View source for Muhammad al-Bukhari

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{{Short description|Islamic hadith scholar (810–870)}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name               = Al-Bukhari
| native_name        = البخاري
| native_name_lang   = ar
| title              = [[Amir al-Mu'minin|Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith]]
| image              = AlBukhari mausoleum.jpg
| caption            = Al-Bukhari's mausoleum
| religion           = [[Islam]]
| birth_date         = 21 July 810 <br /> 13 [[Shawwal]] 194 AH
| birth_place        = [[Bukhara]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|870|9|1|810|7|19|df=yes}} <br /> 1 Shawwal 256 AH
| death_place        = Khartank, [[Samarkand]], Abbasid Caliphate
| resting_place      = Imam Bukhari Mosque near [[Samarkand]], [[Uzbekistan]]
| Position           = ''[[Muhaddith]]''
| denomination       = [[Sunni]]
| school             = [[Mujtahid]]
| era                = [[Islamic Golden Age]] <br> ([[Abbasid dynasty|Abbasid era]])
| region             = [[Abbasid Caliphate]]
| main_interests     = [[Hadith]], [[Aqidah]]
| notable_works      = ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' <br /> ''[[al-Adab al-Mufrad]]'' <br/> [[al-Tarikh al-Kabir]] <br/> [[Juz Rafa Ul Yadain]]
| influences         = {{flatlist|
*[[Al-Shafi'i]]
*[[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]]
*[[Ishaq ibn Rahwayh]]<ref name="Balushipp150To165">{{Citation| last =Ibn Rāhwayh | first =Isḥāq | date =1990 | editor-last =Balūshī | editor-first =ʻAbd al-Ghafūr ʻAbd al-Ḥaqq Ḥusayn | title =Musnad Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh | edition =1st | publisher =Tawzīʻ Maktabat al-Īmān | pages = 150–165}}</ref>
*[[Yahya ibn Ma'in]]
*[[Ali ibn al-Madini]]
*[[Naim ibn Hammad]]
*[[Ibn Abi Shaybah]]
}}
| influenced         = {{flatlist|
*[[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj]]
*[[Ibn Khuzayma]]
*[[Al-Nasa'i]]
*[[Al-Tirmidhi]]
*[[Ibn Abi al-Dunya]]
*[[Ibn Abi Asim]]
}}
| creed              = [[Ibn Kullab|Kullabi]] (See ''[[#Theology|School of Law and Theology]]'')
| honorific prefix   = [[Imam]]
| module             = {{infobox Arabic name|embed=yes  
|ism=Muḥammad  
|ism-ar=مُحَمَّد  
|nasab=Ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah  
|nasab-ar=ٱبْن إِسْمَاعِيل ٱبْن إِبْرَاهِيم ٱبْن ٱلْمُغِيرَة ٱبْن بَرْذِزْبَه  
|kunya=Abū ʿAbdillāh  
|kunya-ar=أَبُو عَبْدِ ٱللَّه  
|nisba=Al-Bukhārī al-Juʿfī  
|nisba-ar=ٱلْبُخَارِيّ ٱلْجُعْفِيّ }}
}}

'''Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī''' ({{Langx|ar|أبو عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل بن إبرهيم الجعفي البخاري}}; 21 July 810 – 1 September 870) was a 9th-century [[Persians|Persian]] [[Muslims|Muslim]] ''[[muhaddith]]'' who is widely regarded as the most important ''[[hadith]]'' scholar in the [[history of Sunni Islam]]. Al-Bukhari's extant works include the ''hadith'' collection ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'', ''[[al-Tarikh al-Kabir]]'', and ''[[al-Adab al-Mufrad]]''.

Born in [[Bukhara]] in present-day [[Uzbekistan]], Al-Bukhari began learning ''hadith'' at a young age. He travelled across the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] and learned under several influential contemporary scholars. Bukhari memorized thousands of ''hadith'' narrations, compiling the ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' in 846. He spent the rest of his life teaching the ''hadith'' he had collected. Towards the end of his life, Bukhari faced claims the [[Quran]] was created, and was [[Mihna|exiled]] from [[Nishapur]]. Subsequently, he moved to Khartank, near [[Samarkand]].

