Imam Al-Bukhari

Imam al-Bukhari: What Biographers Have Recorded

• Full name: Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mughira al-Bukhari al-Ju'fi (محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري).
• Birth: on the night of Friday, the 13th of Shawwal 194 AH, corresponding to July 20, 810, in Bukhara, in Khorasan, Central Asia.
• Childhood: Orphaned by his father at a very young age, he was raised by his mother. He lost his sight as a child and later regained it, an episode recounted by all his biographers.
• Travels: He made the pilgrimage at the age of eighteen, followed by years of travel in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, the Hejaz, and Khorasan. He is said to have studied under nearly a thousand teachers.
• His collection: He devoted sixteen years to compiling *al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaḥīḥ*, selected from a collection of approximately six hundred thousand hadiths.
• Status of the work: Followers of the Sunnah unanimously regard it as the most reliable book after the Quran.
• Exile: Having refused to go to the governor of Bukhara to teach his children, he was expelled from his city and retired to Khartank, near Samarkand.
• Death: On the night of the festival marking the end of Ramadan, the 1st of Shawwal 256, corresponding to September 1, 870, in Khartank, at the age of 62.

Sixteen Years for a Single Book

The figure seems unreal until one understands the process behind it. Al-Bukhari did not spend sixteen years writing: he spent sixteen years editing.

Having left Bukhara at the age of eighteen for the pilgrimage, he never stopped traveling. Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Hejaz, Khorasan: he sought out the narrators where they lived, listened to them, questioned them, verified their memories, and inquired about their conduct. According to biographers, he studied under nearly a thousand teachers and accumulated a body of material comprising approximately six hundred thousand hadiths.

From this vast body of material, he retained only a tiny fraction. Estimates vary depending on the edition and methodology, but the total is around 7,400 texts including repetitions, and just over 2,600 without them. In other words, for every hadith selected, several dozen were discarded. It is this selection rate—and the strictness of the criteria that underpin it—that establishes the collection’s authority.

His end was characteristic of his nature. The governor of Bukhara wanted him to come to his home to teach his children. He refused, replying that knowledge does not travel—people must come to it. He was expelled from his city, withdrew to the village of Khartank, near Samarkand, to live with relatives, and died there on the night of the festival, at the age of sixty-two.

The secret lies in the chapter titles

This is what sets his collection apart from all others—and which almost no entry mentions.

Al-Bukhari did not merely collect; he classified. And his chapter titles are not neutral labels. They state a position, pose a question, or settle a point of law—sometimes solely through the arrangement of the texts that follow. Scholars have a saying for this: al-Bukhari’s legal scholarship is found in his chapter titles.

This distinctive feature has two very concrete implications for a buyer. The first is that his collection is read differently than a standard collection of hadiths: the chapter title is part of the text and must be read carefully. The second, more subtle consequence is that abridged versions that retain the hadiths while omitting the structure lose part of what makes the work what it is. They retain the content but leave out the method.

This is not an argument against abridged editions, which have their uses and which we gladly sell. It is an argument for knowing what you are buying.

His works

الجامع الصحيح

His collection, universally known as Sahih al-Bukhari. Organized into thematic chapters covering belief, worship, legal transactions, conduct, and exegesis. It is the reference work of the Sunni tradition and exists in a vast number of editorial formats.

Al-Adab al-Mufrad

His collection devoted to conduct: relationships with parents, neighbors, speech, anger, and hospitality. Short texts, practical topics, a single volume. This is the other Bukhari, far less well-known yet much more accessible than the first.

Al-Tarikh al-Kabir

His comprehensive biographical dictionary of hadith narrators, in multiple volumes. A scholarly work intended for those engaged in the critical analysis of chains of transmission.

The Creation of Human Actions

A treatise on belief written in the context of the controversies of his time regarding the divine word. A short text with a specific purpose.

The Section on Reading Behind the Imam

A short treatise devoted to a highly debated issue in fiqh: recitation behind the imam. Concise in format, with a tightly structured argument.

Raising the Hands in Prayer

Another treatise of a similar nature, on raising the hands in prayer. These two treatises are particularly sought after by students of comparative fiqh.

Which Edition of the Sahih to Choose

With this work more than any other, the question is not which book to buy but which format. There are four formats available, and the difference in price and size between them is considerable.

The complete text in multiple volumes is the standard edition. It features a spacious layout, hadiths with vowel marks in most editions, and intact chapter titles. This is what you need for sustained reading and to preserve the structure we discussed earlier.

The complete text in a single volume is also available, often in large format and on thin paper. The book fits on a shelf and costs significantly less, though at the expense of a dense layout that can be tiring during prolonged reading.

Abridged editions form the third category. They select a portion of the hadiths and streamline or omit the supporting material. They are excellent for a first introduction or as a gift, provided you are aware that the work is not comprehensive.

Finally, collections accompanied by extensive commentary exceed ten volumes. This is a library investment, not a purchase for casual reading, and it requires an advanced level of Arabic.

Each entry in our catalog specifies the format of the work, including the number of volumes, the actual page count, the publisher, and the state of vocalization.

Buy Imam al-Bukhari’s books in Arabic

All books sold by My Maktaba are in Arabic, in their original editions, and all are brand new.

Here’s a piece of advice that might go against what you were expecting. If you’re learning Arabic and want to read al-Bukhari, don’t start with the Sahih. Start with *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*: a single volume, three-line texts, concrete topics about everyday life, and vocabulary that repeats itself. You’ll finish it, and that’s what matters.

The *Sahih* will come later, and it’s best to tackle it with guidance. In fact, Sheikh Abdelmouhsin al-Abbad al-Badr provides daily commentary on this collection at the Prophet’s Mosque ﷺ, which gives you an idea of the time required for a truly thorough reading of the work.