Is the authenticity or weakness of a hadith accepted based solely on the statements of the Salaf Imams, believing that the Victorious Group will always exist and that the truth will never elude them?

Ibn al-Salah (definition) holds that the door to authenticating (tashih), deeming good (tahsin), and weakening (tada'if) had been closed to later scholars due to their lack of competence, and that reliance should be placed on what earlier imams of hadith (definition) had explicitly stated. However, the majority of scholars disagreed with this view, permitting such an endeavor for those who possessed the ability and strong knowledge of hadith science. They maintained that this does not contradict the idea that knowledge is a divine gift, of which Allah may reserve for later generations what earlier ones failed to comprehend.