''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is revered as the most important ''hadith'' collection in [[Sunni Islam]]. ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' and ''[[Sahih Muslim]],'' the ''hadith'' collection of Al-Bukhari's student [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj]], are together known as the '''Sahihayn''' ({{Langx|ar|صحيحين|lit=|translit=Saḥiḥayn}}) and are regarded by Sunnis as the most authentic books after the Quran. It is part of the [[Kutub al-Sittah]], the six most highly regarded collections of ''hadith'' in Sunni Islam.

== Life ==

=== Ancestry and early life ===
Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari al-Ju'fi was born after the [[Friday prayer]] on Friday, 21 July 810 (13 [[Shawwal]] 194 [[Hijri year|AH]]) in the city of [[Bukhara]] in [[Greater Khorasan]] in present-day [[Uzbekistan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://global.britannica.com/place/Transoxania |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308162534/https://global.britannica.com/place/Transoxania |archive-date=8 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="melchert">{{cite encyclopedia |title=al-Bukhārī |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill Online |url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-bukhari-COM_2isisiideiiiseijjejdjjxj |last=Melchert |first=Christopher}}{{dead link|date=February 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1998 |title=Bukhari |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Biography |publisher=Gale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpAYAAAAIAAJ&q=Bukhari |access-date=19 October 2015 |editor1-last=Bourgoin |editor1-first=Suzanne Michele |edition=2nd |page=112 |isbn=9780787625436 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520134155/https://books.google.com/books?id=bpAYAAAAIAAJ&q=Bukhari |archive-date=20 May 2016 |editor2-last=Byers |editor2-first=Paula Kay |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1971 |title=Bukhārī |encyclopedia=A Guide to Eastern Literatures |publisher=Praeger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CsZiAAAAMAAJ&q=Bukhari |access-date=19 October 2015 |editor1-last=Lang |editor1-first=David Marshall |page=33 |isbn=9780297002741 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425230836/https://books.google.com/books?id=CsZiAAAAMAAJ&q=Bukhari |archive-date=25 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was of [[Persians|Persian]] descent<ref name="abdulmaujood" /><ref name="Bukhari">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1998 |title=Bukhari |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Biography |publisher=Gale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpAYAAAAIAAJ&q=Bukhari |editor1-last=Bourgoin |editor1-first=Suzanne Michele |edition=2nd |page=112 |isbn=9780787625436 |editor2-last=Byers |editor2-first=Paula Kay}}</ref><ref name="Bukhārī">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1971 |title=Bukhārī |encyclopedia=A Guide to Eastern Literatures |publisher=Praeger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CsZiAAAAMAAJ&q=Bukhari |editor1-last=Lang |editor1-first=David Marshall |page=33 |isbn=9780297002741}}</ref> and his father was [[Ismail ibn Ibrahim]], a scholar of hadith and a student of [[Malik ibn Anas]], [[Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak]], and [[Hammad ibn Salamah]].<ref name="abdulmaujood">{{cite book |author=Salaahud-Deen ibn ʿAlee ibn ʿAbdul-Maujood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDxSBJ0E7kUC |title=The Biography of Imam Bukhaaree |date=December 2005 |publisher=Darussalam |others=Translated by Faisal Shafeeq |isbn=9960969053 |edition=1st |location=Riyadh |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624122918/https://books.google.com/books?id=NDxSBJ0E7kUC |archive-date=24 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=About - Sahih al-Bukhari - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari/about |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=sunnah.com}}</ref> Ismail died while Al-Bukhari was an infant. Al-Bukhari's great-grandfather, Al-Mughirah, settled in Bukhara after accepting Islam at the hands of Bukhara's governor, Yaman al-Ju'fi. As was the custom, he became a ''[[mawali|mawla]]'' of Yaman, and his family continued to carry the ''[[Nisba (onomastics)|nisba]]'' "al-Ju'fi."<ref name="robson">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Robson |first=J. |title=al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |publisher=Brill Online |url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-bukhari-muhammad-b-ismail-SIM_1510 |date=24 April 2012 |access-date=16 September 2016 |archive-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921023242/http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-bukhari-muhammad-b-ismail-SIM_1510 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Al-Mughirah's father, Bardizbah ({{Langx|fa|بردزبه}}), is the earliest known ancestor of Al-Bukhari according to most scholars and historians. Bardizbah was a [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] [[Magi]]. [[Taqi al-Din al-Subki]] is the only scholar to name Bardizbah's father, who he says was named Bazzabah ({{langx|fa|بذذبه}}). Little is known of both of them except that they were [[Persians|Persian]] and followed the religion of their people.<ref name="abdulmaujood" /><ref name="Bukhari"/><ref name="Bukhārī"/> Historians have also not come across any information on Al-Bukhari's grandfather, Ibrahim ibn al-Mughirah ({{Langx|ar|إبراهيم ابن المغيرة|translit=Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrā}}).<ref name="abdulmaujood" />

