193912: He is asking about original copies of Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim!

There are some of the Shiah who cast aspersions upon the authenticity of Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Saheeh
Muslim. Their main argument is that there are no original copies of these two books in the handwriting of
the authors (may Allah hae mercy on them!. The secondary argument is that some of the commentators on
al-Bukhaari discussed the meaning of some hadeeths that are not in al-Bukhaari. " hope that you can gie a
complete answer and settle the matter.
raise be to !llah"
#ne of the most important things that the educated Muslim$ or the Muslim %ho is ac&uainted %ith the
classical legac'$ should understand is that stirring up doubts is eas' and is something that an'one could do$ to
stir up doubts about an'thing$ e(en about basic gi(ens and common-sense issues on %hich people base their
rational thinking" )he matter ma' e(en go so far that some of those %ho got carried a%a' %ith doubts and
specious arguments ended up den'ing their o%n e*istence$ and doubted e(er'thing around them$ %hich led to
them being admitted to mental health clinics$ because the' drifted so far from common sense and sound
human nature"
)his is ho% %e deal %ith man' so-called specious arguments %hich are$ in realit'$ nothing but illusions uttered
b' some people %ho are causing us trouble at this time" )his al%a's compels us to start from the (er'
beginning in establishing principles of sound rational thinking in (arious fields of kno%ledge and education"
+hat is mentioned in the &uestion is one such e*ample" ,f %hat the &uestioner meant b' -original copies. is
manuscripts that the author %rote in his o%n hand$ then according %hat rational thinking or logic can it be
said that it is essential that the original manuscripts be e*tant in order to accept that a particular book is
correctl' attributed to its author/! Ho% man' books are there in the %orld$ since people learned ho% to %rite$
that could meet this irrational condition/!
,n order to understand ho% irrational those %ho stipulate that condition are$ all 'ou ha(e to do is imagine that
one of them entered a (enerable librar' or %ell-kno%n publishing house or international bookstore and said to
the person in charge$ , %ill not accept the attribution of an' books 'ou ha(e in this huge store unless 'ou gi(e
me the original manuscript$ %ritten b' the author himself$ so that , %ill be certain that these books are soundl'
attributed to their authors! 0oing this %ould be ignoring all the customs and academic and legal re&uirements
%hich guarantee to us no%ada's that the book is sound and that it %ill not be claimed b' an'one other than
the author$ such as re&uirements to register books in the 1ational 2ibrar'$ to get permission to publish$ making
books %ell-kno%n to critics and pro(iding %ell-established e(idence to that effect$ and other similar academic
%a's of pro(ing such matters"
+e kno% for certain that some of those %ho specialise in producing specious arguments kno% deep do%n in
their hearts ho% foolish and sill' are the things the' suggest and sa'$ but at the same time the' persist in
sa'ing it because the' kno% that merel' stating his specious %ith regard to an'thing that e*ists %ill ine(itabl'
ha(e some influence on people3s hearts and minds" Hence %hate(er results he gets %ill suffice him$ e(en if he
onl' manages to confuse a fe% people" +hat matters to him is that he shuffles the cards and causes confusion
%ith regard to sound %a's of thinking"
Ho%e(er$ Saheeh al-Bukhaari %as heard b' ninet' thousand men from ,mam al-Bukhaari himself 4ma' !llah
ha(e merc' on him5$ as %as stated b' one of his most famous students$ namel' Muhammad ibn 6oosuf al-
7arbari 4d" 328 !H5" See: Tareekh Baghdaad 42995: Tareekh al-Islam 4;93;<5" !l-7arbari3s narration of Saheeh al-
Bukhaari %as famous because he li(ed for a long time and %as precise in cop'ing it out" He heard it from al-
Bukhaari 4ma' !llah ha(e merc' on him5 o(er three 'ears$ then a number of trust%orth' narrators learned it
from him$ and from them this book became %ell-kno%n"
!l-Mustamli 4d" 3;= !H5 > one of those %ho narrated it from Muhammad ibn 6oosuf al-7arbari > said: , copied
the book of al-Bukhaari from its original te*t that %as %ith ,bn 6oosuf$ and , sa% that he had not completed it
'et: there %ere man' blank pages there$ including some isnaads after %hich he had not %ritten an' hadeeths$
and some hadeeths for %hich he had not %ritten an' isnaads" So %e tried to complete that" ?nd &uote"
@#arrated by al-Baa$i in at-Tadeel wa%t-Ta$reeh (&'(&)!*
)he Saheeh %as narrated from al-7arbari b' a number of trust%orth' narrators$ among the most famous of
