Introduction to "Al-Jami’ as-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar from the Matters of the Messenger of Allah, His Sunnahs and His Days" known as the Sahih of the Imam al- Bukhari

Preamble:

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
you have to know- may Allah increase you and me in knowledge- that the acts of the Prophet, peace be upon him, were not written down or arranged in al-Jawami', As- Sahihain,in the era of his companions and their great followers.
Then the writing of Hadiths and the tabulation of information took place at the end of the era of the followers when scholars spread in the regions, and innovations increased from the Kharijites, the Raafidis, and the deniers of fate.
The first to collect this were: Ar-Rabi` bin Subaih, and Saeed bin Abi Aroobah, who compiled Imam Malik Al-Muwatta... Abu Muhammad Abdul Malik bin Abdul Aziz bin Juraij in Mecca, and Abu Amr Abdur Rahman bin Amr Al-Awza`i in the Levant, Abu Abdullah Sufyan bin Saeed Ath-Thawri in Kufa, and Abu Salamah Hammad bin Salamah bin Dinar in Basra.
When Al-Bukhari, may Allah be pleased with him, saw these classifications and narrated them, he found them, according to his Jami', among under the Sahih (authentic hadith without any doubt), the Hasan (authentic but little lesser than sahih), and many of them are weak Hadiths.
Therefore, he compiled the Sahih (authentic) Hadiths, which there is no doubt about.

Reason for Compilation:

While Al-Bukhari reviewing the works of those who preceded him, he feels that it is necessary to have a classification that collects the authentic Hadith.
Therefore, a sign came from one of the person in the council of the scholar in Hadith and jurisprudence, Ishaq bin Ibrahim Al-Handhali, known as Ibn Rahawayh.
Some of our companions said to us (1): If you can compile a short book on what is authentic in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
So, I liked this idea and started compiling this book.
What encouraged him to do so is what he saw in a dream. He says, may Allah have mercy on him: I saw the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in a dream, and I was standing with him with a fan in my hand, dispelling something away from him. Therefore, I asked some of the interpreters of dreams, and he said: You dispel lies away from him. This is what led me to compile the Sahih (2)

Date for Compilation:

Researcher estimate that Al-Bukhari completed the Sahih around the year (232) AH and he was at the age of (38).
The evidence for this estimation is that Al-Hafiz Al-`Uqaili mentioned that he presented the “Jami’” to the Imams Ibn Al-Madini, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, and Yahya Ibn Ma’in(2).
Then Ibn Ma’in passed away in 233 H Ah, and Ibn Al-Madini passed away one year after him, and Imam Ahmad in 241AH (4).

Duration of Compilation:

He said: I compiled the book of Sahih for sixteen years, I extracted it from six hundred thousand Hadiths, and made it an argument between me and Allah.
Which means that he began compiling in (216) AH and his age was (22) years, after he completed the compilation in the fatwas of the Companions and the issues of the followers.

Place of Compilation:

He said, may Allah have mercy on him: I compiled the book of Sahih for sixteen years, I extracted it from six hundred thousand Hadiths, and made it an argument between me and Allah.
He said: I compiled my book "al-Jami’" in Al-Masjid Al-Haram, and I did not enter one Hadith into it until I prayed for Allah seeking guidance, prayed two rak'ahs, and was certain of its authenticity.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: The resemblance between this and what has preceded is that he compiled it in different countries: His classification and arrangement of its chapters began in Al-Masjid Al-Haram, then the Hadiths extracted after that were in his country and other countries.
This is evidenced by his saying that he compiled it in sixteen years, for he did not live in Mecca for this entire period.
Ibn Udayy narrated on a group of sheikhs that Al-Bukhari wrote the chapters of his book “Al-Jami’” between the grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his pulpit, and he would pray two rak'ahs of prayer for each chapter.
I said: This also does not contradict the above mentioned, because it is assumed that,at first he wrote it in a draft, and here he transferred it from the draft to the neat copy.

Compilation Resources:

He said, may Allah have mercy on him: I extracted it –i.e. As-Sahih-from six hundred thousand Hadiths.

Methodology of the Compilation:

The approach that he chose is abbreviated by the name he put for his book: “Al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar from the Matters of the Messenger of Allah, his Sunnahs and his Days.”

