07 Muhammad, the Hadith, and Imam Bukhari

Summary

Ce script traite de l'importance des Hadiths en Islam, les paroles et actions du prophète Mahomet, qui ont guidé la vie des musulmans. Il explique l'œuvre d'Imam al-Bukhari, qui a compilé les Hadiths pendant l'âge d'or de l'islam. Le script discute de l'authenticité des Hadiths, la différence entre les traditions sunnites et chiites, et le débat sur leur véracité, soulignant leur impact sur l'islam à travers les siècles.

Takeaways

• 🕋️ Le prophète Muhammad est cité comme ayant dit que Dieu ne sera pas miséricordieux envers ceux qui ne sont pas miséricordieux envers les êtres humains.
• 📜 Les Hadith sont les paroles et les actions de Muhammad, fournissant des directives sur la manière dont un musulman devrait mener sa vie.
• 📚 Imam al-Bukhari a compilé le premier grand recueil de Hadith, considéré comme le plus authentique et donc le plus important après le Coran dans l'islam.
• 🏛️ La période de l'Âge d'or islamique (750-1258 après J.-C.) a vu de vastes contributions à l'art, aux sciences, au gouvernement et à la construction d'empire.
• 📈 L'islam est devenu plus codifié et structuré grâce aux collections de Hadith, qui ont également contribué à la scission entre les deux branches principales de l'islam : sunnites et chiites.
• 🌐 Le Coran est considéré comme révélé par Dieu à Muhammad, mais les Hadith ont été adoptés comme exemple de la meilleure façon de vivre et de se comporter.
• 🗣️ Chaque Hadith consiste en deux parties : les mots eux-mêmes et la chaîne de transmission qui explique comment les mots ont été transmis de l'époque de Muhammad jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient écrits.
• 📝 Les Hadith n'ont pas été recueillis et écrits immédiatement après la mort de Muhammad, en partie à cause de la crainte de confusion avec le Coran.
• 🧐 L'authenticité des Hadith est un sujet central dans l'étude des Hadith, et al-Bukhari a travaillé à séparer les vrais des faux Hadith parmi les dizaines de milliers de déclarations attribuées à Muhammad.
• 🌟 Al-Bukhari est né à Boukhara, en Uzbekistan moderne, et a voyagé largement dans le monde musulman pour recueillir des Hadith, entretissant avec 1080 grands savants musulmans et examinant environ 600 000 Hadith.
• 📖 Son recueil final, Sahih al-Bukhari, contient environ 7500 Hadith qu'il a jugés authentiques, couvrant un large éventail de sujets, allant de la guerre sainte à la manière de s'occuper des biens perdus.

Q & A

Quel est l'importance des hadiths dans l'islam?

Les hadiths sont des déclarations et des actions attribuées au prophète Muhammad et fournissent des directives sur la manière dont un musulman devrait mener sa vie. Ils sont considérés comme la deuxième source de droit islamique après le Coran.

Qui était Imam al-Bukhari et pourquoi est-il important?

Imam al-Bukhari était un savant musulman qui a compilé l'une des premières et des plus importantes collections d'hadiths. Son ouvrage, connue sous le nom de Sahih al-Bukhari, est considéré comme l'une des collections d'hadiths les plus authentiques et est largement respectée dans l'islam sunnite.

Quelle est la période de l'Âge d'or islamique auquel se réfère le script?

L'Âge d'or islamique se réfère à la période allant de 750 à 1258 après J.C., qui couvre les contributions vastes du monde musulman aux arts, aux sciences et à la construction d'empire.

Quels sont les deux principaux branches de l'islam et en quoi diffèrent-elles en termes de hadiths?

Les deux principaux branches de l'islam sont le sunnisme et le chiisme. Ils ont des traditions hadithiques différentes car ils ne sont pas d'accord sur la fiabilité des narrateurs ou des transmetteurs des hadiths.

Pourquoi les hadiths n'ont-ils pas été écrits pendant la vie de Muhammad?

