Sahih al-Bukhari

Sahih al-Bukhari

Author	Al-Bukhari
Language	Arabic
Genre	Hadith collection
ISBN	978-1-56744-519-0
OCLC	47899632
Original text	Sahih al-Bukhari at Arabic Wikisource

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Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic: صحيح البخاري, romanized: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari (d. 870) in the musannaf format, the work is valued by Muslims, alongside Sahih Muslim, as the most authentic after the Qur'an.

During the reign of Abbasid caliph al-Wathiq (r. 842–847), al-Bukhari organized the book mostly in the Hijaz at the Sacred Mosque of Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque of Medina and completed the work in Bukhara. The work was examined by his teachers Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ali ibn al-Madini, Yahya ibn Ma'in and others.

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.

It is reported that Bukhari traveled widely throughout the Abbasid Caliphate from the age of 16. Bukhari found the earlier hadith collections including both 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 hadith scholar 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,
• complete isnad without any missing narrators,
• consecutive narrators in the chain must meet each other.

Bukhari began organizing his book in the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, before moving to 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]

From later to earlier -

1. Yemani sheikh Habib al-Jafri/Jifri
2. Imam Ahmad bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saqqaf
3. His sheikh Imam Ali bin Muhammad al-Habashi
4. His sheikh Imam Aidaroos bin Omar al-Habashi
5. Musnad of Hadhramaut
6. Nahhat al-Fattah al-Fatir
7. His sheikh Imam Abdullah bin Ahmad Basudan
8. His sheikh Mr. Imam Omar bin Abdul Rahman al-Bar
9. His sheikh Mr. Al-Baqiyya, Hamid bin Omar bin Hamid Al Abi Alawi
10. His sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Belfaqih
11. His sheikh Al-Musnad Al-Hasan bin Ali Al-Ujaimi and Sheikh Ahmed bin Muhammad Al-Mathili
12. His sheikh Muhammad bin Alaa Al-Din Al-Babli
13. Abu Al-Najah Salem bin Muhammad Al-Samhouri
14. Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Ghaiti
15. Sheikh al-Islam Zakaria ibn Muhammad al-Ansari
16. Hafiz Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
17. sheikh Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Tanukhi and Abd al-Rahim ibn Razin al-Hamwi
18. Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Abi Talib al-Hajjar
19. Al-Hussein al-Mubarak al-Zubaidi
20. Abu Al-Waqt Abdul Awal bin Issa Al-Harawi
21. Abu Al-Hasan Abdul Rahman bin Al-Muzaffar Al-Daoudi
22. Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Ahmed Al-Sarkhasi
23. Abu Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Yusuf bin Matar Al-Farbari
24. Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari

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.^[15] The oldest full manuscript which was printed by ISAM is from 1155/550 AH.^[16] As is the norm in hadith studies, Bukhari would have recited his Sahih to a large number of his students who would not only listen to it, but memorise it word for word from him and copy it in its entirety. Students would then check their own copies against Bukhari’s personal copy and would only receive permission to transmit and teach once Bukhari himself was happy with their ability to do so. This way, the isnad (chain of narration) would be traceable and also have multiple routes back to the teacher.

The oldest full manuscript is a version on the narration of Abu Dharr al-Heravi (died 1043) written in Maghrebi script, present in the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul is from 1155 (550 AH).^[17] Another manuscript that is hand-transcribed by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yazdan Bakhsh Bengali in Ekdala, Eastern Bengal is well preserved in Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library. The manuscript was a gift to the Sultan of Bengal Alauddin Husain Shah.^[18]

The number of detailed commentaries on the Sahih are numbered around 400,^[19] Ibn Khaldun 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.^[20]

The six most popular commentaries in history are:^[20]