=== Travels and education ===
According to contemporary hadith scholar and historian [[Al-Dhahabi]], al-Bukhari began studying hadith in the Hijri year 821 CE. He memorized the works of [[Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak]] while still a child and began writing and narrating hadith while still an adolescent. In the Hijri year 826 CE, at the age of sixteen, Al-Bukhari performed the ''[[Hajj]]'' with his elder brother and widowed mother.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">''Tathkirah al-Huffath'', vol. 2, pg. 104-5, ''al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah'' edition</ref>  Al-Bukhari stayed in [[Mecca]] for two years, before moving to [[Medina]] where he wrote ''Qadhāyas-Sahābah wa at-Tābi'īn,'' a book about the [[Companions of the Prophet|companions]] of [[Muhammad]] and the ''[[tabi'un]].'' He also wrote ''Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr'' during his time in Medina.<ref name=":1" />

Al-Bukhari is known to have travelled to most of the important Islamic learning centres of his time, including [[Syria]], [[Kufa]], [[Basra]], [[Egypt]], [[Yemen]], and [[Baghdad]]. He studied under prominent Islamic scholars including [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]], [[Ali ibn al-Madini]], [[Yahya ibn Ma'in]] and [[Ishaq ibn Rahwayh]]. Al-Bukhari is known to have memorized over 600,000 ''hadith'' narrations.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Asqalani |first=Ibn Hajar |title=Hady al-Sari, the introduction to Fath al-Bari |title-link=Fath al-Bari |publisher=Darussalam Publications |pages=8–9 |author-link=Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani}}</ref>

=== ''Mihna'', later years and death ===
{{Main|Mihna}}
{{Quote box
| quote =  “The Qur'an is God’s speech, uncreated, and the acts of men are created."
| author = Al-Bukhari<ref>Brown, Jonathan (2007). "Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim". The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. p. 80. {{ISBN|978-90-04-15839-9}}.</ref>
| width = 20%
}}According to [[Jonathan A. C. Brown|Jonathan Brown]], following Ibn Hanbal, Al-Bukhari had reportedly declared that 'reciting the [[Quran]] is an element of createdness’. Through this assertion, Al-Bukhari had sought an alternative response to the doctrines of [[Muʿtazila|Mu'tazilites]] and declared that the element of creation is applied only to humans, not the Word of God. His statements were received negatively by prominent [[hadith scholars|''hadith'' scholars]] and he was driven out of [[Nishapur]].<ref name="rashidi">Wahab, Muhammad Rashidi, and Syed Hadzrullathfi Syed Omar.

