() is the first
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
collection of the
Six Books
(), also known as () are the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Islam. They were all compiled in the 9th and early 10th centuries, roughly from 840 to 912 CE and are thought to embody the Sunnah of Muhammad.
The books are the of al- ...
of
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...
. Compiled by Islamic scholar
al-Bukhari
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī (; 21 July 810 – 1 September 870) was a 9th-century Persian Muslim ''muhaddith'' who is widely regarded as the most important ''hadith'' scholar in the history ...
() in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the
Qur'an
The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
.
Al-Bukhari organized the book mostly in the
Hijaz
Hejaz is a historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al-Bahah. It is thus known as the "Western Province ...
at the
Sacred Mosque
Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...
of
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
and the
Prophet's Mosque
The Prophet's Mosque () is the List of the oldest mosques, second mosque built by the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second List of large mosques, la ...
of
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
and completed the work in
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
around 846 (232 AH). The work was examined by his teachers
Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam.
T ...
,
Ali ibn al-Madini
Abū al-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn ʻAbdillāh ibn Jaʻfar al-Madīnī (778 CE/161 AH – 849/234) () was a ninth-century Sunni Islamic scholar who was influential in the science of hadith. Alongside Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Abi Shaybah and Yahya ibn Ma' ...
,
Yahya ibn Ma'in
Yahya ibn Ma'in (; 774-847) was a classical Islamic scholar in the field of hadith. He was a close friend of Ahmad ibn Hanbal for much of his life. Ibn Ma'in is known to have spent all of his inheritance on seeking hadith to the extent he becam ...
and others.
Content
Sources differ on the exact number of hadiths in Sahih al-Bukhari, with definitions of
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
varying from a prophetic tradition or
sunnah
is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
, or a narration of that tradition. Experts have estimated the number of full-''
isnad
In the Islamic study of hadith, an isnād (chain of transmitters, or literally "supporting"; ) refers to a list of people who passed on a tradition, from the original authority to whom the tradition is attributed to, to the present person reciting ...
'' 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.
The narrations are distributed across 97 chapters covering ''
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
'' (Islamic jurisprudence), among other subjects. Each chapter contains references to relevant verses from the Quran.
It provides proper Islamic guidance in almost all aspects of
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
life such as the method of performing
prayers and other actions of worship directly from
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
.
Development
Collection
It is reported that Bukhari traveled widely throughout the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...
from the age of 16. Bukhari found the earlier
hadith collections including both ''
ṣaḥīḥ
Hadith terminology () is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic figures of significance such as the companions and followers ...
'' (authentic, sound)' 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.
What further strengthened his resolve was something his teacher and contemporary
hadith scholar
Hadith studies is the academic study of hadith, a literature typically thought in Islam, Islamic religion to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators.
A major area of ...
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''."
Bukhari imposed four conditions the narrators of a hadith must meet, in order for the narration to be included in his Sahih:
* 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,
* complete ''
isnad
In the Islamic study of hadith, an isnād (chain of transmitters, or literally "supporting"; ) refers to a list of people who passed on a tradition, from the original authority to whom the tradition is attributed to, to the present person reciting ...
'' without any missing narrators,
* consecutive narrators in the chain must meet each other.
Bukhari began organizing his book in the
Masjid al-Haram
Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...
in
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, before moving to the
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi
The Prophet's Mosque () is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of ...
in
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
. Bukhari completed writing the book in
Bukhara
Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
around 846 (232 AH), before showing it to his teachers for examination and verification.
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
quoted Abu Jaʿfar al-'Uqaili as saying, "After Bukhari had written the ''Sahih'', he showed it to
Ali ibn al-Madini
Abū al-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn ʻAbdillāh ibn Jaʻfar al-Madīnī (778 CE/161 AH – 849/234) () was a ninth-century Sunni Islamic scholar who was influential in the science of hadith. Alongside Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Abi Shaybah and Yahya ibn Ma' ...
,
Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam.
T ...
,
Yahya ibn Ma'in
Yahya ibn Ma'in (; 774-847) was a classical Islamic scholar in the field of hadith. He was a close friend of Ahmad ibn Hanbal for much of his life. Ibn Ma'in is known to have spent all of his inheritance on seeking hadith to the extent he becam ...
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." 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.
Transmission

Each version of the ''Sahih'' is named by its narrator.