Selon la tradition musulmane, les déclarations de Muhammad n'ont pas été écrites pendant sa vie car il craignait que les gens ne confondent ses mots avec ceux du Coran.

Quelle était la méthode d'Imam al-Bukhari pour déterminer l'authenticité des hadiths?

Imam al-Bukhari a interviewé des centaines de savants musulmans et a examiné les chaînes de transmission des hadiths pour déterminer leur authenticité. Il a sélectionné environ 7500 hadiths sur les 600 000 qu'il avait rassemblés, qu'il considérait comme authentiques.

Quels sont les défis associés à la compilation des hadiths selon le script?

Les défis incluent la prolifération de faux hadiths, la nécessité de s'assurer de l'authenticité des déclarations en examinant les chaînes de transmission, et le fait que les hadiths ont été transmis oralement pendant plusieurs générations avant d'être écrits.

Quel est le rôle des hadiths dans la codification et la structuration de l'islam?

Les hadiths ont joué un rôle clé dans la codification et la structuration de l'islam en fournissant des exemples du mode de vie et du comportement de Muhammad, qui ont été adoptés comme modèle pour les musulmans.

Quels sont les différends entre les hadiths sunnites et chiites?

Les différends entre les hadiths sunnites et chiites reposent sur la fiabilité des narrateurs des hadiths. Les chiites considèrent que les sunnites n'ont pas de narrateurs fiables, tandis que les sunnites rejettent certains narrateurs chiites.

Quelle est la position des 'musulmans quranistes' sur les hadiths?

Les musulmans quranistes rejettent les hadiths et considèrent que le Coran seul est suffisant. Ils ne reconnaissent pas les traditions ou les textes en dehors du Coran comme une source de révélation valable.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to Hadith and Imam al-Bukhari

Le paragraphe 1 présente le contexte historique et religieux des Hadith, c'est-à-dire les paroles et actions du prophète Muhammad en Islam. Il souligne l'importance de la foi et de la preuve pour vérifier l'authenticité de ces paroles. Le personnage d'Imam al-Bukhari est introduit en tant que compilateur des Hadith pendant l'ère dorée de l'islam, qui s'étend de 750 à 1258 après J.C. La compilation des Hadith par al-Bukhari est considérée comme un acte crucial pour la structure et la codification du Sunnisme, l'une des deux principales branches de l'islam. Le texte met également en lumière la différence entre les Hadith du Sunnisme et ceux du Chiisme, soulignant la diversité des traditions islamiques.

05:00

🌏 Pourquoi les Hadith n'ont-ils pas été écrits plus tôt?

Le paragraphe 2 explore les raisons pour lesquelles les paroles de Muhammad n'ont pas été écrites pendant sa vie, en partie en raison de la crainte de confusion avec le Coran. Il explique comment, avec le temps, un grand nombre de faux Hadith ont circulé, ce qui a conduit à la nécessité de distinguer le vrai du faux. Le paragraphe présente également la vie d'Imam al-Bukhari, depuis sa naissance à Bukhara jusqu'à son voyage à La Mecque, et comment il a commencé à étudier les Hadith dès l'âge de 10 ans. Il souligne l'importance de la compilation des Hadith comme moyen de préserver la vérité et de combattre les fausses déclarations.

10:01

🧳 Voyages d'al-Bukhari et compilation des Hadith

Le paragraphe 3 décrit le voyage d'al-Bukhari à travers le monde musulman pour recueillir des Hadith, en interviewant des centaines de savants et en rassemblant un nombre impressionnant de traditions. Il explique comment il a sélectionné parmi ces traditions pour compiler son livre, qui est devenu l'un des textes les plus authentiques et importants après le Coran. Le processus de vérification de l'authenticité des Hadith est également discuté, en soulignant l'importance de la chaîne de transmission et de la vérification de la fiabilité des sources.

