In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful the Most Merciful

INTRODUCTION

IMAM AL-BOUKHARI AND HIS BOOK SAHÎH AL-BOUKHARI

It was unanimously agreed that the work of Imam Al-Boukari is the most authentic of all other works in the field of Hadith. All of the Muslim scholars were unanimous in affirming that the most authentic work after the Book of Allah (the Koran) is “Sahîh AI-Bukhârî”.

Imam Al-Bukhârî was born on the 13th day of the month of Shawwâl in the year 194 H. (810) in Bukhârâ, the territory of Khourâsan (West Turkistan). His full name is Mohammed ibn Ismâil ibn Al-Moughîrah Al-Bukhârî.

His father died when he was a young child and it was his mother who raised him. At the age of ten, he began to acquire the knowledge of Hadith. He traveled to Makka at the age of sixteen accompanied by his mother and older brother.

It seems that Imam Al-Bukhârî loved Makkah and his scholars, because he chose to stay in Makka and offer what he had to his mother and his brother. He spent two years in Makka, then went to Al-Madîna, After staying six years in Al-Hijâz (Makkah and Al-Madîna), he left for Al-Basrah, Al-Koufa and Baghdad several times and met many ulema including Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Because of his honesty and kindness and the fact that he was trustworthy, he was aloof from princes and rulers lest he be led to twist the truth to please them.

The accounts of Imam Al-Bukhârî's perseverance in collecting the Hadîths are numerous. He never stopped traveling to one or another of the Islamic territories to collect the precious words of the noble Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It is said that Imam Al-Bukhâri had collected more than 300,000 Hadiths memorizing 200,000 of which some were unreliable. It was born at the time when the Hadith was falsified to please sovereigns and kings or to corrupt the religion of Islam. It is also said that Imam Al-Boukhàrî (before gathering Sahîh Al-Bukhari had seen in a dream, as if he was standing in front of the Prophet Muhammad (as) carrying a fly swatter in his hand which he used to chasing flies around the Prophet (as) Imam Al-Bukhârî asked those who interpret dreams, and they interpreted his dream that he would drive away the lies attributed to the Prophet (as).

Thus he had the great task of sifting the falsified Hadiths from the authentic ones. He worked day and night, and although he memorized a large number, he only selected approximately 7275 Hadiths with repetition and approximately 2230 without repetition which bore no doubt about their authenticity.

Whenever he recorded a Hadith, he performed ablution, prayed two Rakaas and pleaded with his Lord (Allah). Many Muslim ulama had tried to find a flaw in this great and remarkable “Sahîh Al-Bukhârî” collection, but without success. It is for this reason that it is established without any doubt that the most authentic book after the Book of Allah is Sahîh Al-Bukhârî. Imam Al-Bukhârî died on the first day of the month of Shawwâl in the year 256 H. (870), and was buried in Khartank, a village near Samarkand. May Allah grant him mercy.

Mohammed Mohsin Khan