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
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
() is a commentary on , the first of the Six Books of Sunni Islam, authored by Egyptian Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (initiated by ibn Rajab). Considered his magnum opus, it is a widely celebrated hadith commentary.
Ibn Rajab commen ...
''. 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
Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit ibn Aḥmad ibn Māhdī al-Shāfiʿī, commonly known as al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī () or "the lecturer from Baghdad" (10 May 1002 – 5 September 1071; 392 AH-463 AH), was a Sunni Muslim scholar known ...
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).
One of the Transmissions from Bukhari to present day:
From later to earlier -
# Yemani sheikh
Habib al-Jifri
# Imam Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saqqāf
# Imam ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥibshī
# Imam ʿAydarūs ibn ʿUmar al-Ḥibshī
# Imam ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad Bāsūdān
# Imam ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Bār
# Ḥāmid ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥāmid
# Al-Ḥabīb ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh Bā Faqīh
# Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-ʿUjaymī and Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Mithlī
# Muḥammad ibn ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Bāblī
# Abū al-Najā Sālim ibn Muḥammad al-Samhūrī
# al-Najm Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ghīṭī
#
Zakariyyā ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī
#
Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
# Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Tanūkhī and ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Razīn al-Ḥamawī
# Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Ḥajjār
# al-Ḥusayn al-Mubārak al-Zubaydī
# Abū al-Waqt ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā al-Harawī
# Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Muẓaffar al-Dāwūdī
# Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Sarakhsī
# Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Maṭar al-Farabrī
#
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī
Manuscripts
The number of extant manuscripts of Sahih Bukhari is difficult to assess. An Islamic Manuscripts catalog published in 1991 by
Royal Al Bayt Institute lists 2,327 manuscripts of Bukhari, while a study in 2016 indicates there are more than 1500 manuscripts in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
alone.
The oldest known copy was written in the year 370 AH/980 CE, according to the narration of al-Mirwazi from al-Farbari. It was first published by the Orientalist
Mingana in Cambridge in 1936 CE.
The oldest complete surviving manuscript is located at
Süleymaniye Library which was completed in
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
on 3rd Sha'ban 550 AH/2nd October 1155 CE. It is based on
Abu Dharr’s recension and was compared with several key manuscripts by the scribe and later owners. In 2018, a facsimile edition of the manuscript was published by ISAM.
Other Notable manuscripts includes a copy written by
Al-Ṣadafī on 21 Muharram 508 AH/27th June 1114 CE and another by Ibn Sa'ada in 492 AH/1098-1099 CE of which three out of five volumes survive in
National Library of Morocco.
A manuscript that is hand-transcribed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yazdan Bakhsh Bengali in
Ekdala, Eastern Bengal is located in
Khuda Bakhsh Library. The manuscript was a gift to the
Sultan of Bengal
The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...
Alauddin Husain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (; ; ) was an independent late medieval Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the People of Ethiopia, Abyssinian Sultan, Shamsuddin Muzaff ...
.
File:Oldest Known Manuscript of Sahih Bukhari.pdf, link=, The oldest known extant manuscript of Bukhari, published by Mingana in 1936
File:Manuscript of Sahih Bukhari.jpg, link=, A manuscript of Bukhari, copied in Ramadan 490 AH/1097 CE in Maghrebi script
Maghrebi script or Maghribi script or Maghrebi Arabic script () refers to a loosely related family of Arabic scripts that developed in the Maghreb (North Africa), al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula, Iberia), and Sudan (region), ''Bilad as-Sudan'' (th ...
, housed in a library of Mohammed V University
Mohammed V University (, ) is a public university in Rabat, Morocco. It was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. It is named after Mohammed V of ...
File:Manuscript of Sahih Bukhari containing an Ijazah.jpg, link=, A manuscript of Bukhari containing an ''Ijazah'' (transmission license) tracing back to Al-Bukhari
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī (; 21 July 810 – 1 September 870) was a 9th-century Persian Muslim ''muhaddith'' who is widely regarded as the most important ''hadith'' scholar in the history ...
, housed in the Princeton University Library
Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...
,
Commentaries

The number of detailed commentaries on the Sahih are numbered around 400,
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...
said: “Explaining Sahih al-Bukhari is a debt owed by this nation.” As a result, numerous scholars have raced to settle this debt over time, and numerous commentaries on Sahih al-Bukhari have been produced.