15:02

🔍 Méthode de vérification des Hadith par al-Bukhari

Le paragraphe 4 se concentre sur la méthode utilisée par al-Bukhari pour vérifier l'authenticité des Hadith, en utilisant l'analogie de la recherche d'une source fiable pour une citation historique. Il explique comment al-Bukhari a cherché à établir des chaînes de transmission ininterrompues et fiables pour chaque Hadith. Le paragraphe aborde également la question de savoir si les Hadith sont vraiment les paroles de Muhammad, soulignant que, bien que la plupart des musulmans considèrent les Hadith d'al-Bukhari comme authentiques, d'autres peuvent douter de leur authenticité totale.

20:03

📚 Contenu et authenticité des Hadith d'al-Bukhari

Le paragraphe 5 examine le contenu de la collection de Hadith d'al-Bukhari, qui couvre un large éventail de sujets, allant de l'opinion de Muhammad sur la création de l'univers à des conseils sur la conduite, le mariage et le pélerinage à La Mecque. Il souligne également les défis de déterminer l'authenticité des Hadith et comment les non-musulmans peuvent être sceptiques quant à leur véracité. Le paragraphe met en avant la complexité de la question de l'authenticité et la manière dont les Hadith peuvent être interprétés de différentes manières.

25:06

🌟 Impact des Hadith et divisions entre Sunnites et Chiites

Le paragraphe 6 discute de l'impact des Hadith sur l'islam au fil des siècles, en particulier lors des moments de tension politique. Il explique comment les Hadith ont été utilisés pour renforcer la foi et la résistance face à des ennemis extérieurs. Le texte aborde également la division entre les traditions des Hadith du Sunnisme et du Chiisme, en soulignant les différences dans la fiabilité des narrateurs. Le paragraphe se termine en mentionnant les critiques des Hadith et les mouvements qui rejettent les Hadith en faveur d'une seule source de révélation, comme le Coran.

Keywords

💡Hadith

Hadith fait référence aux traditions prophétiques islamiques, c'est-à-dire les paroles, les actions et les approbations du prophète Muhammad. Dans le script, il est mentionné que les Hadith fournissent des directives sur la manière dont un musulman devrait mener sa vie, et que le livre compilé par Imam al-Bukhari est considéré comme l'une des sources les plus authentiques après le Coran dans l'islam.

💡Imam al-Bukhari

Imam al-Bukhari est un savant musulman qui a compilé l'un des recueils les plus authentiques de Hadith, connus sous le nom de Sahih al-Bukhari. Le script souligne son rôle fondateur dans la compilation et l'authentification des Hadith, et comment son travail est perçu comme crucial pour la théologie islamique.

💡Pilgrimage (Hajj)

Le terme 'Pilgrimage' fait référence au Hajj, un pèlerinage à La Mecque que chaque musulman est censé réaliser au moins une fois dans sa vie si possible. Dans le script, le fait d'avoir effectué le Hajj est mentionné comme un moment clé dans la vie d'Imam al-Bukhari qui a décidé de rester à La Mecque pour poursuivre ses études sur les Hadith.

💡Islamic Golden Age

L'ère du 'Islamic Golden Age' se réfère à une période de prospérité et de développement culturel, scientifique et intellectuel dans le monde musulman, qui s'étend de 750 à 1258 après J.C. Le script mentionne cette période comme le contexte historique dans lequel Imam al-Bukhari a compilé ses Hadith.

💡Sunni et Shia

Sunni et Shia sont les deux branches principales de l'islam, avec des différences dans les traditions et les interprétations du Hadith. Le script explique que, bien que la plupart des musulmans considèrent le recueil de Hadith d'Imam al-Bukhari comme authentique, les traditions Hadith varient entre les branches Sunni et Shia.

💡Authenticité

L'authenticité est un concept clé dans le script, abordant la question de savoir si les Hadith sont réellement les paroles et les actions de Muhammad. Le processus d'authentification des Hadith par Imam al-Bukhari est décrit, soulignant l'importance de la chaîne de transmission (isnad) pour déterminer leur véracité.