• A'lam al-Sunan fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by al-Khattabi (d. 388 AH).^[21] It is the first commentary to be written on some of the ḥadīths of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and is published and available online. Dr. Muḥammad ibn Saʿd Āl Saʿūd has conducted taḥqīq (research) on it which has been published in four volumes by At-Turāth al-Islāmī. This commentary is also published with the title, Aʿlām as-Sunan fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī by Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah (DKI) in two volumes. In this commentary, Imām Khaṭṭābī (raḥimahullāh) discusses the correct spelling and vowelisation of the words of the ḥadīths at length and supports his discussion with many proofs from the Arabic language. He relied on the transmission of Imām Nasafī from the beginning of the book until the beginning of Kitāb at-Tafsīr. Thereafter, he relied on the transmission of Imām Firabrī until Kitāb al-Fitan. He only commented on some chapters of the Ṣaḥīḥ, and in those chapters, he omitted some ḥadīths and only retained those that mention ambiguities and require clarification. Overall, his commentary is a lughawī (lexical) commentary. Lastly, there is a link between this commentary of his, and his other commentary titled, Maʿālim as-Sunan, as Imām Khaṭṭābī (raḥimahullāh) considers this commentary of his to complete the other.^[22]
• Sharh Ibn Battal by Ibn Battal (d. 449 AH)^[23]. It is published by Maktabat ar-Rushd in eleven volumes.
• Al-Kawkab al-Darrari by Shams al-Din al-Kirmani (d. 786 AH)^[24]. It is published by Dār Iḥyāʾ at-Turāth al-ʿArabī Beirut in 25 volumes. It is a commentary of medium length in which the author elaborates the meanings of unclear words and phrases, and elucidates the grammatical and rhetorical nuances, all of which keep the reader intrigued. Thereafter, he delves into the commentary of the ḥadīths and discusses everything related to its narrators, its fiqh, and other topics such as etiquettes.^[22]
• Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852 AH)^[25]
• Umdat al-Qari by Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 AH)^[25]
• Irshad al-Sari by al-Qastallani (d. 923 AH)^[25][26]. It is published by Dār al-Ghawthānī and Al-Maṭbaʿat al-Amīriyyah in ten volumes, by DKI in fifteen volumes, as well as by others. It was recently published by Dār Ibn Ḥazm in twenty volumes with the research of Al-Maktab al-ʿIlmī of Dār al-Kamāl al-Muttaḥidah, and this seems to be the largest print thus far. The Bulāq print of al-Maṭbaʿat al-Amīriyyah is the most accurate print of the book; it has been revised and reprinted seven times, eventually with the addition of Imām Nawawī’s footnotes. Imām Qasṭallānī has relied upon many sources and has quoted from Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar extensively. By simplifying what Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar mentions, this commentary is more recommended for students compared to Fatḥ al-Bārī, since the author has very meticulously chosen the important points from that enormous book.^[22]

• Fath al-Bari ala Sahih al-Bukhari and Anwar al-Bari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari by Anwar Shah Kashmiri
• Lami al-Darari ala Jami al-Bukhari by Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Kashf al-Bari Amma fi Sahih al-Bukhari by Saleemullah Khan.

Modern commentaries are also written by Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri, Kausar Yazdani, Muhammad Taqi Usmani,^[27] and Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalawi.^[28]

(ألف)

1. Ikhtisār Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī wa Bayān Gharībihi, by Imām Abu ‘l-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī (d. 656 AH). It is published by Dār an-Nawādir in five volumes, with the taḥqīq (research) of Rifʿat Fawzī ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. This book is an abridgment of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Imām Abu ‘l-ʿAbbās al-Qurṭubī omitted the chains of transmission from all of its ḥadīths as well as the repeated ḥadīths. From the repeated ḥadīths, he only mentioned the ones that are the most comprehensive.

(ت)