Classical commentaries
The six most popular commentaries in history are:
* ''A'lam al-Sunan fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari'' by
al-Khattabi (), the earliest commentary on Sahih Bukhari.
* ''Sharh Ibn Battal'' by
Ibn Battal ()
* ''Al-Kawkab al-Darrari'' by
Shams al-Din al-Kirmani ().
* ''
Fath al-Bari
() is a commentary on , the first of the Six Books of Sunni Islam, authored by Egyptian Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (initiated by ibn Rajab). Considered his magnum opus, it is a widely celebrated hadith commentary.
Ibn Rajab commen ...
'' by
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
()
* ''Umdat al-Qari'' by
Badr al-Din al-Ayni
Abū Muḥammad Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad ibn Mūsā Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī, often quoted simply as al-'Ayni (; born 26 Ramadan 762 AH/30 July 1360 CE, died 855 AH/1453 CE) was a Sunni Islamic scholar of the Hanafi madh'hab and the Shadhili tariq ...
()
* ''Irshad al-Sari'' by
Al-Qastallani
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn al-Zayn Aḥmad ibn al-Jamāl Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣafī Muḥammad ibn al-Majd Ḥusayn ibn al-Tāj ʿAlī ibn Maymūn al-Qasṭalānī (), also known as Al-Qasṭallānī was a Sunni I ...
()
Modern commentaries
* ''
Fayd al-Bari ala Sahih al-Bukhari'' and ''
Anwar al-Bari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari'' by
Anwar Shah Kashmiri
Anwar Shah Kashmiri (; 26 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was an Islamic scholar from Kashmir in the early twentieth century, best known for his expertise in the study of hadith, a strong memory, and a unique approach to interpreting traditions, ...
* ''
Lami al-Darari ala Jami al-Bukhari'' by
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi
Rashīd Aḥmad ibn Hidāyat Aḥmad Ayyūbī Anṣārī Gangohī (12 June 182611 August 1905) was a Deobandi Islamic scholar from Indian subcontinent, a leading figure of the Deobandi jurist and scholar of hadith, author of '' Fatawa-e-Rash ...
* ''
Kashf al-Bari Amma fi Sahih al-Bukhari'' by
Saleemullah Khan.
Modern commentaries are also written by
Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri,
Kausar Yazdani,
Taqi Usmani
Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 3 October 1943) SI, OI, is a Pakistani Islamic jurist and leading scholar in the fields of Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic law, Islamic economics, and comparative religion. He was a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology ...
,' and
Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalawi.
Notable Arabic commentaries & annotations (and other works)
# ''Ikhtisār Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī wa Bayān Gharībihi,'' by
Al-Qurṭubī ().
# ''At-Tanqīḥ li Alfāẓ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ,'' by
Al-Zarkashī ().
# ''Taʿlīqāt al-Qārī ʿalā Thulāthiyyāt al-Bukhārī,'' by
Ali Al-Qārī ().
# ''Tuḥfat al-Bārī bi Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'', by
Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī ().
# ''At-Tawḍīḥ li Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ,'' by
Ibn al-Mulaqqin
Sirāj al-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar b. ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-Shāfiʿī al-Miṣrī (), commonly known as Ibn al-Mulaqqin (723–804/1323–1401), was a Sunni Egyptian scholar of Andalusian origin who was considered one of the greatest Shafi'i ju ...
().
# ''At-Tawshīḥ Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ'', by
Al-Suyūṭī ().
# ''At-Talkhīṣ Sharḥ Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ li ’l-Bukhārī'', by
Al-Nawawī ().
# ''Sharḥ Tarājim Abwāb al-Bukhārī,'' by
Imam Shah Waliyyullāh ad-Dihlawī ().
# ''ʿAwn al-Bārī bi Ḥalli Adillat al-Bukhārī'', by
Siddiq Hasan Khan
Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān al-Qannawjī (14 October 1832 – 26 May 1890) was an Islamic scholar and leader of India's Muslim community in the 19th century, often considered to be the most important Muslim scholar of the Bhopal ...
().
# ''Fatḥ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,'' by
Imām ibn Rajab al-Hanbalī ().
# ''An-Nīrayn fī Sharḥ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn'' by
Abū Bakr ibn Al-ʿArabī ().
Urdu commentaries & annotations
# ''Irshād al-Qārī ilā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,'' by
Rashīd Aḥmad Ludhyānwī.
# ''Inʿām al-Bārī Durūs Bukhārī Sharīf,'' by
Taqī ʿUthmānī.