💡Transmission (isnad)

La transmission, ou isnad en arabe, fait référence à la chaîne de personnes par lesquelles un Hadith a été transmis de la génération de Muhammad jusqu'à ce qu'il soit écrit. Dans le script, l'importance de la chaîne de transmission pour authentifier les Hadith est discutée en détail.

💡Quran

Le Coran est le livre sacré de l'islam, considéré comme la parole de Dieu révélée à Muhammad. Le script mentionne le Coran comme le texte le plus sacré de l'islam, et compare son statut à celui de la Bible pour les chrétiens ou de la Torah pour les juifs.

💡Calife

Un calife est le successeur du prophète Muhammad en islam, et le script mentionne les différences entre les branches Sunni et Shia en ce qui concerne la lignée et la légitimité des premiers califes, en particulier autour de la figure d'Ali, cousin et gendre de Muhammad.

💡Quranists

Les 'Quranists' sont des musulmans qui rejettent les Hadith et considèrent que le Coran est la seule source de la foi. Le script mentionne cette minorité au sein de l'islam, soulignant leur croyance que le Coran est suffisant et qu'il n'y a pas besoin d'autres textes pour guider la pratique musulmane.

Highlights

Prophet Muhammad's sayings, known as Hadith, are central to Islamic theology.

Imam al-Bukhari is credited with the first great collection of Hadith.

The Islamic Golden Age was a period of significant contributions to arts, sciences, and government.

Hadith provide guidance on how Muslims should lead their lives.

The Sunni and Shia branches of Islam have different Hadith traditions.

Imam al-Bukhari's collection is viewed as the most authentic after the Quran.

The Quran is believed to be eternal and revealed by God to Muhammad.

Muhammad's words and actions were passed down through generations to provide guidance.

The process of authenticating Hadith involves examining the chain of transmission.

Al-Bukhari's collection was compiled over 16 years of travel and interviews with scholars.

Al-Bukhari is said to have interviewed over 1000 scholars and reviewed 600,000 Hadith.

The authenticity of Hadith is a central question in Islamic studies.

Al-Bukhari's full name reflects the importance of lineage and transmission in Hadith collection.

The Golden Rule is present in all major religions, including Islam.

The Hadith collection includes guidance on religious practices and daily life.

Western scholars remain skeptical about the absolute authenticity of Hadith.

The impact of Hadith on Islam is significant regardless of their authenticity.

Sunni and Shia differences in Hadith traditions stem from disagreements over narrator reliability.

Quranists reject Hadith and other religious traditions, believing in the Quran alone.