%hom %ere the follo%ing:
!l-Mustamli 4d" 3;= !H5$ %hose name %as ,braaheem ibn !hmad
!l-Hama%i Ahateeb Sarkhas 4d" 3B1 !H5$ %hose name %as C!bdullah ibn !hmad
!bu3l-Ha'tham al-Aashmeehani 4d" 3B9 !H5$ %hose name %as Muhammad ibn Makki
!bu C!li ash-Shab%i$ %hose name %as Muhammad ibn CDmar
,bn as-Sakan al-BaEEaaE 4d" 3<3 !H5$ %hose name %as SaCeed ibn CDthmaan
!bu Fa'd al-Mir%aEi 4d" 3;1 !H5$ %hose name %as Muhammad ibn !hmad
!bu !hmad al-GarHaani 4d" 3;3 !H5$ %hose name %as Muhammad ibn Muhammad
!mong the trust%orth' students of al-Bukhaari %ho heard his Saheeh directl' from him and transmitted it to
the people %ith its isnaads in %ritten form %as the imam$ hafiE$ fa&eeh and &aadi$ !bu ,shaa& ,braaheem ibn
MaC&il ibn al-HaHHaaH an-1asafi 4d" 29<5" )he cop' of an- 1asafi %as transmitted b' ,mam al-Ahattaabi 4ma'
!llah ha(e merc' on him5$ as he said in his commentar' Alaam al-Hadeeth 41918<5: +e heard most of this
book from the narration of ,braaheem ibn MaC&il an- 1asafi" Ahalaf ibn Muhammad al-Aha''aam told us:
,braaheem ibn MaC&il told us$ from him"
)his is the most famous %a' that the scholars of hadith had: the' %ould read their books to their students$ or
their students %ould read their books to them" )hen those books %ould become %ell-kno%n through the
students and narrators$ not through the original manuscript of the author$ %hich %as one cop' that he kept for
himself" )here %ere no printing presses or publishing houses at that time: instead of printing presses there %as
the narration of students %ith strong isnaads"
+hat %ould an' researcher find more authentic than the transmission of trust%orth' narrators narrating from
the manuscripts that %ere read to 4and checked %ith5 the author himself and appro(ed b' him$ as the' said
concerning the cop' of as-Saghaanni: He copied it from the manuscript that %as read to the author 4ma' !llah
ha(e merc' on him5./ See: Fayd al-Baari b' al-Aashmiri"
,f 'ou %ant to ask about ho% old the manuscripts that are e*tant toda' are$ the #rientalist ManHana said in
Iambridge in 193= I? that the oldest manuscript he had come across up to that point %as %ritten in 3;8 !H$
according to the narration of al-Mir%aEi from al-7arbari" See Tareekh at-Turaath b' 7u3aad SiEkeen 41922B5"
#ne of the most famous manuscripts of the book that has come do%n to us in modern times is the cop' of al-
HaafiE !bu C!li as-Sadafi 4d" <1J !H5$ %hich he copied from the manuscript %ritten b' Muhammad ibn C!li ibn
Mahmoud$ %hich %as read to !bu 0harr 4ma' !llah ha(e merc' on him5 and has his %riting on it too" ,t %as
kept b' al-C!llaamah at-)aahir ibn C!shoor$ %ho borro%ed it from the librar' of )obruk in 2ib'a"
)here is also the cop' of the imam and hafiE Sharaf ad-0een C!li ibn !hmad al-6oona'ni$ %ho is kno%n as al-
BaCli al-Hanbali 4d" ;81 !H5" He checked it against the original cop' that %as read to al-HaafiE !bu 0harr al-
Hara%i$ and the original cop' that %as read to al-!seeli$ and the original cop' al-HaafiE ,bn C!saakir$ and the
original cop' that %as read to !bu3l-+a&t in the presence of the grammarian and linguist ,bn Maalik$ the
author of al-Alfiyyah 4d" =;2 !H5"
!nd so onK if %e %ere to keep listing the copies of as-Saheeh that are e*tant in the manuscript libraries of the
%orld$ and ho% close the' %ere to the time %hen as-Saheeh %as %ritten$ and the large numbers of those %ho
copied and checked them$ and ho% trust%orth' the' %ere$ and ho% the' checked their copies against the
authoritati(e main copies$ that %ould take a great deal of time" ,t is sufficient for 'ou to go to one of the
libraries %here manuscripts are kept and ask about Saheeh al-Bukhaari: 'ou %ill find hundreds of copies %ith
sound chains of transmission going back to ,mam al-Bukhaari himself" Al-Fihris ash-Shaamil lists 232; locations
in (arious libraries in %hich there are manuscripts of this book"
See: al-Fihris ash-Shaamil lit-Turaath al-Arabi al-Islami al-Makhtoot, al-Hadeeth an-aba!i !a "loomuhu
419J93-<=<5"
+ith regard to Saheeh Muslim$ it is no less %ell-kno%n and %idespread than the Saheeh of ,mam al-Bukhaari$
as Brockelmann said: Saheeh Muslim almost matches Saheeh al-Bukhaari in the number of manuscripts and
their presence in most libraries$ as he stated in The History of Arabi# $iterature 4391B85
,t has man' chains of transmission %hich confirm that the book is soundl' attributed to its author" )he number
of such chains of transmission is almost unlimited$ to such an e*tent that a number of scholars %rote books
Hust to discuss the chains of transmission of Saheeh Muslim: there are eight such books$ one of the last of
%hich %as the book b' al-Aattaani 4d" 132; !H5 entitled %u& Asaaneed Saheeh Muslim"
Sha'kh Mashhoor Hasan Salmaan said:
