Arabic: صَحِيحُ الْبُخَارِي, romanized: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Persian scholar al-Bukhari (d. 870) around 846. The author was born in Bukhara
in today's Uzbekistan.
Alongside Sahih Muslim, it is one of the most valued books in Sunni Islam after the Quran. Both books are part of the six major Sunni collections of hadith of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It consists of an estimated 7,563 hadith narrations across its 97 chapters.
Sahih (صحيح) means "authentic". The original name of the work is Al-Jami Al-Musnad Al-Sahih Al-Mukhtasar Min Umur Rasul Allah Sallá Allah Alayhi Wa-Sallam Wa-Sunanihi Wa-Ayyamihi (الجامع المسند الصحيح المختصر من أُمور رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلّم وسننه وأيامه), which means "The shortened authentic (sahih) collection with isnads from the affairs of the Messenger, peace be upon Him, and His traditions and His days".
Content
Sources differ on the exact number of hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari, with definitions of hadith varying from a prophetic tradition or sunnah, or a narration of that tradition. Experts have estimated the number of full-isnad narrations in the Sahih at 7,563, with the number reducing to around 2,600 without considerations to repetitions or different versions of the same hadith. Bukhari chose these narrations from a collection of 600,000 narrations he had collected over 16 years.[1][2] The narrations are distributed across 97 chapters covering fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), among other subjects. Each chapter contains references to relevant verses from the Quran.[3][4] It provides proper Islamic guidance in almost all aspects of Muslim life such as the method of performing prayers and other actions of worship directly from Muhammad.
Development
Collection
It is reported that Bukhari traveled widely throughout the
ṣaḥīḥ (authentic, sound)[5][6] and hasan narrations. He also found that many of them included daʻīf (weak) narrations. This aroused his interest in compiling hadith whose authenticity was beyond doubt.[1]
What further strengthened his resolve was something his teacher and contemporary
Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh had told him. Bukhari narrates, "We were with Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh who said, "If only you would compile a book of only authentic narrations of the Prophet." This suggestion remained in my heart so I began compiling the Sahih." Bukhari also said, "I saw the Prophet in a dream and it was as if I was standing in front of him. In my hand was a fan with which I was protecting him. I asked some dream interpreters, who said to me, 'You will protect him from lies'. This is what compelled me to produce the Sahih."[1][7]
Bukhari imposed four conditions the narrators of a hadith must meet, in order for the narration to be included in his Sahih:[8][9]
being just,
possessing strong memory and all the scholars who possess great knowledge of hadith must agree upon the narrators' ability to learn and memorize, along with their reporting techniques,
consecutive narrators in the chain must meet each other.
Bukhari began organizing his book in the
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina.[10] Bukhari completed writing the book in Bukhara around 846 (232 AH), before showing it to his teachers for examination and verification. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani quoted Abu Jaʿfar al-'Uqaili as saying, "After Bukhari had written the Sahih, he showed it to Ali ibn al-Madini, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma'in as well as others. They examined it and testified to its authenticity with the exception of four hadith." Ibn Hajar then concluded with al-'Uqaili's saying, "And those four are as Bukhari said, they are authentic."[11] Bukhari spent the last twenty-four years of his life visiting other cities and scholars, making minor revisions to his book and teaching the hadith he had collected. In every city that Bukhari visited, thousands of people would gather to listen to him recite traditions.[12]
Each version of the Sahih is named by its narrator. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his book Nukat asserts the number of narrations is the same in each version. There are many books that noted differences between the different versions, the best known being Fath al-Bari. The version transmitted by Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firabri (died 932), a trusted student of Bukhari, is the most famous version of the Sahih al-Bukhari today. All modern printed version are derived from this version. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi quoted al-Firabri in History of Baghdad: "About seventy thousand people heard Sahih Bukhari with me." al-Firabri is not the only transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari. Many others narrated the book, including Ibrahim ibn Ma'qal (died 907), Hammad ibn Shakir (died 923), Mansur Burduzi (died 931) and Husain Mahamili (died 941).[13]
His sheikh Mr. Al-Baqiyya, Hamid bin Omar bin Hamid Al Abi Alawi
His sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Belfaqih
His sheikh Al-Musnad Al-Hasan bin Ali Al-Ujaimi and Sheikh Ahmed bin Muhammad Al-Mathili
His sheikh Muhammad bin Alaa Al-Din Al-Babli
Abu Al-Najah Salem bin Muhammad Al-Samhouri
Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Ghaiti
Sheikh al-Islam Zakaria ibn Muhammad al-Ansari
Hafiz Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
sheikh Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Tanukhi and Abd al-Rahim ibn Razin al-Hamwi
Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Abi Talib al-Hajjar
Al-Hussein al-Mubarak al-Zubaidi
Abu Al-Waqt Abdul Awal bin Issa Al-Harawi
Abu Al-Hasan Abdul Rahman bin Al-Muzaffar Al-Daoudi
Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Sarkhasi
Abu Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Yusuf bin Matar Al-Farbari
Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari
Manuscripts
The Orientalist Manjana said in Cambridge in 1936 that the oldest manuscript he had come across up to that point was written in 984 CE/370 AH, according to the narration of al-Mirwazi from al-Farbari.
isnad (chain of narration)
would be traceable and also have multiple routes back to the teacher.