Transcripts

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

consider this seemingly straightforward

statement

God will not be merciful to those who

are not merciful to mankind

Islam's most important Prophet Muhammad

is said to have expressed this sentiment

but how do we know whether or not he

actually said the words

well for some it's a matter of Faith

which requires no evidentiary proof

for others the fact that the words were

written down by a man named Imam

al-buhari is all the verification of its

authenticity that they need

the Arabic word for the sayings of

Muhammad is Hadith and the Hadith or

sayings of the Prophet are one principle

subject of this lecture

but so is Imam al-bukhari the man

responsible for the first great

collection of his Hadith

al-bahari compiled his book during the

Islamic golden age from roughly 750 to

1258 A.D

and while the age encompasses the Muslim

world's vast contributions to the Arts

to The Sciences and to government and

Empire Building of all the subjects we

might consider when talking about the

Islamic Golden Age the story of the

collection of hadiths focuses most

closely on the religion of Islam itself

indeed the focus of this lecture is a

vitally important matter in Islamic

theology

at the most basic level Hadith are the

sayings and actions of Muhammad

and so they provide guidance as to how a

Muslim should properly lead his or her

life

over time it was through various

collections of Hadith that Islam became

more formally codified more structured

and more dogmatic

one demonstration of this can be found

in the fissure of the two main branches

of Islam the Sunni and the Shia

today they have different Hadith

Traditions which also started during the

Golden Age

the overwhelming majority of Islamic

scholars both living and dead view Imam

al-bukhari's book of Muhammad's

collected sayings as the most authentic

and therefore the most important

literature in the Islamic faith after

Islam's most sacred text the Quran

itself

akin to the Bible for Christians or the

Torah and other sacred texts for Jews

the Quran is held by Orthodox Muslims to

have been revealed by God to Muhammad

but the text itself is believed Eternal

meaning it predated the revelation

many early Muslims believe the Quran

held all the answers

but in time more and more Muslims felt

the need for some additional guidance

especially in matters of daily life in

this way what Muhammad said and what he

did was adopted as an example of the

best way to live and behave

so accounts of what Muhammad said and

did in his own lifetime were passed on

through a chain of transmitters from one

generation to the next and the one after

that and so on

so while examining buhari's labors in

compiling more than seven thousand

Hadith we will also consider the process

of authenticating these sayings

because authentication is a central

component of the work of all Hadith

compilers

it's important to understand that each

Hadith consists of two parts one the

words themselves which present

Muhammad's words or actions

and two the chain of transmission I just

mentioned that is how the words were

passed down from Muhammad's day up to

the point where they were written down

as Hadith

now we have to ask ourselves this

why if the Hadith was so important

weren't they collected and written down

until the start of the 9th century I.E

200 years after Muhammad's death

according to Muslim tradition

one reason Muhammad sayings weren't

written down while he was alive is

because he was worried that people might

confuse his words as belonging to the

Quran

however by al-buhari's day tens of

thousands of sayings were being

attributed to Muhammad

and it was believed that many of these

were false

forgeries and inventions

one could write an endless list of

reasons why people would want to make up

the sayings of Muhammad

but in most cases it comes down to a

simple matter of influence or power

so for example

if you were having a dispute with your

neighbor you might go and see a

sympathetic Sheikh and ask for his

advice

this man might lend you his support by

saying well Muhammad once said that your

family was noble and good and brave and

that you have the right to marry any

girl you choose and so you'd go with the

Sheikh and play the trump card with your

rival

Muhammad said so

now

this might seem like a frivolous example

but as I say there were tens of

thousands of similar examples flying

about at this time

and if One Believes the tradition

Muhammad saw the potential problem lying

ahead

there is even a Hadith attributed to him

in which he said there will be forges

Liars who will bring you Hadith which

neither you nor your forefathers have

heard

beware of them that they may not lead

