Al-Bukhārī
The Life, Theology and Legal Thought of Islam’s Foremost Traditionist
The first comprehensive critical biography of Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī
- Presents the first comprehensive critical biography of al-Bukhārī, offering an in-depth examination of his personal life and scholarly career
- Meticulously documents al-Bukhārī’s extensive travels in collecting and teaching hadith, and traces the development of his intellectual trajectory
- Offers a thorough analysis of al-Bukhārī’s method and principles of hadith criticism
- Examines al-Bukhārī’s legal scholarship, exploring both his methodology and legal reasoning
- Provides a rigorous assessment of al-Bukhārī’s theological views and delivers a systematic study of the Quranic controversy that marked the final years of his life
Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) stands as one of the most distinguished figures in Islamic intellectual history. His magnum opus, the Ṣaḥīḥ, is revered as the most authoritative collection of Prophetic traditions in Sunni Islam and is the most cited book in Islamic history. Beyond its juridical and theological significance, the Ṣaḥīḥ was venerated in pre-modern societies as a source of spiritual blessings, recited to invoke divine favour, seek salvation, and even bring rain. Al-Bukhārī’s legacy endures, shaping Islamic scholarship and devotion to this day.
This pioneering critical study offers the first comprehensive examination of al-Bukhārī’s life, intellectual trajectory and the socio-political landscape that influenced his scholarship. It meticulously analyses his methods of hadith criticism and explores his engagement with the theological and legal discourse of his time. Through an extensive study of the theological debates he engaged with and the masāʾil (legal cases) in which he challenged Ḥanafī authorities, this book sheds new light on the legal landscape that underpinned his work. Providing both historical depth and analytical rigour, it is an essential contribution to the study of Islamic legal and hadith traditions.
Acknowledgements
Note on Dates, Places, and Terms
Introduction: The Need for a New Study of al-Bukhari
1. The Political and Intellectual Context
2. Life and Career
3. Works: Purpose, Composition, and Early Transmission
4. Hadith Criticism
5. Theology
6. The Lafẓ Controversy
7. Political Theology
8. Legal Principles
9. Polemics with Ahl al-Raʾy
Conclusions: Beyond al-Bukhari, Ahl al-Hadith and the Sunni Project
Bibliography
Abu-Alabbas’s meticulous study of al-Bukhārī's life and thought, with its unparalleled discussions of his legal theory and theology, especially the theology of God’s speech, establishes al-Bukhārī as not only an eminent collector of ḥadīth but also a key contributor to the articulation of Sunni traditionalism.
Few scholars in the Islamic tradition have been spoken of as reverently as al-Bukhārī, author of what is often called the most authoritative book in Islam after the Quran. Bypassing the centuries of hagiography around al-Bukhārī, Abu-Alabbas provides us with a much-needed examination of al-Bukhārī and his works based on an exhaustive reading of those works themselves. Centuries of scholars have written about al-Bukhārī, but this book can claim to have contributed something new.
Al-Bukhārī is one of the towering figures of the Islamic tradition. His passion was obviously to collect and sift the sayings and precedential actions of the Prophet. His selection was close enough to the Sunni consensus of what those should be that he has sometimes seemed not a scholar of his time like al-Shāfiʿī or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal but a window onto the state of things over two centuries before him. Modern-day scholars have been notably wary of probing the record for more about him than was laid out in the fifteenth century. Belal Abu-Alabbas’ study is very welcome, then, in making al-Bukhārī himself a subject of extensive inquiry, particularly developing his legal thought.
