahdhib is a very important book. In it, Ibn Hajar limited himself to what is useful for criticism and authentication, especially regarding the narrators of the Six Books, and he omitted the long hadiths and chains of transmission that Tahdhib al-Kamal contained.

What proves that the book is attributed to Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani is the following: [3]

Extensiveness and fame: The book is famous for being attributed to Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar among scholars and specialists in Hadith and its narrators.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar attributed it to himself in his other books, such as Ta'jil al-Manfa'ah, where he said in the introduction: “I had summarized Tahdhib al-Kamal and added many benefits to it, and named it Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, and it came to about a third of the original.” He often said in his book Ta'jil al-Manfa'ah: “I have explained that in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, or I have expanded on that in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib,” and so on. He attributed it to himself in his book Fath al-Bari, and in many places in his book Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba.
The author attributes the book to his other books. An example of his attribution to his book Al-Isabah is his statement in the biography of Asim bin Sufyan bin Abdullah bin Rabi’ah Al-Thaqafi, in which he said: “Al-Bukhari attributed it and added after Abdullah bin Rabi’ah the brother of Abdullah, and it was included among the companions of Al-Baghawi, and others through the path of Bishr bin Asim from his father, I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and he mentioned a hadith, so I was most likely to think that the transmitter of it in the Sunan was someone else, and I have explained that in Al-Isabah.” He attributed Al-Isabah in several places in the book. An example of his attribution to the introduction to Fath Al-Bari is his statement in the biography of Marwan bin Al-Hakam bin Abi Al-Aas bin Umayya Al-Umawi: “And I apologized for it in the introduction to my commentary on Al-Bukhari.”
There are several manuscript copies of the book with the title of the book attributed to the author written on the margin, as found on the website of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and other manuscript catalogs.
It was attributed to him by the authors of indexes and proofs, such as Al-Kattani in his book Al-Risalah Al-Mustatrafa, and Haji Khalifa in his book Kashf Al-Zunun.