you astray

and so the Muslim faithful decided that

something had to be done about the

proliferation of false Hadith

it was time to separate the wheat from

the chaff

the true sayings from the false

but how could this be reliably done more

than 200 years after Muhammad's death

and who would take on the task

well as we now know

the man to take the task on would be

none other than Abu Abdullah Muhammad

IBN Ishmael al-buhari

born in 809 or 810 in the city of

Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan bukhari

was the first man to take on the task of

compiling and authenticating a Hadith

collection

and in part because his was the very

first collection of Hadith it's still

seen as the most important and most

authentic at least in Sunni Islam

this is an important distinction to make

because as I've indicated Shia Islam has

its own view of what constitutes

authentic Hadith

and which Hadith collectors are to be

trusted but I'll return to that subject

later

al-buhari's birthplace in the ancient

Persian city of buhar is one of the most

important locations on the ancient Silk

Road that network of trade routes that

had since around 100 BC connected to

China and its export of silk with India

Central Asia Persia Arabia and the

Eastern Mediterranean

although the Muslim Arab invasion of

Persia started in 633 the year after

Muhammad's death the city was still only

on the very fringes of the Muslim World

by al-buhari's time nearly two centuries

later

interestingly and perhaps significantly

most great compilers of the Hadith came

from the fringes of the Clifford or

Islamic empire

perhaps their remoteness from Islam's

religious Center in Mecca and its

political capital in Baghdad made them

feel compelled to assert their place in

the faith

or perhaps it was more important to

codify the faith at its margins

in either event they did this through

Islamic scholarship that hadn't

previously been cornered by Arab

Scholars

al-buhari's father died when he was an

infant

but it seems the child was a precocious

one whose natural intelligence was

spotted Young

it's said that he started studying the

Hadith at the age of 10 and was quickly

able to challenge the opinions of older

respected Muslim Scholars

a turning point in his life came when he

was in his late teens and he made his

pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca along with

his mother brother and other family

members

once having performed the Hajj

al-bukhari decided to stay in Mecca and

continue his Hadith studies there

now no doubt excited by being in the

religious heart of Islam

naturally enough Mecca attracted learned

men from across the Islamic World

allowing this youth to hear every

possible opinion and school of thought

then present in the Muslim faith

after some time however

al-bukhari decided that meeting just

those who made the pilgrimage to the

city wasn't a thorough enough approach

for his studies

and so he started traveling throughout

the Muslim world

for the next 16 years he journeyed

throughout the Arabian Peninsula which

covers modern Yemen Oman Saudi Arabia

the United Arab Emirates Qatar Kuwait

as well as Southern Iraq and Jordan and

he went further to Egypt Syria Iraq and

his Persian Homeland

everywhere he went he interviewed every

scholar he could amassing the widest

collection of Muhammad sayings that

anyone had ever previously attempted to

assemble

during these 16 years on the road

al-bukhari is said to have interviewed

1080 leading Muslim Scholars

between them these men provided him

something in the order of six hundred

thousand Hadith for his collection

now we should say that the book

al-bahari eventually produced didn't

include anything like that number

instead he selected about

7500 Hadith that he considered genuine

now there are a couple of things we need

to elaborate on here

one that astonishing total number of

Hadith he's said to have collected and

two how he decided which were authentic

and which were not

to start with the figure of six hundred

thousand Hadith that al-bukhari

collected on his travels deserves some

clarification

each time a Hadith is repeated or passed

down to another transmitter

the recitation by the transmitter is

also counted towards the total number of

Hadith

so if it's true that al-buhari met with

1080 Scholars during his travels and

speaking hypothetically each of them

provided him with a hundred Hadith

then the total number of sayings would

be 108 000.

now let's assume that in the 200 years

between Muhammad uttering the original

words and the time of al-bihari's day

there were an average of six

transmitters or links in the chain

suddenly the 108 000 original Hadith

adds up to almost 650

000.