"The Level of Imam al-Ash'ari's Thought in Aqidah." International Journal of Islamic Thought 3 (2013), p58-70:

"Because of that, al-Bukhari in most matters related to the question of aqidah is said to take the opinion of Ibn Kullab and al-Karabisi (al-'Asqalani 2001: 1/293)"</ref><ref name="azmi">Azmi, Ahmad Sanusi. "Ahl al-Hadith Methodologies on Qur'anic Discourses in the Ninth Century: A Comparative Analysis of Ibn Hanbal and al-Bukhari." Online Journal of Research in Islamic Studies 4.1 (2017): 17-26. "Supporting his master, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855), al-Bukhari is reported to declare that ‘reciting the Qur’an is an element of createdness’. This statement presumably proclaimed by al-Bukhari as an explanatory assertion intended to provide an alternative source of thought or reasoning for Muslims. Instead of accepting the doctrine of the Mu’tazilites (the group that champions the concept of the creation of the Qur’an), al-Bukhari appears to suggest that the element of creation is only applied to humans, not to the words of God, namely the Qur’an. The statement did, however, receive a negative response from the Muslim community, including some prominent scholars (especially Hanbalites)."</ref><ref name="drove">Melchert, Christopher. "The Piety of the Hadith folk." International Journal of Middle East Studies 34.3 (2002): 425-439. "Hadith folk in Baghdad warned those of Nishapur against the famous traditionist Bukhari, whom they then drove from the city for suggesting one's pronunciation of the Qur'an was created"</ref> Al-Bukhari, however, had only referred to the human action of reading the Qur’an, when he reportedly stated "My recitation of the Quran is created''"'' ({{Langx|ar|لفظي بالقرآن مخلوق|translit=Lafẓī bil-Qur'āni Makhlūq}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Lalaka'i |first=Abi al-Qāsim |title=Sharh Usul I'tiqād Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamā'ah |publisher=Dar al-Hadith |volume=2 |location=[[Cairo]] |pages=396 |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |title=The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15839-9 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=80 |chapter=Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim}}</ref> [[Al-Dhahabi]] and al-Subki asserted that Al-Bukhari was expelled due to the jealousy of certain scholars of Nishapur.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sanusi Azmi |first=Ahmad |date=April 2017 |title=Ahl al-Hadith Methodologies on Qur'anic Discourses in the Ninth Century: A Comparative Analysis of Ibn Hanbal and al-Bukhari |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318273198 |journal=Online Journal Research in Islamic Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=23 |quote=" At the crux of the disagreement regarding the meaning of apparently ambiguous terms of ‘lafz al-Qur’an’ (word of the Qur’an), in which al-Bukhari was reported to have uttered ‘lafzi bi al-Qur’an makhluq’ (my recitation of the Qur’an is created), where he is actually referring to the human action of reading the Qur’an, he was immediately at risk... . Al-Dhahabi and al-Subki related that it is due to the jealousy of some scholars of Naisabur (Nishapur).." |via=Research Gate}}</ref> Al-Bukhari spent the last twenty-four years of his life teaching the ''hadith'' he had collected. During the ''mihna'', he fled to Khartank, a village near [[Samarkand]], where he then also died on Friday, 1 September 870.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Khair2006">{{cite book |author=Tabish Khair |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcIvtBPnYL8C&q=qilghan&pg=PA393 |title=Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing |publisher=Signal Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-904955-11-5 |pages=393– |access-date=18 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708142436/https://books.google.com/books?id=fcIvtBPnYL8C&q=qilghan&pg=PA393 |archive-date=8 July 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Today his tomb lies within the Imam Bukhari Mausoleum<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pasha |first=Muhammad Ali |date=2023-02-28 |title=Mausoleum of Imam Bukhari, Samarkand |url=https://thegulfobserver.com/mausoleum-of-imam-bukhari-samarkand/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=The Gulf Observer |language=en-US}}</ref> in Hartang, [[Uzbekistan]], 25 kilometers from [[Samarkand]]. It was restored in 1998 after centuries of neglect and dilapidation. The mausoleum complex consists of Al-Bukhari's tomb, a [[mosque]], a [[madrasa]], library, and a small collection of Qurans. The modern ground-level mausoleum tombstone of Al-Bukhari is only a cenotaph, the actual grave lies within a small [[crypt]] below the structure.<ref name="madainproject">{{cite web |title=Tomb of Imam al-Bukhari |url=https://madainproject.com/tomb_of_imam_al_bukhari |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512125631/https://madainproject.com/tomb_of_imam_al_bukhari |archive-date=12 May 2019 |access-date=12 May 2019 |website=Madain Project}}</ref>

