Ahlesunnat Wal Jamat, - Bukhari Sharif & MuslimSharif, Part 2, -

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... Coninued.....Hafidh Ibn Taymiyyah writes that Imam Muslim has written those types of narration to which Scholars of Ahadith have objected e.g. AllahAlmighty made the skies and earth in seven days, Abu Sufiyaan asked our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] to marry his daughter after becoming Muslim, Another narration, in the book Salaah, where it can be interpreted that our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had two sons called Ibrahim, (When we know that our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had only one son called Ibrahim) At-Tawasul, Uloom Hadith and Fatwaa Ibn Taymiyyah, vol.18, “chap Maqaam Bukhari wa Muslim” by Ibn Taymiyyah)
(18)Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim have said that the war of Mustalak happened in 4 Hijree as Musaa bin Uqbah has said. Ibn Is-haaq has said that it happened in 6 hijri. Mustalak was in the war when Aisha was falsely accused of a sin she did not commit. Aisha has said that when she was falsely accused, the verse of veil was revealed. One day our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] was talking to some people and he said “Some people have falsely accused my wife, but I can only see goodness in her”. From the evidence, Saad bin Maas, stood up and said “If the person who has falsely accused your wife is from our tribe, I will kill him”
(Bukhari, “Magaazee” and Muslim, “Tawbah”)
Hafidh Asqalani has written that Imam Bukhari has said that the war of Mustalaq happened in 4 hijrah. Imam Bukhari has made a mistake, because the war of Mustalaq happened in 5 hijrah. I feel that Imam Bukhari wanted to write down 5 but he wrote down 4, because Imam Bukhari also wrote a Hadith in “Jihad” which proves that the war of Mustalaq happened in 5 hijri. Secondly, the narration where Saad bin Maas has said that he would kill the slanderer is also wrong. This is because Saad bin Maas was martyred in the war of Khandaq, (which happened before the war of Mustalaq). ‘Aisha has said, “When I was falsely accused, the verse of veil was revealed and it was revealed after the war of Khandak.” s
(Fath-ul-Baari, “ “Magaazee” by Hafidh Asqalani)
Hafidh Ibn Kathir writes that Saad bin Maas was martyred in the war of Khandak, after which, our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] married Zainab and after that the verse of Hijaab was revealed. This all happened before the war of Mustalaq and the false accusation was leveled at ‘Ai’sha. (Sirat-un-Nabi, and “Tareekh Ibn Kathir” by Hafidh Ibn Kathir)
Imam Nawawi has said that the narration where Saad bin Maas has said that he would kill the slanderer is hard to believe, because all the Islamic historians are in agreement that Saad bin Maas was martyred before the war of Mustalaq. Qadhi Iyad has said that to include Saad Bin Maas in this Hadith is a Mistake of the narrators. The more likely person to have said those words could be Saad bin Abadah. (Sahrh Sahih Muslim, “Tawbah” by Imam Nawawi)
Imam Nawawi, Imam ibn Atheer, Imam Tabaree, Hafidh ibn Qayyam, Ibn Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhaab an-Najdi have written that when the false accusation was leveled at Aisha, Saad bin Maas was not alive.(Tareekh Tabaree, Usd-ul-Ghaabah, Zaad-ul-Ma’aad, Muktaasar Sirat-ur-Rasool, “Mustalak and Khandak” by Imam Tabaree, Imam ibn Atheer, Hafidh ibn Qayyam and ibn Shaykh an Najdi)
(19)Imam Bukhari writes that on the day of judgement, when Prophet Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] will see his Father, he will say to Allah, “You made a promise to me, that you will not make me sad on the day of judgement”. Allah will reply “I have made it forbidden for the non-believers to enter Jannah.
(Bukhari, “Tafsir”)
Hafidh Asqalani writes that Ismaa’eelee has said that this Hadith is wrong, it has no origin and it is doubtful. This is because this Hadith goes against the Qur’an. Allah tallah says in the Qur’an“when Prophet Ibrahim [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] found out that his Father was the enemy of Allah Ta’ala, he stopped praying for him” (soorat-ut-tawbah, verse 120) Secondly, when Allah Tahlah makes a promise, it is always fulfilled. From this narration it seems as though Allah tahlah does not fulfill his promises.
(Fath-ul-Baari, “Tafsir” by Hafidh Asqualani)
(20) Imam Bukhari writes that Prophet Ibrahim [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] never lied except on three occasions. On one occasion, members of his tribe asked him to accompany them to a fayre, he said to them that he was ill. Secondly, when Ibreaheem [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] broke the pagan idols and he was asked if he broke them, he said that big idol had destroyed them. The third “lie” was when Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] was travelling with his wife and they reached a place whose king was an oppressor. Someone went to the King and informed him that a person had arrived in his city accompanied by a very beautiful woman whom the king would like. The King then asked to see Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] and asked him who the woman was. Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] replied “She is my sister.” Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] returned and told his wife: “I have told the king that you are my sister. You and I are the only two Muslims in the world and when you are asked about this, you must not make me out as a liar.”
