Sahih al-Bukhari

Sahih al-Bukhari (literally 'The Authentic Collection of al-Bukhari') is the most authoritative collection of hadith in Sunni Islam, compiled by the Persian scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (810-870 CE) over a period of approximately sixteen years. Hadith (plural: ahadith) are reports of the sayings, actions, and silent approvals of the Prophet Muhammad, transmitted through chains of narrators reaching back to eyewitnesses. Together with the Quran, the hadith collections form the foundation of Islamic law (sharia), theology, and daily practice.

Al-Bukhari's collection is called 'Sahih' (authentic/sound) because of the extraordinarily rigorous methodology the compiler applied in selecting hadith for inclusion. According to tradition, al-Bukhari examined approximately 600,000 hadith traditions and included only 7,275 (or approximately 2,602 without repetitions) that met his strict criteria for authenticity. These criteria required an unbroken chain of transmission (isnad) from a companion of the Prophet back to Muhammad himself, with each narrator in the chain being a person of established moral character (adl) and precise memory (dabt).

For students of the Bible, Sahih al-Bukhari is significant for several reasons. First, it contains extensive material about biblical figures who are shared between the Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions: Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Jesus (Isa), Mary (Maryam), David (Dawud), Solomon (Sulayman), Noah (Nuh), and many others. These Islamic accounts of biblical figures provide a fascinating comparative lens for understanding how shared traditions develop differently in different religious communities.

Second, the hadith traditions raise important methodological questions about oral transmission, authentication, and the relationship between written and oral scripture that are directly relevant to the study of the Gospels, Pauline epistles, and other early Christian writings. The science of hadith criticism (ilm al-hadith) developed by Muslim scholars represents one of the most sophisticated systems of oral tradition authentication in the ancient world, and its methods have been compared to modern form criticism and tradition criticism in biblical studies.

Third, Sahih al-Bukhari preserves Muhammad's own engagement with Jewish and Christian communities, traditions, and scriptures, providing a seventh-century window into how the Abrahamic traditions interacted and diverged.

• Deuteronomy 6:4
• Genesis 22:1-14
• Exodus 3-4
• Exodus 14:1-31
• Exodus 19-20
• Luke 1:26-38
• Matthew 7:1-2
• Matthew 7:12
• Matthew 11:4-5
• Matthew 16:16
• Matthew 21:42
• Matthew 25:35-40
• Mark 12:29-31
• John 11:38-44
• Acts 1:11
• 1 Thessalonians 4:16
• 1 John 2:18
• James 2:17
• Proverbs 14:21
• Proverbs 16:32
• Psalm 15:1-2
• Leviticus 19:18
• Micah 6:8

Al-Bukhari reportedly examined approximately 600,000 hadith traditions and selected only about 2,600 unique ones (7,275 including repetitions) for his collection, a selection rate of less than 0.5%. Before recording each hadith, he is said to have performed ritual ablution and prayed two cycles of prayer, reflecting his belief that the work was a sacred religious undertaking, not merely a scholarly exercise.