== Works ==
{{Main|Sahih al-Bukhari|Al-Adab al-Mufrad|Al-Tarikh al-Kabir}}
[[File:BukhariTripEnglish.jpg|thumb|274x274px|right|Al-Bukhari's travels seeking and studying hadith.]]''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is considered Al-Bukhari's ''[[magnum opus]]''. It is a collection of approximately 7,563 ''hadith'' narrations across 97 chapters creating a basis for a complete system of [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] without the use of speculative law. The book is highly regarded among Sunni Muslims, and most Sunni scholars consider it second only to the [[Quran]] in terms of authenticity. It is considered one of the most authentic collection of hadith, even ahead of ''[[Muwatta Imam Malik]]'' and ''[[Sahih Muslim]]''. Alongside the latter, ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is known as one of the '''Sahihayn'' (Two ''Sahihs'')' and they are together part of the [[Kutub al-Sittah]].<ref name="auto">Abdul Qadir Muhammad Jalal et al., "Elevating Imam Al Bukhari: Affirming the Status of Imam Al Bukhari and His Sahih by Dispelling the Misconceptions Surrounding them", Lagos 2021</ref> One of the most famous stories from the ''Sahih al-Bukhari'' is the story of Muhammad's first revelation.

Al-Bukhari wrote three works discussing narrators of hadith with respect to their ability in conveying their material. These are ''Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr'', ''Al-Tarīkh al-Awsaţ'', and ''Al-Tarīkh al-Ṣaghīr.'' Of these, ''Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr'' is published and well-known, while Al-Tarīkh al-Ṣaghīr is lost.<ref>Fihris Musannafāt al-Bukhāri, pp. 28-30.</ref> Al-Dhahabi quotes Al-Bukhari as having said, “When I turned eighteen years old, I began writing about the companions and the ''tabi'un'' and their statements. [...] At that time I also authored a book of history at the [[Green Dome|grave of the Prophet]] at night during a full moon."<ref name=":0"/> The books being referred to here were ''Qadhāyas-Sahābah wa at-Tābi'īn'' and ''[[Al-Tarikh al-Kabir|Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr]].'' Al-Bukhari also wrote al-Kunā on [[patronymic]]s, and Al-Ḍu'afā al-Ṣaghīr on weak narrators of hadith.<ref>Fihris Muṣannafāt al-Bukhāri, pp. 9-61, Dār al-'Āṣimah, Riyaḍ: 1410.</ref> [[Al-Adab al-Mufrad]] is a collection of hadith narrations on [[ethics]] and manners.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=AdabMufrad |url=http://bewley.virtualave.net/AdabMufrad.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231020651/http://bewley.virtualave.net/AdabMufrad.html |archive-date=31 December 2014 |access-date=25 February 2013 |website=bewley.virtualave.net}}</ref>