(21)(Bukhari, “Fadaa’l Ibraaheem)
Sayyed Mawdoodee writes:
“The above Hadith, which is in Bukhari and Muslim, has authentic narrators. But it is very difficult for me to believe that Prophet Ibrahim [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] would lie and also our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] would say that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] has lied. In this narration there must be some misunderstanding by the narrators. The first two “lies” mentioned in this narrations are not actually lies and the third “lie” is fabricated by the Jews. This has been mentioned twice in the Bible. Let us examine these lies. The first “lie”, that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] said that he was ill, is written in the Qur’an. For this to be proved a lie it must first be established that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] said that he was not ill but was healthy, by some evidence better then the Qur’an. The second lie: when Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] was asked if he broke the idols and replied: “Ask these broken idols who has broken them if they can speak”.
From the above statement it can be established that it is not a lie, but an attempt to demonstrate that these idols which the pagans worshipped as Gods, were actually rock and nothing else. If an ordinary person cannot call this a lie then how can our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] say so the third lie is one of those lies which has been made up by the Jews and it’s the aim was to disgrace Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace]. In the Bible, book of Genesis chapters 12 and 20, it is mentioned that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] went to a kingdom whose king was an oppressor. It is mentioned in this book that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace]’s wife was 60 years old, on one occasion and 90 years old on the other. Therefore, how can a king can summon some one to come to his palace and quiz him about the woman he was accompanying. It is clearly understood that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] did not lie and that Our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] did not say that Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] lied. Some people think that the narrators of this narration are authentic and to accept this narration for this reason would not be acceptable because I feel that we would then be accepting that our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] has lied. Imam Raazi has said that when a narration is attributed to Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace], which is a lie. It is better to attribute the lie to a narrator. But I feel that it is sufficient to say that the narrators have made a mistake in understanding the narration.”
(Rasaa’il-ul-Masaa’il, chapter 1, “Tafsir Tafheem ul Qur’an, Surat-us-Saffaat, verse 23 by Sayyed Mawdoodi)
Criticism of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim
The claim that the scholars of Hadith have not objected to any narrators of Muslim and Bukhari is false. Not only did the scholars of Hadith criticise Imam Bukhari’s and Muslim’s narrators, they also criticised on Bukhari and Muslim themselves.
Criticism of Imam Bukhari
Hafidh Ibn Hajar Asqalani writes that Hafidh Saalih said: “One day, Hafidh Abu Zur’ah said to me “I have read Imam Bukhari’s Tareekh, and in it, I have found many mistakes.” I informed him “When a person of Bukhara (Bukhari’s home town) goes to Iraq and comes back with new information, Imam Bukhari always reads it. The writing style of these people was quite unusual. This meant that Imam Bukhari had difficulty in reading the narration. This is why Imam Bukhari made mistakes. Otherwise, he is the best from among all the scholars of Kharasaan”
(Tahdheeb ul Tahdheeb, By Hafidh Asqalani, biography of Imam Bukhari)
Imam Muslim writes, “In our time some, people think that they are scholars of Hadith. They have made up false conditions in order to accept Hadith. One of them says, “When you take a narration of Hadith from a narrator, you must make sure that the narrator and his narrator have met. It is not enough that they were simply alive at the same time.” This is an innovation because none of the previous great scholars of Hadith have mentioned this condition. This condition is very wrong, and I refute this condition in case people who are less knowledgeable might accept this.
(Sahih ul Muslim, Chapter Mu’an‘an)
Imam Nawawi writes that the condition which Imam Muslim has discussed above, has been introduced by Imam Bukhari and his teacher, Imam Ali bin Madeenee.
(Sharh Muslim, Chapter Mu’an’an)
Imam Bukhari writes that Malik was a companion of the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace], and Bohainah was his mother.
(Bukhaari, Chapter Salaah)
Hfidh Ibn Hajar Asqalani has said “Imam Bukhari has made two mistakes. Malik was not the companion of Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] and that Bohaina was not Malik’s mother.
(Fath-ul-Baari, “Kitaab-us-Salaah”, chapter 38)
Hafidh Dhahabi and Hafidh Ibn Kathir write that when Imam Bukhari took narrations from the Syrians, he made mistakes.
(Tadhkaraat-ul-Huffaad, and Taareekh Ibn Kathir Biography of Imam Muslim)
Hafidh Iraqi writes: “Imam Ibn Abi Hatam (The famous Scholar of Al-Jarhu Ta’deel) compiled all of the mistakes that were apparent in Imam Bukhari’s “Taareekh”, into one book entitled “Khata’ ul Bukhari”(Mistakes of Bukhari).
(Preface of Ibn Al Salaah, by Hafidh Iraqi)
Imam Ibn Abi Hatam wrote: “When Imam Abu Hatam and Imam Abu Zur’ah heard that Imam Bukhari said that the Qur’an is creation, they stopped taking any narrations of Hadith from him.