1. At-Tanqīḥ li Alfāẓ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Badr ad-Dīn az-Zarkashī (d. 794 AH). It is published by Maktabat ar-Rushd in three volumes, with the taḥqīq (research) of Dr. Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Ḥakamī.
2. At-Tajrīd aṣ-Ṣarīḥ li Aḥkām al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Zayn ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf az-Zabīdī. This is an abridgment of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. It is commonly published with the title, Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Many different publishers have published the book and there are several taḥqīqs (revisions) for it, such as the one by Shaykh Ṭāriq ibn ʿIwaḍullāh printed by Dār Ibn al-Jawzī.
3. Taghlīq at-Taʿlīq ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH). Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar discusses the muʿallaq (suspended) and mawqūf (discontinued) reports of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and proves that their chains are in fact connected. He has also discussed their authenticity and closed the path for anyone attempting to cast doubts on Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī through its muʿallaq (suspended) and mawqūf (discontinued) reports. It is published by Al-Maktabat al-Islāmī in five volumes with the taḥqīq (research) of Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān Mūsā al-Qazqī.
4. Taʿlīqāt al-Qārī ʿalā Thulāthiyyāt al-Bukhārī, by Mullā ʿAlī ibn Sulṭān Muḥammad al-Qārī (d. 1014 AH). It is published by Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah. The book can be purchased here.
5. Tuḥfat al-Bārī bi Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Shaykh al-Islām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī (d. 926 AH). It is jointly published by DKI and Dār Ibn Ḥazm in seven volumes.
6. At-Tawḍīḥ li Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Anṣārī Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 804 AH). Imām Ibn al-Mulaqqin said regarding the book, ‘[This book] is the finest portrayal of the contributions of former and latter-day scholars until our time [his time]; for indeed, I have looked into most of the books in this subject.’ Thereafter, he lists the books that he relied upon; a lot of them being books that are considered mafqūd (lost) in our era, such as the commentaries of Quṭub al-Ḥalabī, Imām Mughulṭāʾī and Ibn at-Tīn, Tārīkh Nishāpūr, Sunan of Ibn as-Sakan, Aṣ-Ṣaḥābah of Imām ʿAskarī, and the Tafsīr of Ibn Mardawayh, among other books. This makes the work very valuable as, through this work, the author preserved many fragments of books that are no longer at our disposal; creating an avenue through which we can benefit from them. Another feature that adds value to this book is that the author mentions many principles and benefits related to ḥadīth, fiqh, uṣūl, lughah, and the like. He also has a valuable introduction on ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth which his student, Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar, later seems to have relied upon when writing his Fatḥ al-Bārī. This commentary is published by Dār al-Falāḥ in 36 volumes with the taḥqīq (research) of Khālid Maḥmūd ar-Rabbāṭ and Dr. Jumʿah Fatḥī ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm.^[29]
7. At-Tawshīḥ Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH). It is published by Maktabat ar-Rushd Riyad with the taḥqīq (research) of Riḍwān Jāmiʿ Riḍwān in nine volumes and is available online. This commentary requires no lengthy introduction, as the rank of Imām Suyūṭī (raḥimahullāh) in ḥadīth and its sciences is renowned. He prefaced the book with an invaluable introduction that discusses everything related to Imām Bukhārī, his presumed conditions, the subject matter, and the narrators of the Ṣaḥīḥ. He mentions that he has precisely written and vowelised the words of ḥadīths, explained their ambiguities, indicated to the differences among the narrations, clarified the unknown and unclear terms, related the marfūʿ chains (that reach the Prophet ﷺ) for the ḥadīths that Imām Bukhārī (raḥimahullāh) has indicated to in the chapter headings, and tried reconciling between the apparently contradictory narrations.
8. At-Talkhīṣ Sharḥ Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ li ’l-Bukhārī, by Imām Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf an-Nawawī (d. 676 AH). This commentary is essential for any individual aspiring to gain a good understanding of Imām Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ. In the introduction, Imām Nawawī discussed the transmission of Imām Firabrī and does not indicate other transmissions. He mentions the biography of Imām Bukhārī (raḥimahullāh), his conditions, and the number of ḥadīths in the Ṣaḥīḥ. Thereafter, he mentions the biographies of narrators who narrated the Ṣaḥīḥ from Imām Bukhārī, including Al-Firabrī, Al-Ḥimawī, Abū ‘l-Waqt, Zubaydī, and Abū Muḥammad ibn Qudāmah. After that, he brings twenty subchapters to discuss the principles of ḥadīth. For his commentary, he relied on the transmission of Imām Abū ‘l-Waqt as-Sijzī, as this was the most common transmission during that time in the eastern lands. Imām Abū ‘l-Waqt’s transmission of the Ṣaḥīḥ is from A-Ḥimawī, from Al-Firabrī, from Imām al-Bukhārī. The commentary was first published by Idārat aṭ-Tabāʿat al-Munīriyyah, Cairo in 280 pages in 1347 AH/1925 CE. Then, after a few other publishers, Dār at-Tayyibah published it in two volumes with the taḥqīq (research) of Abū Qutaybah Naḍr al-Fāryābī in 1429 AH/2008 CE. This is available online. It is from among the last books written by Imām Nawawī (raḥimahullāh), as he passed away before he could complete it. The commentary includes Kitāb Badʾ al-Waḥy and Kitāb al-Aymān, until the last ḥadīth. Many scholars after him benefitted from his commentary, including Imām Kirmānī in his Al-Kawākib, Imām Ibn al-Mulaqqin in his at-Tawḍīḥ, Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar in his Al-Fatḥ, Imām al-ʿAynī in his Al-ʿUmdah, and Imām Qasṭallānī in his Al-Irshād.