In response to the accusations levied against him during his ''mihna'', Al-Bukhari compiled the [[treatise]] ''Khalq Af'āl al-'Ibād'', the earliest traditionalist representation of the position taken by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, in which Al-Bukhari explains that the Quran is God's uncreated speech, while maintaining that God creates human actions, as the Sunnis had insisted in their attacks on the free-will position of [[Qadariyah]]. The first section of the book reports narrations from earlier scholars such as [[Sufyan al-Thawri]] that affirmed the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] doctrine of the uncreated nature of the [[Quran]] and condemned anyone who held the contrary position as a ''[[Jahmi]]'' or [[Kafir|''Kāfir'']]. The second section asserts that the acts of men are created, relying on Qur'anic verses and reports from earlier traditionalist scholars like [[Yahya ibn Sa'd|Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qatlan]]. In the last part of his treatise, Al-Bukhari harshly condemned the ''[[Muʿtazila|Mutazilites]]'', defending the belief that sound of the Qur'an being recited is created.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |title=The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15839-9 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=80–82 |chapter=Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim}}</ref> Al-Bukhari cited Ahmad Ibn Hanbal as evidence for his position, re-affirming the latter's legacy and the former's allegiance to the ''Ahl al-Hadith.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |title=The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15839-9 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=79 |chapter=Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim |quote="Al-Bukhari’s allegiance to the ahl al-hadith camp and to Ibn Hanbal himself is thus obvious. Indeed, he quotes Ibn Hanbal as evidence for his position on the lafz."}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |title=The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15839-9 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=79 |chapter=Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim}}</ref>''

=== List of works ===
'''Historical and biographical works'''<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Abu-Alabbas |first=Belal |title=Between scripture and human reason: an intellectual biography of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d.256/870) |date=2018 |pages=38–39}}</ref>

* ''[[Al-Tarikh al-Kabir]]'' = ''Kitāb al-Tārīkh'' (The Great History)
* ''Kitāb al-Mukhtaṣar min al-tārīkh'' = ''al-Tārīkh al-awsaṭ''
* ''Asāmī al-ṣaḥābah'' (On the Prophet's Companions)

'''Hadith collections and sciences<ref name=":5" />'''
* ''[[Khalq Afaal Al Ibaad]]''
* ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]''
* ''Al-Duʿafāʾ'' = ''al-Duʿafāʾ al-kabīr'' = ''al-Duʿafāʾ al-ṣaghīr''
* ''Kitāb al-wuḥdān'' (On the Companions from whom only one hadith is transmitted) (lost)
* ''Kitāb al-ʿilal'' (lost)
* ''Birr al-wālidayn'' (hadith collection on filial piety)
* ''[[Al-Adab al-Mufrad]]''
* ''Kitāb al-hiba''

'''Fiqh and theological works<ref name=":5" />'''

* ''Al-Sunan fī al-fiqh'' = ''al-Fawāʾid'' = ''al-Mabṣūṭ'' (lost)
* ''Al-Jāmiʾ al-Ṣaḥīḥ'' = ''al-Jāmiʿ al-kabīr'' = ''al-Musnad al-kabīr''
* ''Rafʿ al-yadayn fī al-ṣalāh''
* ''Al-Qirāʾa khalfa al-imām''
* ''Kitāb Khalq afʿal al-ʿibād''