# ''Taqrīr Bukhārī Sharīf'', by
Zakariyyā Kandhlawī.
# ''Tuḥfat al-Qārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,'' by
Saeed Aḥmad Pālanpūrī.
#''Thamīn ad-Darārī Muqaddimah Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,'' by Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Bāqī
# ''Al-Khayr al-Jārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,'' by
Idrīs Kandhlawī.
#''Dars-i-Bukhārī,'' by Niẓām ad-Dīn Shāmzai Shahīd.
# ''ʿAtāʾ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī,'' by Muḥammad ʿAtāʾ al-Munʿim.
#''Fayḍ al-Bārī,'' by ʿAllāmah Abū ’l-Ḥasan Siyalkūtī.
Name
Few scholars have commented on Bukhari's reasons behind naming the chapters in his Sahih, known as ''tarjumat al-bab''.''
''
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
is noted to be one of them.
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi
Qutb ud-Din Ahmad ibn ʿAbd-ur-Rahim al-ʿUmari ad-Dehlawi (; 1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (also Shah Wali Allah), was an Islamic Sunni scholar and Sufi reformer, who contributed to Islamic revival in the Indian s ...
had mentioned 14 reasons, later modified by
Mahmud al-Hasan
Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia University and launched the Silk Letter Movement for ...
to make it 15''.'' Kandhlawi is noted to have found as many as 70, even writing a book on the topic, ''
Al-Abwab wa al-Tarajim li Sahih al-Bukhari''.''
''
Translations

''Sahih al-Bukhari'' was originally translated into English by
Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and
Muhammad Muhsin Khan
Muhammad Muhsin Khan (Pashto/Dari/Arabic: ; 1927 – 14 July 2021) was an Islamic scholar and translator of Afghan origin, who lived in Madinah and served as the Chief of Department of Chest Diseases at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and ...
, titled ''The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari: Arabic-English'' (1971), derived from the Arabic text of ''
Fath Al-Bari
() is a commentary on , the first of the Six Books of Sunni Islam, authored by Egyptian Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (initiated by ibn Rajab). Considered his magnum opus, it is a widely celebrated hadith commentary.
Ibn Rajab commen ...
'', published by the
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian Maktabat wa-Maṭba'at Muṣṭafá al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī in 1959. It is published by Al Saadawi Publications and
Darussalam Publishers
Darussalam International Publishing & Distribution (also known as Dar-us-Salam in U.S.) is a Saudi & Pakistani based multilingual international publishing house which operates in 35 countries but mainly printing in sheikhupura, Pakistan & Saudi A ...
and is included in the
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
-
MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts.
Large numbers of hadith narrations included in Hilali and Khan's work have been translated by
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
and
Thomas Cleary
Thomas Francis Cleary (24 April 1949 – 20 June 2021) was an American translator and author of more than 80 books related to Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Muslim classics, and of ''The Art of War'', a treatise on management, military stra ...
. The book is also available in numerous languages, including
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
,
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Bosnian,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
,
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
,
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
,
Malay, and
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
, among others.
In 2019, the Arabic Virtual Translation Center in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
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 characters and narrators in the ''isnad''. The encyclopedia was produced by Mohammed Hasan Yousef Arar. The final edition was released on 01 February 2025.
Reception
Muslims regard ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' as one of the two most important books among the
Kutub al-Sittah
(), also known as () are the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Islam. They were all compiled in the 9th and early 10th centuries, roughly from 840 to 912 CE and are thought to embody the Sunnah of Muhammad.
The books are the of al ...
alongside the ''
Sahih Muslim
() is the second hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj () in the format, the work is valued by Sunnis, alongside , as the most important source for Islamic religion after the Q ...
'', written by al-Bukhari's student
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim ibn Ward al-Qushayrī an-Naysābūrī (; after 815 – May 875 CE / 206 – 261 AH), commonly known as Imam Muslim, was an Islamic scholar from the city of Nishapur, particularly known as a ' ...
. The two books are known as the ''Sahihayn'' (The Two ''Sahihs'').
Al-Nawawi
Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (; (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277) was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar. Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), ''Historical Dictionary of Islam'', pp.238-239. Scarecrow Press. . Al-Nawawi died at ...
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
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
."