(ح)

1. Ḥāshiyat as-Sindī ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by ʿAllāmah Abū ‘l-Ḥasan as-Sindī (d. 1139 AH). This is a very brief but beneficial commentary. It is usually printed with the Ṣaḥīḥ itself such as in the Maktabat al-Bushrā print, which is available online.
2. Ḥāshiyah at-Tāwudī ibn Sawdah ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Imām Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad at-Tāwudī ibn Sawdah (d. 1209 AH). It is published by DKI in six volumes.

(ش)

1. Sharḥ Thulāthiyyāt al-Imām al-Bukhārī, by Imām Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad al-ʿAjamī ash-Shāfiʿī (d. 1086 AH). It is a small book edited by Dr. Mursī Muḥammad Ḥasan and published by Dār aṣ-Ṣāliḥ.
2. Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by ʿAllāmah Shams ad-Dīn as-Safīrī (d. 956 AH). It is published by Dār an-Nawādir in five volumes. The above link to the book is the DKI print.
3. Sharḥ Tarājim Abwāb al-Bukhārī, by Imam Shah Waliyyullāh ad-Dihlawī (d. 1176 AH). It has recently been published by Dār at-Taqwā and Dār ad-Daqqāq.

(ض)

Ḍiyāʾ as-Sārī fī Masālik Abwāb al-Bukhārī, by Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām al-Baṣrī (d. 1134 AH). It is published by Dār an-Nawādir in eighteen volumes.

(ع)

1. ʿAwn al-Bārī bi Ḥalli Adillat al-Bukhārī, by Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān al-Bukhārī (d. 1308 AH). It is a commentary on Imām az-Zabīdī’s abridgment, which he based on Fatḥ al-Bārī. It is published by Dār ar-Rashīd Aleppo in five volumes and is available online. Dār an-Nawādir has also published it in ten volumes.

(ف)

1. Fatḥ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Imām ibn Rajab al-Hanbalī (d. 795 AH). It is published by Maktabat al-Ghurabāʾ al-Athariyyah in ten volumes. It has been researched by eight researchers including Maḥmūd ibn Shaʿbān ibn ʿAbd al-Maqṣūd, Majdī ibn ʿAbd al-Khāliq, Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl al-Qāḍī, As-Sayyid ʿIzzat al-Mursī, Muḥammad ibn ʿIwaḍ al-Manqūsh, Ṣalāḥ ibn Sālim al-Miṣrātī, ʿAlāʾ ibn Muṣṭafā ibn Humām, and Ṣabrī ibn ʿAbd al-Khāliq. Imām Ibn Rajab was unable to complete this commentary in his lifetime; he only reached Kitāb al-Janāʾiz. Despite this, his commentary is filled with ḥadīths, benefits, and juridical and linguistic subtleties.

(ك)

1. Kifāyat al-Qārī bi Sharḥ Thulathiyyāt al-Bukhārī, by ʿAllāmah Ḥamīd ad-Dīn as-Sindī (d. 1009 AH). It has recently been published for the first time by Dār ar-Rayāḥ īn with the taḥqīq (research) of Shaykh Abū ‘l-Barakāt as-Sindī.
2. Al-Kawthar al-Jārī ilā Riyāḍ Aḥādīth al-Bukhārī, by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Kūrānī (d. 893 AH). It is published by Dār Iḥyāʾ at-Turāth al-ʿArabī in eleven volumes and is available online. Imām Kūrānī (raḥimahullāh) prefaces his commentary by relating his chain of transmission to Imām Bukhārī (raḥimahullāh), and he then commences with the chapter of Badʾ al-Waḥy (beginning of revelation).

(ل)

Al-Lāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣabīḥ bi Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Shams ad-Dīn al-Birmāwī (d. 831 AH) It is published by Dār an-Nawādir in eighteen volumes.

(م)

1. Maʿūnat al-Qārī li Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Manūfī al-Mālikī (d. 939 AH). It is published by Dār al-ʿĀṣimah with the taḥqīq (research) of Shaykh Sulaymān ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Ḥamūd.
2. Maṣābīḥ al-Jāmiʿ, by Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ad-Damāmīnī (d. 827 AH). It is published by Dār an-Nawādir and Wazārat al-Awqāf, Qatar in ten volumes, with the taḥqīq (research) of Nūr ad-Dīn Ṭālib and his committee of researchers. It is available online. The author wrote this book to one of the kings of Hind, Sulṭān Aḥmad Shāh ibn Muḥammad Shāh, whilst the author was travelling. He described his book by saying:

These are notes shining with radiance, high in value, that wipe out the injustice of beastly problems and guide to the clearest straight path. They are lamps that are envied by chandeliers, their meanings become clear to those who contemplate, and its advantages are brilliant. It contains explanations of rare words, diacritical marks for inimitable words, and illustrative benefits whose sweetness upright senses testify to. Additionally, it includes evidence for the texts of the ḥadīth, rare gems that few scholars have mentioned, continuous reminders for the eyes that are lifeless, and other engrossing discussions and benefits that render its possessor in need of no other.