== School of law ==
In terms of law, scholars like [[Jonathan A. C. Brown|Jonathan Brown]] assert that al-Bukhari was of the ''[[Ahl al-Hadith]]'', an adherent of [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]]'s traditionalist school in law ([[fiqh]]), but fell victim to its most radical wing due to misunderstandings.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |title=The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15839-9 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=78 |chapter=Three: The Genesis of al-Bukhārī and Muslim |quote=}}</ref> This claim is supported by [[Hanbali]]s, although members of the [[Shafi'i]] and [[Ẓāhirī]] schools levy this claim as well.<ref>Imam al-Bukhari. (d. 256/870; Tabaqat al-Shafi'iya, 2.212-14 [6])</ref><ref>Falih al-Dhibyani, [http://www.okaz.com.sa/Okaz/osf/20060615/Con2006061525519.htm Al-zahiriyya hiya al-madhhab al-awwal, wa al-mutakallimun 'anha yahrifun bima la ya'rifun] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703102411/http://www.okaz.com.sa/okaz/osf/20060615/Con2006061525519.htm|date=3 July 2013}}. Interview with [[Abdul Aziz al-Harbi]] for [[Okaz]]. 15 July 2006, Iss. #1824. Photography by Salih Ba Habri.</ref> Scott Lucas argues that al-Bukhari's legal positions were similar to those of the [[Ẓāhirī]]s and [[Hanbalis]] of his time, suggesting al-Bukhari rejected ''[[qiyas]]'' and other forms of ''[[Ahl al-Ra'y|ra'y]]'' completely.<ref name="The Legal Principles of Muhammad B">{{cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=Scott C. |date=2006 |title=The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam |journal=Islamic Law and Society |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=290–292, 303 |doi=10.1163/156851906778946341}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lucas |first1=Scott C. |date=2006 |title=The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam |journal=Islamic Law and Society |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=290, 312 |doi=10.1163/156851906778946341}}</ref>  Many are of the opinion that Al-Bukhari was a [[Ijtihad|''mujtahid'']] with his own ''madhhab''.<ref>Sattar, Abdul. "Konstruksi Fiqh Bukhari dalam Kitab al-Jami’al-Shahih." De Jure: Jurnal Hukum dan Syar'iah 3.1 (2011).</ref><ref>Masrur, Ali, and Imam Zainuddin Az-Zubaidi. "Imam Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari (194-256 H): Kolektor Hadis Nabi Saw. paling unggul di Dunia Islam." (2018): 1-16.</ref><ref>Hasyim, Muh Fathoni. "FIKIH IMAM AL-BUKHAR1." (2009).</ref><ref name="Mughal, Justice R 2012">Mughal, Justice R. Dr, and Munir Ahmad. "Imam Bukhari (رحمۃ اللہ علیہ) Was a Mujtahid Mutlaq." Available at SSRN 2049357 (2012).</ref> Munir Ahmad asserts that historically most jurists considered him to be a ''[[Hadith studies|muhaddith]]'' (scholar of ''hadith'') and not a ''[[faqīh]]'' (jurist), and that as a ''muhaddith,'' he followed the [[Shafi'i]] school.<ref name=":2" /> The Harvard historian [[Ahmed El Shamsy|Ahmed el-Shamsy]] also asserts this, as he states that he was a student of the Shafi'i scholar {{ill|al-Karabisi|ar|الحسين الكرابيسي}} (d. 245/859).<ref name=":3">The '''Canonization''' of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History Reprint by '''El''' Shamsy, '''Ahmed''' (ISBN 9781107546073). Page 70,165,170,197&217</ref>

A significant number of scholars, both historical and contemporary, maintain that al-Bukhari was an independent mujtahid and did not adhere to any of the four famous madhhabs. [[Al-Dhahabi]] said that: Imam Bukhari was a [[mujtahid]], a scholar capable of making his own [[ijtihad]] without following any Islamic school of jurisprudence in particular.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ص157 - كتاب الكاشف - حرف الميم - المكتبة الشاملة |url=https://shamela.ws/book/2171/845 |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=shamela.ws}}</ref>

== Theology ==
According to some scholars, such as [[Christopher Melchert]], and also [[Ash'ari]] theologians, including [[Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani]] and [[al-Bayhaqi]], al-Bukhari was a follower of the [[Ibn Kullab|Kullabi]] school of Sunni theology due to his position on the ''utterance'' of the Quran being created.<ref name=":4">"The Adversaries of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal", 1997 Christopher Melchert.

"Al-Karabisi's (And Ibn Kullabs) doctrine of the pronunciation was taken up after him by Ahmad al-Sarrak (fl. ca. 240/854-855), Abu Thawr (d. 240/854), Ibn Kullab (d. ca. 240/854-855), al-Harit al-Muhasibi (d. 243/857-858), Dawud al-Zahiri (d. 270/884), and even al-Bukhari (d. 256/870). Indeed, most of the known semi-rationalist Kullabi school were loosely associated with Al-Shafi'i."</ref><ref name="fath2">{{cite book |last=Al-Asqalani |first=Ibn Hajar |title=Fath al-bari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari |publisher=Maktabah Misr |year=2001 |volume=1 |page=293}}</ref><ref name="rashidi" /> Other Kullabis, such as [[al-Harith al-Muhasibi]], were harassed and made to relocate, a similar situation al-Bukhari found himself towards the latter years of his life by other Hanbalis.<ref name="drove" /><ref>Shakir, Zaid. "Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance." NID Publishers, 2008.</ref> He was also known to be a student of {{ill|al-Karabisi|ar|الحسين الكرابيسي}} (d. 245/859), who was a direct student of [[Imam al-Shafi'i]] from his period in Iraq.<ref>The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Jonathon AC Brown. Page 71</ref><ref name=":3" /> Al-Karabisi was also known to have associated himself directly with [[Ibn Kullab]] and the Kullabi school of thought.<ref>The Formative Period Of Islamic Thought by Watt, W. Montomery</ref><ref name=":4" />