1. It is a comprehensive book on the topics of Ad-Deen: beliefs, rulings, biographies, Manners, interpretation, tribulations signs of the judgement day, virtues, and others. In order to realize the extent to which “Al Jami” encompasses the topics, it suffices to know that the number of chapters under which Imam al-Bukhari compiled Hadiths exceeded (3,500) chapters.
   This is for the topics covered. In addition, the name has another aspect, which is that it collected a summary of what was authentic from the books of his predecessors, from the books of "biographies and Maghazi (battles of the Prophet ) to Sunan and meanings, passing through the books of interpretation and what is considered strange.
   It is no wonder that al-Bukhari was a compiler as described by Imam ad-Darmi: I have seen scholars in the two Holy Mosques, Hijaz, the Levant and Iraq, and I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable in Hadiths than Muhammad bin Ismail (5).
2. It is a book in which that is limited to the authentic Hadiths. Ibrahim bin Ma’qil An-Nasafi said: I heard Al-Bukhari say: I did not include in my book “Al-Jami’” except what is authentic (6).
   Al-Ismaili narrated that Al Bukhari said: I did not include in this book except the authentic Hadiths and what is left of the authentic Hadiths is even more. Al-Ismaili said: Because if every authentic Hadith was included, he would gather in one chapter the Hadith of a group of companions, and he would mention the method of each one if it was authentic, and it would become a too big book.
3. It is a Musnad book, as Imam Al-Bukhari was keen on the context of the Hadiths with their chains of narrators.
   Also, restricting the name of his book with this name is a warning to the researcher that the authentic Hadiths are the intended ones in the book, and they meet the condition of high validity (7).
4. It is a short book, in which Al-Bukhari did not intend to collect all the authentic Hadiths, and this came explicitly in his words when he said: I did not include in the book of 'Al-Jami' 'except what is authentic, and I left other authentic Hadiths so that the book does not become lengthy(8).
   Likewise, in his saying: I did not include in this book except authentic Hadiths, and I left many of other authentic Hadiths (9).
   Therefore, the scholars rejected the saying of those who said that he collected all that was authentic.
5. It is a book specialized in the Elevated Hadiths, so it is recorded in the title by saying: “from the Matters of the Messenger of Allah, his Sunnahs and his Days (important events).”

Compilation Circumstances:

His student and bookman, Abu Jaafar Muhammad ibn Abi Hatim al-Warraq, says: When I was with Abu Abdullah on a journey, in one place, except in the sever heat sometimes.
I used to see him awake in one night fifteen to twenty times, in all of that taking a lighter, setting fire to a lamp, and then he would bring out Hadiths and start marking and highlighting them and then he would put his head down. He also used to pray thirteen rak'ahs at the time of dawn, one of which is 'Witr'.
However, he did not wake me up in everything that he did, so I said to him: Are you carrying all this on yourself and do not wake me up?! He said: You are young, so I do not like to spoil your sleep(10).
His student and the most famous “Al-Jami’” standard-bearer, Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firabri, says: (I was with Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Bukhari at his house one night, and I counted that he rose and set fire eighteen times, wanting to write down what he remembers)

Compilation Objectives:

Al-Bukhari’s goal in classifying was to work, so he, may Allah have mercy on him, said about his book "as-Sahih": I made it an argument between me and Allah (12).
Since this was his goal, he used to say: I did not put a Hadith in the Sahih book except that I took a bath before that and prayed two rak'ahs.
He also said: I compiled my book 'Al-Jami' in Al-Masjid Al-Haram, and I did not enter a Hadith into it until I prayed Istikhara, prayed two Rak'as, and was certain of its authenticity.

Prophecies:

Al-Firabri said: I heard Muhammad bin Abi Hatim,Al-Bukhari's bookman say: I saw Al-Bukhari in a dream behind the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, walking, so whenever the Prophet, peace be upon him, raised his foot, Abu Abdullah put his foot in that place.
Al-Firabri said: I heard An-Najam bin Fudayl - who was among the people of knowledge - say: I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, leave a village while Al-Bukhari was walking behind him. If the Prophet took a step, Muhammad would follow him and set his foot wherever the Prophet, peace be upon him, set his foot and follow his trace.Also, Abu Sahal Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Marwazi said: I heard Abu Zayd al-Marwazi al-Faqih say: I was sleeping between the Corner and the Maqam, so I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, in a dream, and he said to me: O Abu Zaid! How long will you study Ash-Shafi’i’s book and not study mine?! I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is your book? He said: “Al-Jami'” of Muhammad bin Ismail.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: The chain of narrators for this story is authentic, and its narrators are trustworthy Imams, and Abu Zayd is one of the most prominent Shafi’is. He had heard of Sahih Al-Bukhari from Al-Firabri and narrated it from him, and he is the most honorable one who narrated from Al-Firabri.