thus what initially sounds like an

impossible number can quickly be reduced

to a much more realistic figure

so once al-buhari eliminated those

Hadith that were duplicates identical to

one another in every respect

the total number could be reduced even

further

still

authenticity undoubtedly remains a

central question in the matter of Hadith

studies and at the very heart of the

subject matter

to frame our thinking about this

question let's return to al-buhari's

full name by way of an example

it provides a useful illustration of his

job of compiling and authenticating

Hadith

although he is generally known today

simply as Imam al-bukhari his full name

was

now some of these are personal proper

names While others tell us about where

he comes from both geographically and in

terms of his lineage

for instance the surname al-buhari

refers to the fact that he comes from

the Persian province of Bukhara

several of his names as is common in

Arabic also tell us whose son he was and

whose son his father was and indeed who

his grandfather was the son of

in this way his family established a

demonstrable line to their family tree

or to put it another way evidence of

al-bihari's lineage through the

generations

and this is precisely what al-bukhari

was doing when he compiled his lists of

Hadith

another way we can think of this

what would you do if I stood here and

told you for instance that Abraham

Lincoln once said I like cheese

you would I hope quite rightly challenge

my claim and say oh yeah says who

well I would then be forced to respond

by saying look it's written here in this

biography of Lincoln that's just come

out

you would then press the issue by asking

and where did that biographer get this

quotation

I might reply he says it's in a

biography of Lincoln from the 1970s

and we could go together to find that

book and the line that Lincoln

reportedly uttered

and then ask ourselves okay but where

did that biographer get the line and so

on and so forth

if we wanted to show that Lincoln

actually said I like cheese we'd repeat

the process back and back until perhaps

if we were lucky we got to a first hand

account of a dinner party where when the

cheese plate was passed around Abraham

Lincoln said oh yes please I love cheese

and we could hope also that the person

who was sitting there and claimed to

have actually heard Lincoln say this was

also a reliable and trustworthy

individual

in just the same way

al-bukhari and his fellow Hadith

collectors traveled the Muslim World

speaking to Scholars who could provide

demonstrable unbroken and reliable lines

of transmission for the utterances of

Muhammad from his time to their own

now regarding President Lincoln after

writing about him and cheese to make

this point of course I had to look it up

I found the following line in several

sources

it is said that his wife Mary Todd

Lincoln had a hard time getting him to

remember to eat at all

but one of his favorite meals was fresh

fruit and nuts cheese and crackers

now note the use of it is said

as Mrs Lincoln never wrote a biography

we're relying on the statement about his

love of cheese on reported speech

and that's exactly the same question

al-buhari and his fellow Hadith

collectors had to address constantly

every major religion has at its heart a

principle known as the Golden Rule

otherwise known as the law of

reciprocity the Golden Rule holds that

you should treat others as you yourself

would like to be treated

whether Zoroastrianism Hinduism Buddhism

Sikhism or Judaism they all have some

form of this Golden Rule

in Christianity it's seen in Jesus's

instruction to love thy neighbor as

thyself

Islam's near equivalent is a saying by

Muhammad

quote none of you truly believes until

he loves for his brother what he loves

for himself

in Islam as in Christianity and all the

other religions I've just mentioned

Believers and non-believers alike can

and indeed do ask the question

how do I know that those words were

actually spoken by that person

for many Believers it might be enough

that it has been approved or sanctioned

by their religious authorities the

Priestly class and by tradition

for others this isn't enough and they

want proof or as close to proof as it's

possible to get

so that's what al-bahari was trying to

do

but was he successful

well if you're a Muslim you would

probably think that he was

and that al-buhari's Hadith collection

is authentic

however if you're from another religious

tradition or of no religion at all

you're probably going to see the Hadith

as fabricated at worst or at best

impossible to know whether or not they

are true

but regardless of one's opinion what we

need to understand now is the place in

Islamic Orthodoxy held by al-buharis and

other supposedly authentic collections

of Hadith

the full title of al-buhari's Hadith

collection is

The Abridged collection of sound reports

with chains of narration going back all

the way to the prophet regarding matters

pertaining to the prophet his practices

and his times for Muslims

it's probably just as well that it's

more typically referred to as sahih

al-bukhari or the authentic al-buhari

and it's a book that's very much

supposed to be consulted

consequently to make reference easier

the approximately 7500 Hadith are

arranged into roughly 90 broadly

thematic chapters covering a bewildering

array of subjects both religious and

temporal

here one can find everything from

Muhammad's ostensible opinion or

Revelations about the creation of the

universe

to how and when and where to pray

it also covers such areas as marriage

guidance funeral arrangements and what

to do and not do while making the Hajj

or pilgrimage to Mecca

also in this collection are rules for

conducting so-called holy war or the

Lesser Jihad

the greater or more important Jihad

being the non-violent and never-ending

struggle to be a better person

alongside more obvious religious

injunctions

the Hadith provide advice on monumenting

that is freeing one's slaves

what to do if you find Lost Property the

importance of private property and good