Derived works
The oldest full manuscript is a version on the narration of Abu Dharr al-Heravi (died 1043) written in
In 2019, the Arabic Virtual Translation Center in New York translated and published the first complete English translation of Sahih al-Bukhari titled Encyclopedia of Sahih Al-Bukhari, including explanatory notes, a glossary of every term, and biographies of all narrators in the isnad.[9]
Reception
Sunni Muslims regard Sahih al-Bukhari as one of the two most important books among the Kutub al-Sittah alongside the Sahih Muslim, written by al-Bukhari's student Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. The two books are known as the Sahihayn (The Two Sahihs).[4][29][30]Al-Nawawi wrote about Sahih al-Bukhari, "The scholars, may God have mercy on them, have agreed that the most authentic book after the dear Quran are the two Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim."[31]Siddiq Hasan Khan (died 1890) wrote, "All of the Salaf and Khalaf assert that the most authentic book after the book of Allah is Sahih al-Bukhari and then Sahih Muslim."[32]
In the
Bukhari [...], followed by Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj an-Naysābūrī al-Qushayrī, who was his student, sharing many of the same teachers. These two books are the most authentic books after the Quran. As for the statement of al-Shafi'i, who said, "I do not know of a book containing knowledge more correct than Malik's book [Muwatta Imam Malik]", [...] he said this before the books of Bukhari and Muslim. "The book of Bukhari is the more authentic of the two and more useful."[33] Ibn al-Salah also quoted Bukhari as having said, "I have not included in the book [Sahih al-Bukhari] other than what is authentic and I did not include other authentic hadith for the sake of brevity."[33] In addition, al-Dhahabi quoted Bukhari as having said, "I have memorized one hundred thousand authentic hadith and two hundred thousand which are less than authentic."[34]
Criticism
Criticism has also been directed at apparent contradictions within Bukhari regarding the ahruf of the Quran. Some narrations state the Quran was revealed only in the dialect of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh, while others state it was revealed in seven ahruf.[35][36][37] Certain prophetic medicine and remedies espoused in Bukhari, such as cupping, have been noted for being unscientific.[38] Sunni scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, on the basis of contrary archaeological evidence, criticised the hadith[39] which claimed that Adam's height was 60 cubits and human height has been decreasing ever since.[40]
Other hadiths contradict historical facts: e.g. hadith number 1221 implies
In the 2003 book The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam, Lamia Shehadeh used
Quranist, published a book criticizing the Sahih, titled Sahih Al-Bukhari: The End of a Legend. It was banned in Morocco for disturbing spiritual security, due to pressure from Islamists.[46][47]
On August 29, 2022,
ayahs and quotes from the Quran) after the Supreme Court of Tatarstan supported the Laishevo District Court's decision to recognize the Sahih as extremist with its appellate ruling of July 5, 2022.[48][49]
^Mawlana Nur Muhammad Azmi. "2.2 বঙ্গে এলমে হাদীছ" [2.2 Knowledge of Hadith in Bengal]. হাদীছের তত্ত্ব ও ইতিহাস [Information and history of Hadith] (in Bengali). Emdadia Library. p. 24.
^"Sahih al-Bukhari 6227". Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017. Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah created Adam in His picture, sixty cubits (about 30 meters) in height. When He created him, He said (to him), "Go and greet that group of angels sitting there, and listen what they will say in reply to you, for that will be your greeting and the greeting of your offspring." Adam (went and) said, 'As-Salamu alaikum (Peace be upon you).' They replied, 'AsSalamu-'Alaika wa Rahmatullah (Peace and Allah's Mercy be on you) So they increased 'Wa Rahmatullah' The Prophet added 'So whoever will enter Paradise, will be of the shape and picture of Adam Since then the creation of Adam's (offspring) (i.e. stature of human beings is being diminished continuously) to the present time."
^Islam and the Modern Age, Volume 29. Islam and the Modern Age Society. 1998. p. 39. The hadith, reported by al-Bukhari, to the effect that Adam's height was sixty cubits, has been criticised by Ibn Hajar on the basis of archaeological measurements of the homesteads of some ancient peoples, which show that their inhabitants were not of an abnormal height.
^"Sahih al-Bukhari 7099". Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016. Narrated Abu Bakr: During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler."
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