Siddiq Hasan Khan
Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān al-Qannawjī (14 October 1832 – 26 May 1890) was an Islamic scholar and leader of India's Muslim community in the 19th century, often considered to be the most important Muslim scholar of the Bhopal ...
(died 1890) wrote, "All of the
Salaf
Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...
and ''Khalaf'' assert that the most authentic book after the book of Allah is Sahih al-Bukhari and then Sahih Muslim."
In the ''
Introduction to the Science of Hadith
''(Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ's) Introduction to the Science of Hadith'' () is a 13th-century book written by `Abd al-Raḥmān ibn `Uthmān al-Shahrazūrī, better known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, which describes the Islamic discipline of the science of ha ...
'',
Ibn al-Salah
Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd il-Raḥmān Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Kurdī al-Shahrazūrī () (c. 1181 CE/577 AH – 1245/643), commonly known as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ, was a Kurdish Shafi'i hadith specialist and the author of the seminal '' Intro ...
wrote: "The first to author a ''Sahih'' was
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
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. As for the statement of
al-Shafi'i
Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...
, who said, "I do not know of a book containing knowledge more correct than
Malik
Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...
's book
Muwatta Imam Malik">nowiki/>Muwatta Imam Malik">Muwatta_Imam_Malik.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Muwatta Imam Malik">nowiki/>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."
Ibn al-Salah also quoted Bukhari as having said, "I have not included in the book
ahih al-Bukhariother than what is authentic and I did not include other authentic hadith for the sake of brevity."
In addition,
al-Dhahabi
Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Atharism, Athari ...
quoted Bukhari as having said, "I have memorized one hundred thousand authentic hadith and two hundred thousand which are less than authentic."
Criticism
Criticism has also been directed at apparent contradictions within Bukhari regarding the of the Quran. Some narrations state the Quran was revealed only in the dialect of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
's tribe, the
Quraysh
The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
, while others state it was revealed in seven ahruf. Certain
prophetic medicine and remedies espoused in Bukhari, such as
cupping, have been noted for being unscientific. Sunni scholar
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
, on the basis of contrary archaeological evidence, criticised the hadith which claimed that Adam's height was 60 cubits and
human height
Human height or stature is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body, standing erect. It is measured using a stadiometer, in centimetres when using the metric system or SI system, or feet and inches when ...
has been decreasing ever since.
In the 2003 book ''The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam'', Lamia Shehadeh used
gender theory
Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...
to critique an ''
ahaad
Hadith terminology () is the body of terminology in Islam which specifies the acceptability of the sayings (''hadith'') attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by other early Islamic figures of significance such as the companions and followers ...
'' hadith about women's leadership. Another hadith reported by
Abu Hurayra
Abū Hurayra ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī (; –679), commonly known as Abū Hurayra (; ), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and considered the most prolific hadith narrator. Born in al-Jabur, Arabia to ...
was criticized by
Fatema Mernissi for being reported out of context and without any further clarification in the Sahih. The clarification is given in a hadith reported by
Aisha
Aisha bint Abi Bakr () was a seventh century Arab commander, politician, Muhaddith, muhadditha and the third and youngest wife of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Aisha had an important role in early Islamic h ...
in
al-Zarkashi's (1344–1392) hadith collection. According to
Charles Kurzman, this case raises the question of whether other narrations in Bukhari have been reported incompletely or lack proper context. In 2017, Rachid Aylal, a
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
Islamism is a range of Religion, religious and Politics, political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is su ...
.
On August 29, 2022,
Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has included Sahih al-Bukhari into the
federal list of extremist materials
Federal List of Extremist Materials (, ''Federal'nyy spisok ekstremistskikh matyerialov'') is a list of works that are banned in the Russian Federation, primarily based on the Russian Internet Restriction Bill. It is compiled by the Ministry of ...
(except containing
surah
A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...
s,
ayahs and quotes from the Quran) after the Supreme Court of
Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
supported the Laishevo District Court's decision to recognize the Sahih as extremist with its appellate ruling of July 5, 2022.
References
External links
*
The Translation and the Meanings of Sahîh Al-Bukhâri: Arabic-English', trans. by Muhammad Muhsin Khan, ndw edn, 9 vols (Riyadh: Darussalam, 1997); also digitised i
htmlSahih Bukhari– Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan from
Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (
USC-MSA)
A Manual of Hadith by
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
pdf– a selected compendium of Sahih al-Bukhari with commentary
{{Authority control
Sahih al-Bukhari
Sunni literature
9th-century Arabic-language books