=== Interpretation of God's attributes ===
According to [[Namira Nahouza]] in her work 'Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists', al-Bukhari in his [[Sahih al-Bukhari|Sahih]], in the book entitled "Tafsir al-Qur'an wa 'ibaratih" [i.e., Exegesis of the Qur'an and its expressions], [[surat al-Qasas]], verse 88: "kullu shay'in halikun illa Wajhah" [the literal meaning of which is "everything will perish except His Face"], he said the term [illa Wajhah] means: "except His Sovereignty/Dominance". And there is [in this same chapter] other than that in terms of [[ta'wil]] (metaphorical interpretation), like the term 'dahk' ({{langx|ar|ضحك|lit=laughter}}) which is narrated in a hadith, [which is interpreted by] His Mercy.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Namira Nahouza]]|title=Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists: Theology, Power and Sunni Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyaODwAAQBAJ|date=2018|publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]]|isbn=9781838609832|page=96}}</ref>

=== Views on predestination ===
Al-Bukhari also rebuked those who rejected of ''[[Predestination in Islam|qadar]]'' ([[predestination]]) in ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' by quoting a verse of the Qur'an implying that God had precisely determined all human acts.<ref name="azmi" /> According to [[Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani]], al-Bukhari signified that if someone was to accept autonomy in creating his acts, he would be assumed to be playing God's role and so would subsequently be declared a ''[[Mushrik]],'' similar to the later [[Ash'arism|Ash'ari]] view of ''[[Occasionalism|kasb]]'' (acquisition, occasionalism, and causality, which link human action with divine omnipotence).<ref name="azmi" /> In another chapter, al-Bukhari refutes the creeds of the [[Kharijites]]. According to [[Badr al-Din al-'Ayni]], the heading of that chapter was designed not only to refute the Kharijites but any who held similar beliefs.<ref name="azmi" />

== See also ==
{{Portal|Islam}}

* ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]''
* ''[[Al-Tarikh al-Kabir]]''
* ''[[Al-Adab al-Mufrad]]''

== Notes and references ==

=== Notes ===
<references group="note" responsive="1"></references>

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Bukhari, Imam (194-256H) الإمام البُخاري; An educational Encyclopedia of Islam; Syed Iqbal Zaheer
{{refend}}
* Abdul Qadir Muhammad Jalal et al., "Elevating Imam Al Bukhari: Affirming the Status of Imam Al Bukhari and His Sahih by Dispelling the Misconceptions Surrounding them", Lagos 2021

== External links ==

=== Studies ===
{{EB1911 poster|Bukhārī|italic=}}

* Ghassan Abdul-Jabbar, ''Bukhari'', London, 2007
* Jonathan Brown, ''The canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim,'' Leiden 2007
* Eerik Dickinson, ''The development of early Sunnite hadith criticism,'' Leiden 2001
* Scott C. Lucas, "The legal principles of Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī and their relationship to classical Salafi Islam," ''ILS'' 13 (2006), 289–324
* Christopher Melchert, "Bukhārī and early hadith criticism," ''JAOS'' 121 (2001), 7–19
* Christopher Melchert, "Bukhārī and his Ṣaḥīḥ," ''Le Muséon'' 123 (2010), 425–54
* Alphonse Mingana, ''An important manuscript of the traditions of Bukhārī'', Cambridge 1936
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