3. Al-Mutawārī ʿalā Abwāb al-Bukhārī, by ʿAllāmah Nāṣir ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Munīr (d. 683 AH). It is published by DKI with the taḥqīq (research) of Ḥāmid ʿAbdullāh al-Maḥallāwī.

(ن)

1. An-Naṣīḥah fī Sharḥ al-Bukhārī, by Abu Jaʿfar Aḥmad al-Asadī ad-Dawūdī (d. 402 AH) (raḥimahullāh). Based on his year of demise, it seems that he was the second person to write a commentary on the Ṣaḥīḥ. Unfortunately, it is mafqūd (lost) and no manuscript is known today although many scholars of the past did possess a copy.
2. An-Nīrayn fī Sharḥ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn by Abū Bakr ibn Al-ʿArabī (d. 543 AH) (raḥimahullāh). He was the third person to write a commentary on the Ṣaḥīḥ. As evident, it is not just a commentary of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, but of both Al-Bukhārī and Muslim (ṣaḥīḥayn). This work is unpublished.
3. An-Nāẓir aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ ʿalā ’l-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ, by Imām Sibṭ ibn al-ʿAjmī (d. 884 AH). It is published by DKI in two volumes with the taḥqīq (research) of Ḥāmid ʿAbdullāh al-Maḥallāwī.^[29]

Urdu commentaries & annotations^[29]

(ألف)

1. Irshād al-Qārī ilā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Muftī Rashīd Aḥmad Ludhyānwī. It is published by Maktabat al-Khalīj and is available online.
2. Inʿām al-Bārī Durūs Bukhārī Sharīf, by Muftī Taqī ʿUthmānī. It is published by Maktabat al-Ḥirāʾ in seven volumes and is available online.
3. Īḍāḥ al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Sayyid Fakhr ad-Dīn Aḥmad. It is published by Maktabat Majlis Qāsim al-Maʿārif in six volumes, and by Qadīmī Kutub Khāna Karachi in three volumes. Both are available online.
4. Ikrām al-Bārī Sharḥ al-Ḥadithayn li ’l-Bukhārī, by ʿAllāmah Ikrām ʿAlī, the previous Shaykh al-Ḥadīth of Jāmiʿah Taʿlīm ad-Dīn Dabhel. It is published by Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah Dār al-ʿUlūm Hyderabad and is available online.

(ت)

1. Taqrīr Bukhārī Sharīf, by Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kandhlawī. It is printed by Maktabat ash-Shaykh, Karachi in five volumes and is available online.
2. Tashrīhāt-i-Bukhārī, which includes the benefits of Mawlānā Rashīd Aḥmad Gangôhī, Mawlānā Husain Aḥmad Madanī, and Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kandhlawī. It is published by Kutub Khāna Majīdiyyah in seven volumes and is available online.
3. Tuḥfat al-Qārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Muftī Saʿīd Aḥmad Pālanpūrī. It is published by Maktabah Ḥijāz, Deoband, in twelve volumes and is available online. A revised edition has recently been published by Zam Zam Publishers, but it only includes the first four volumes.
4. Taysīr al-Bārī, by Mawlānā Wahīd az-Zamān. It is published by Ḍiyāʾ Iḥsān Publishers in six volumes and is available online.
5. Tafhīm al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Ẓuhūr al-Bārī Aʿẓamī. It is published by Dār al-Ishāʿah in three volumes and is available online.
6. Tabshīr an-Nās fī Sharḥ Qāla Baʿḍ an-Nās, by Mawlānā Qāḍī Bāqī bi ’llāh Zāhid, the teacher of Madrasah Ashrafiyyah Muslim Town, Lahore. It is published by Muḥammad Yaʿqūb Qaṣūrwī via Nuʿmān Publishing Company in 136 pages and is available online.
7. At-Tajrīd aṣ-Ṣarīḥ li Aḥadīth al-Jāmiʿ aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ. Imām Zayn ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf az-Zabīdī (d. 893 AH) summarised Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī by omitting the repeated chains and narrations. The translation and commentary are by Mawlānā Ẓuhūr al-Bārī, and it was arranged by Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿĀbid. It is published by Dār al-Ishāʿah and is available online.

