Write on the Hadith collection of Imam Bukhari.

Answer Details

Imam al-Bukhari was Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Ismail ibn Ibrahim al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan) in 194 A.H. and died in 256 A.H. He was gifted with an extraordinary memory, began the study of Hadith while still a child, and travelled widely through Khurasan, Iraq, Egypt and the Hijaz to collect traditions from thousands of teachers.

The collection (Sahih al-Bukhari):

• Its full title is Al-Jami' as-Sahih al-Musnad min Hadith Rasulillah wa Sunanihi wa Ayyamih.
• Al-Bukhari examined about 600,000 traditions and admitted only around 7,275 (roughly 2,600 without repetition) that met his strict conditions of authenticity.
• He accepted a Hadith only when every narrator in the chain was upright and precise, the chain was unbroken and continuous, and it was established that each narrator actually met and heard from the one before him.
• It is reported that he performed two rak'ah of prayer and sought Allah's guidance before recording each tradition, and that he composed the work over about sixteen years.
• The book is arranged into chapters (kutub) and sub-chapters (abwab) covering faith, worship, transactions, manners, the campaigns of the Prophet, tafsir and much more, so that the chapter headings themselves form a guide to Islamic law.

Status and significance: Sahih al-Bukhari is regarded by Sunni Muslims as the most authentic book after the Qur'an. It set the standard for Hadith criticism, is a primary source of Islamic law and the Sunnah, and has been studied, memorised and commented upon by scholars in every generation since its compilation.