manners restrictions on loans and

repayments and how to control one's

temper

as al-bukhari tells us Muhammad said

the strong man is not the good wrestler

rather the strong man is the one who

controls himself when he is angry

as we think about the life and impact of

the work of Iman al-bukhari the most

important question about his collection

of Hadith and the one I suppose we'll

never have an entirely satisfactory

answer

is the question of authenticity

simply put are these Hadith what they

claim to be

are they Muhammad's authentic words or

mode of behavior

for Western and mainly non-muslim

Scholars we find it impossible to say

either way

so where does that leave us are the

Hadith true or not they might be and

then again they might not be

al-bahari's collection certainly

contains Sam Hadith that hold more

appeal than others at least from the

perspective of 21st century non-muslims

many Express kindness compassion and

love for others

then again any number of other things

communicate a more violent message

including Hadith that may be

objectionable or simply wrong not to

mention those that come across perhaps

as nonsensical

one can find numerous expressions of 7th

Century mores regarding gender

discrimination and a great deal more

and let's not forget those 200 years

prior to the written record of the

Hadith

these are words that pass down through

five six or seven generations

Scholars shakes and ordinary men and

women could of course select or choose

Hadith that suited their own opinion or

purpose at any given time

so the difficulty in reading them today

is that unless you are prepared to

employ Blind Faith and accept every

single word as literal truth

then there might be a great deal to

object to

of course one could say the same about

reading any number of other religious

texts

Muhammad may have said some of the words

and not others

even those Hadith that may be false

aren't necessarily or deliberately

fabricated

but then again they might be

now if that answer appears pusillanimous

or disappointing

what I can say without equivocation is

that the majority of Western Scholars

including some Muslim ones retain a

degree of skepticism regarding the

veracity of claims about the hadith's

absolute authenticity

to put it more plainly

the burden of evidence required to

demonstrate that something is true

beyond all Reasonable Doubt was far less

rigorous in the 9th century when

al-bahari was traveling around the

Middle East than it would be in the

modern era

now this isn't to criticize or defend

al-bukhari but rather just to lay out

the facts

some might find an open-ended conclusion

disappointing

but if we care about employing today's

scholarly standards there's not a great

deal one can add at this time

it may go without saying that the same

critique about proving the objective

reality of words could just as easily be

applied to words that may or may not

have been recited by Jesus the Old

Testament prophets and the Buddha

what we can discern with much greater

certainty is the importance and impact

that al-buhari and the other Hadith

collections considered to be authentic

had for Islam down the centuries

the late historian of the Arab world

Professor Albert harani of Saint

Anthony's College Oxford once wrote of

the Hadith

no less important than the question of

their Origins is that of the way in

which they have been used

at moments of political tension when the

enemy was at the gates

the ruler might ask the religious

Scholars to read selections from bukhari

in the great mosque

as a kind of assurance of what God had

done for his people

another important point about the Hadith

that remains relevant to Islam in the

present day

is the fact that sunny and Shia Muslims

continue to follow different Hadith

traditions

why

well unlike many matters relating to

religious differences this question has

a relatively easy answer

sunny and Shia Hadith collections differ

because these two distinct branches

don't agree about the reliability of the

narrators or transmitters of the Hadith

for example

there are those narrators who from the

very beginning of Islamic history sided

with the right of Abu Bakr and Omar to

be the first and second calebs or

successes to Muhammad after his death

on the other hand

there were those who supported Ali

Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law as the

rightful first caliph

I would become the fourth caliph

following the death of Muhammad

but this leadership dispute remains at

the heart of the enduring Sunni Shia

split

I'm going to end here with an

observation that I find of interest

because it gets to the heart of the

problem inherent in so many questions

about religious authenticity and

otherwise

and it's this

Hadith critics and Hadith rejecters as

they are sometimes called exist not only

outside of Islam but within the faith

itself

believing that the Quran alone is

sufficient these Muslim quranists as

they're also known

show complete disregard for any text

Beyond or outside of Islam's Central

statement of faith including the Hadith

that came afterward

one prominent Hadith rejecter during the

Golden Age was the Arabic author

al-jahid

one of the most prominent and important

authors of his day al-jahz remains

widely read and respected for his

literary skills

now although the quranists are

considered heterodox and so on the

fringes of mainstream Islam

we find parallels to them in the other

two great abrahamic religions namely

Judaism and Christianity

indeed quranism is similar to the

current movement in Judaism and in

Protestant Christianity the Sola

scriptura or scripture alone movement

both karate Judaism and the solar

scriptura movement reject oral tradition

as passed down through the generations

of Believers as a valid source of

Revelation

like Jewish karites and Protestant

followers of Sola scriptura

Muslim quranists simply don't hold with

Hadith or other forms of widely held

religious tradition

so the Hadith are accepted as articles

of faith and wisdom by most Muslims but

rejected by some