(ث)

Thamīn ad-Darārī Muqaddimah Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Bāqī, the head of Jāmiʿah Islāmiyyah Miftāḥ al-ʿUlūm. It is published by the Jāmiʿah in eighty pages and is available online.

(خ)

1. Al-Khayr as-Sārī fī Tashriḥāt al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Muḥammad Ṣiddīq. It is published by Maktabat Imdādiyyah Multan in five volumes and is available online.
2. Al-Khayr al-Jārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Idrīs Kandhlawī. It is published by Idārat Taʾlifāt Ashfariyyah in six volumes and is available online.

(د)

Dars-i-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Niẓām ad-Dīn Shāmzai Shahīd. It is published by Idārat al-Anwar and is available online.

(ع)

1. ʿInāyat al-Bārī li Ṭalabat al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Muḥammad Idrīs Hūshyārpūrī. It combines different sections of five commentaries of al-Bukhārī: Kashf al-Bārī, Inʿām al-Bārī, Al-Khayr as-Sārī, Naṣr al-Bārī, and Dalīl al-Qārī. It is published by Idārat Taʾlifāt Ashrafiyyah and is available online.
2. ʿAtāʾ al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, by Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿAtāʾ al-Munʿim. It is published by Idārah Taʾlifāt Ashrafiyyah in two volumes.

(ف)

Fayḍ al-Bārī, by ʿAllāmah Abū ’l-Ḥasan Siyalkūtī. It is an Urdu translation of Hāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar’s Fatḥ al-Bārī. It is published by Matabah Aṣḥāb al-Ḥadīth in 30 volumes and is available online.

(ن)

Naṣr al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, by Mawlānā ʿUthmān Ghanī. It is published by Maktabat ash-Shaykh in thirteen volumes and is available online.^[29]

Few scholars have commented on Bukhari's reasons behind naming the chapters in his Sahih, known as tarjumat al-bab.^[30] Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani is noted to be one of them. Shah Waliullah Dehlawi had mentioned 14 reasons, later modified by Mahmud al-Hasan 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.^[28][30]

Sahih al-Bukhari was originally translated into English by Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan, titled The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari: Arabic-English (1971),^[31] derived from the Arabic text of Fath Al-Bari, published by the Egyptian Maktabat wa-Maṭba'at Muṣṭafá al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī in 1959.^[32] It is published by Al Saadawi Publications and Darussalam Publishers and is included in the USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts.^[33] Large numbers of hadith narrations included in Hilali and Khan's work have been translated by Muhammad Ali and Thomas Cleary. The book is also available in numerous languages, including Urdu, Bengali, Bosnian, Tamil, Malayalam, Albanian, Malay, and Hindi, among others.^[34]

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]

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][35][36] 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."^[37] 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."^[38]

In the Introduction to the Science of Hadith, Ibn al-Salah 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. 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."^[39] 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."^[39] 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."^[40]

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.^[41][42][43] Certain prophetic medicine and remedies espoused in Bukhari, such as cupping, have been noted for being unscientific.^[44] Sunni scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, on the basis of contrary archaeological evidence, criticised the hadith^[45] which claimed that Adam's height was 60 cubits and human height has been decreasing ever since.^[46]

Other hadiths contradict historical facts: e.g. hadith number 1221 implies Abu Sufyan ibn Harb died in Shām when he actually died in Medina; hadith number 5,560 says Muhammad died at 60 years old, instead of the actual 63 years old;^[47] there are also serious contradictions between hadiths regarding the timing of Qadr Night.^[48]

In the 2003 book The Idea of Women in Fundamentalist Islam, Lamia Shehadeh used gender theory to critique an ahaad hadith about women's leadership.^[49][50] Another hadith reported by Abu Hurayra 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 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.^[51] 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.^[52][53]

On August 29, 2022, Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has included Sahih al-Bukhari into the federal list of extremist materials (except containing surahs, 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.^[54][55]

• 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 in html
• Sahih Bukhari – Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan from Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (USC-MSA)
• A Manual of Hadith by Muhammad Ali, pdf – a selected compendium of Sahih al-Bukhari with commentary