! group of people learned this book from Muslim$ one of the most famous of %hom %as ,braaheem ibn
Muhammad ibn Suf'aan" He heard it from its author no less than three times$ and he checked it against the
cop' of his sha'kh$ Muslim" Muslim3s cop' %as (er' precious and dear to him: he carried it %ith him to ar-La''
and placed it before !bu FurCah ar-LaaEi and ,bn +aarah looked at it" ! number of scholars learned it from
Suf'aan: among them %as al-Galoodi" His cop' %as in circulation among the students and some of them made
a cop' of itK Man' of these copies %ere (er' precise and %ere read to some prominent scholars and checked
against other manuscripts" )herefore the scholars used it as a reference for research and discussion: the' used
to refer to it %hen dealing %ith issues and problems" )here are man' manuscript copies of as-Saheeh in
libraries throughout the %orld$ and hardl' an' librar' is %ithout it" )hese copies (ar' in the dates at %hich the'
%ere copied and the' (ar' in condition"


,n the librar' of al-Mara%i''een in 7eE up till no% there is a (er' precious cop' of it: this is the cop' of ,bn
Aha'r al-,shbeeli$ %hich he checked man' times 4against other manuscripts5: he heard it read to him and he
read it to other sha'khs$ to such an e*tent that it is regarded as the greatest e*tant manuscript of Saheeh
Muslim in 1orth !frica" +ritten on it in the hand%riting of ,bn Aha'r is a note stating that he checked it against
three other original manuscripts of the cop' of al-HaafiE !bu C!li al-Gi'aani" +,nd -uote from al-"mam Muslim
ibn al-.a$$aa$ wa Manha$uhu fi%s-Saheeh (&'(/0-(/1*!
!s for the claim that -some of the commentators on al-Bukhaari discussed the meaning of some hadeeths that
are not in al-Bukhaari.$ %e ha(e not found a single e*ample of that" 0ifferences in the reports in Saheeh al-
Bukhaari onl' occur in a fe%$ (er' minor cases ha(ing to do %ith the isnaads or some phrases in the te*ts$ or
the chapter headings" But to suggest that there are some independent hadeeths under some headings that
%ere mentioned in some manuscripts but not others$ %e could not find an' e*ample of that"
?(en if %e assume that the' e*ist$ it is not something to obHect to or find strange" ,f the narrators %ho narrated
from the rophet 4blessings and peace of !llah be upon him5 differed sometimes$ %hereb' some of the
Sahaabah narrated the hadeeth %ith a particular %ording$ and others narrated it %ith a different %ording$ or
some of the Sahaabah narrated a hadeeth and others did not remember it$ in doEens of e*amples$ that does
not undermine the principle of the rophetic Sunnah$ and it does not shed doubt on the trust%orthiness of the
Sahaabah %ho narrated from the rophet 4blessings and peace of !llah be upon him5" So it is more appropriate
that the fact that there are slight differences bet%een the narrators of al-%aami as-Saheeh should not
undermine the basic authenticit' of the book or its trust%orthiness or its hadeeths and reports"
+e do not doubt that a lack of e*perience in dealing %ith the classical ,slamic legac' > and indeed a lack of
kno%ledge about the nature of histor' and manuscripts altogether > is the reason for such misleading ideas or
e*treme ignorance and lack of understanding on the part of the one %ho sa's that"
#ther%ise$ an'one %ho has an' kno%ledge of these branches of kno%ledge %ill be certain that minor
differences in reports or manuscripts in classical books is something natural in the light of the fact that people
in the past relied on cop'ing b' hand$ and because means of communication %ere (er' simple$ and cop'ists
%ere sometimes imprecise in adhering to the original te*t: indeed the' %ere sometimes una%are of
alterations that the author himself had introduced to his book that %ould lead to some differences in the
copies$ as happened in the case of Sunan at-Tirmidhi$ Sunan Abi 'a!ood$ al-Mu!atta b' ,mam Maalik$ and
the Musnad of ,mam !hmad ibn Hanbal" ,ndeed that also happened in the case of the poetr' of the Gaahili''ah
before that$ and in the books of lato$ !ristotle$ and the entire legac' of Nreek philosoph'$ and in the case of
both the )orah and the Nospel"
+e hope that b' gi(ing these brief highlights$ readers %ill be alerted to the nature of these specious
arguments that are made and %ill realise that a little rational thinking$ %ith a little e*perience$ %ill be sufficient
to %ard off all these specious arguments"
See: (i!aayaat !a usakh al-%aami as-Saheeh lil-Imam Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismaaeel al-Bukhaari)
'iraasah !a Tahleel$ b' 0r" Muhammad ibn C!bd al-Aareem ibn CDba'd$ %hich %as of great use to us in
preparing the ans%er gi(en abo(e"
!nd !llah kno%s best"
,slam MO!