Explanation of al-Bukhari’s Condition, Subject and number of Hadiths:

Imam An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: You have to know that Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, was very well-versed in the various types of knowledge of hadith, and as for the Hadith and the deduction of subtleties from it, he had no one to compete with him, and if you look into his book, you will undoubtedly be certain of that. Then his intent in this book is not to limit himself to Hadith and to multiply the texts, but rather his intent is to derive and infer from chapters he wanted from the principles, subdivisions, asceticism, manners, proverbs and others. For this meaning, he left many chapters on the chain of narration of the Hadith and confined himself to saying: In it is So-and-so, a companion on the Prophet, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, or: In it is the Hadith of So-and-so, and so on... If you know that his intent is what we have mentioned, then there is no objection in repeating the Hadith in many places that are appropriate for it.
Scholars from among the jurists and others have applied to this, and they use the Hadith contained in many different chapters as evidence.It was narrated on Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Fadl Al-Maqdisi who said: Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, used to mention the Hadith in its places, extracting from it a meaning required by the chapter with his good deduction and an abundance of jurisprudence. It is rare for a Hadith to be reported in two places with one chain of narrators and one wording, rather it is narrated for another time through another companion, follower, or otherwise in order to strengthen the Hadith by its many ways of narration or its different pronunciations, or the narration differs in its linkage, or adding or decreasing a narrator in the chain of narrators, or there is a Mudallis narrater (who hides from whom he narrates and mentions above narrater) in the first chain of narrators, or someone else, who did not mention the word of hearing so he repeats it in a way in which the word of hearing is authorized, or otherwise, Allah knows best.

The Number of Hadiths:

Imam Ibn as-Salah said: The total of what is in his Sahih book is seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five hadiths, including repeated Hadiths.
Az-Zarkashi said: This is what he asserted from the mentioned number is correct in relation to the narration of Al-Firabri. As for the narration of Hammad bin Shakir, he recorded it with the amount of two hundred hadiths less than that, and by one hundred hadiths less in the narration of Ibrahim bin Ma'qil. This was transferred from the handwriting of Sheikh Abi Muhammad Abdul-Malik bin Al-Hassan bin Abdullah As-Siqali.
Imam an-Nawawi said: The total of what is in Sahih al-Bukhari from the chain of narrators is seven thousand, two hundred and seventy-five, including the repeated Hadiths, and by removing the repetitions, the number is about four thousand. And I thought that I should mention it in detail so that it would be like an index of the chapters of the book, and it would be easy for students to know the significance of his Hadiths.
Then he listed it with the correct chain of narrators from Al-Hamawi, and he said: We have been told by Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Fadl Muhammad bin Tahir Al-Maqdisi with his chain of narrators from Al-Hamawi as well. This is a precious chapter that the people of care are pleased with, Allah knows best.
Al-Hafiz Ad-Dhahabi said in the biography of Abdullah bin Ahmed bin Hamawih Al-Hamawi: It has a special part, in which he counted the chapters of the Sahih and what is in each chapter of the Hadiths.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, followed that up, chapter by chapter, editing that, and he said: All of his Hadiths, including the repetitive ones, except the Mu’allaqat and Mutaba’at, according to what I have edited and perfected: seven thousand three hundred and ninety-seven Hadiths, and they are more than what they mentioned, where there are one hundred and twenty-two more Hadiths. I don’t claim infallibility and safety from oversight, but this is the effort of the one who has no effort and mayAllah grant ussuccess.

The Rank and Position of Al-Jami'As-Sahih:

Al-Khattabi (date.: 388), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “This book has become a treasure for religion,a foundation for knowledge of hadith, and with its quality, it has become an arbiter among the nation regarding what is intended to be known from the authentic and unsound Hadith, and what should be relied upon"(13).
Al-Muhallab bin Abi Sufra (date: 435) said, may Allah have mercy on him: Then I contemplated this correct book, which Allah made protection for those who differed at the end of time, an injustice to those who differentiate themselves from original sources, and a mercy to the worlds.
Imam An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The scholars agreed that the most authentic classified books are: Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and the majority agreed that Sahih Al-Bukhari is the most authentic of them and the most beneficial.
The Hafiz Imam Abu Bakr al-Ismaili decided in his book (Al-Madkhal) to give preference to (Sahih al-Bukhari) over (Sahih Muslim).