Critical Analysis of the Textual Conditions of al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Mahdi Izadi 1
Shamsolhoda Karami esfe 2
1 Professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Islamic Studies & Guidance, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Ph.D. Student in Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30497/qhs.2025.246801.4008
Abstract
al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, as the most important book of hadith among Sunnis after The Holy Qurān, has been criticized and examined by scholars of hadith from various sects many times from various aspects. In the meantime, scholars of hadith have explained and explained the hadiths in the book, and some have criticized and weakened a number of hadiths in the book. The group of critics has mostly considered the conditions of Bukhārī 's chain of transmission and has rarely addressed the conditions of Bukhārī 's text, but none of them have criticized the text of Bukhārī 's hadiths based on the criteria derived from the evidence that Bukhārī himself has put forward in his criticism of the text of hadiths in his other works. The textual conditions of al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī's hadiths can be obtained by considering the evidence in his other works. The most important conditions of Bukhārī, using his commitments from his other works such as al-Tārīkh al-kabīr, al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-ṣaghīr and al-Tārīkh al-ṣaghīr, are: hadith should not contradict the established historical reports, should not contradict sense and experience, should not contradict the definitive tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) or famous hadiths, should not contradict the verses of The Holy Qurān and should avoid the hadiths of the subject. The presence of some hadiths in al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, contrary to the conditions of Mustanit Bukhārī from his other works, is a valid and convincing reason for rejecting those hadiths. Therefore, the textual authenticity of a number of hadiths in al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, within the limits of the conditions specified, can be criticized due to his failure to adhere to such criteria.
Keywords
al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī
Textual conditions
Hadith criticism
Content criticism
Subjects
The Holy Quran.
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