Many great ulema were not huffaz. As-Salamu Alaikum, What great ulama of the past did not finish the Qur'an? This is certainly not true of the four imams or their students. I can't think of any of the Arab scholars of high rank that have not memorised the Book of Allah How could he be scholar in hadeeth if he did not know the rulings that explain hadith from Kitabullah? Maybe we should back away from him as a role model.