(Al Jarhu Ta’deel, by Imam Ibn Hatam, “Biography of Imam Bukhari”)
Hafidh Asqalani writes:
“In 250 Hijri, Bukhari went to Nashapur. The people of Nashapur rolled out a red carpet for him. Imam Zuhlee, (who was Imam Bukhari’s teacher,) also came to embrace him. Prior to Imam Bukhari’s reception, Imam Zuhlee announced that Imam Bukhari was to make a speech and that no-one should ask him: “Wether the Qur’an was a creation[2]. He feared that if Imam Bukhari’s answer contradicted Imam Zuhlee’s belief then a difficult situation could arise, could expose both scholars to which ridicule by other sects. Everything went well for the first two days but on the third day someone in the audience asked the question, “Are the words of Qur’an a creation of Allah?” Imam Bukhari replied: “Our actions are creation and the words which we recite are part of our actions.” Some of the audience perceived that Imam Bukhari had called the Qur’anic word a creation. This misunderstanding resulted in commotion, which prompted the house-owner to ask everyone to leave. When Imam Zuhlee, (who was not present at the speech,) heard of Imam Bukhari’s public statement about the Qur’anic words he announced: “The Qur’an is not a creation. Any one claiming otherwise is an innovator and everyone must avoid him at all times.” He also added, “Anyone who attends Imam Bukhari’s meetings, will be considered an innovator too.” With the exception of Ahmad Bin Salmah and Imam Muslim, Imam Bukhari was outcast by everyone. Imam Muslim played a neutral part in this debate. After this incident, Imam Muslim did not include any Hadith narrated by either Imam Bukhari or Imam Zuhlee in Sahih Muslim. I think that Imam Muslim acted justly in this matter. A few days later, Imam Zuhlee declared that it was not possible for him to live in the same city as Imam Bukhari. Imam Bukhari then left Nashapur for his hometown Bukharah. Also Imam Zuhlee, through his supporters, publicised in Bukhaara, that Imam Bukhari held controversial beliefs. After arriving in Bukhaarah, Imam Bukhari faced much hostility. His adversaries made it difficult for him to live in Bukhara. This provoked him to leave for Sammarqand. On his way he was informed that the people of Sammarqand were also split concerning his views. Imam Bukhari then prayed, “Oh Allah! if your vast earth is being reduced on me, I ask to be freed from this life.” History records that Imam Bukhari died on the 1st of Shawwaal, 256 Hijri - one month after his prayer.
(Muqaddamah Fath-ul-Baari, “Biography of Imam Bukhari”)
Imam Subqi writes that at the time Imam Zuhlee heard the news that Imam Bukhari had given an answer to a question related to the Qur’an, which was vague and was open to many interpretation, he received a letter from scholars of Hadith who lived in Baghdad. The content of this letter stated that the scholars advised Imam Bukhari not to make any statements regarding the question “Is the Qur’an a creation or not?” but he ignored their advice and made the statement anyway. This statement made the people to quibble amongst themselves. (Tabakt-ush- Shaafi’ah, by Imam Subqui, “Biography of Imam Bukhari”)
Hafidh Asqalani and Imam Dhahabi write that even after this dispute Imam Bukhari included 43 Ahadith narrated by Imam Zuhlee in his book, Sahih ul Bukhari. To avoid embarrassment, each Hadith was written not the narrators name disguised, e.g. narrated by Mohammad or ibn Abdullah or ibn Khalid, to attribute Imam Zuhlee to his Father’s or grandFather’s names.
(Tahadeeb ut Tahadeeb and Alaam un Nubalaa by Hafidh Asqalani and Hafidh Dhahabi, “Biography of Imam Zuhlee”)
Criticism of Imam Muslim
Hafidh Asqalani writes:
“May Allah send blessing on Imam Bukhari. Imam Bukhari has collected the principle of Hadith (Usool) and taught it to people. After Imam Bukhari anything which has been written, includes quotes from his book. Imam Muslim has written books whose content has been taken from Imam Bukhari’s books. Imam Muslim has copied Imam Bukhari’s books and did not have the courtesy to acknowledge him in them. Imam Darr Qutni said that if Imam Bukhari did not exist there would not even be the name of Imam Muslim. Imam Muslim has done nothing special, what he has done that he has is taken some Ahadith from Imam Bukhari’s book and has added some more Ahadith to complete his book, Sahih Muslim.
(Muqaddamah Fath-ul-Baari, “Biography of Imam Bukhari”)
If this accusation was made at any other scholar of Ahadith, every one would have called him stealer of Ahadith and all his narrations would have been rejected.
If someone wishes to explore the criticism of Imam Muslim and Bukhari, they should study “Al-JarH-ut- wat Ta’deel”. These books have been written by different scholars of Ahadith and describe, in detail, the characteristics of narrators. (e.g. Wether they were weak, authentic, knowledgeable, good or bad natured, and which sect they belonged to)
Narrators of Bukhari and Muslim that have been criticised by the scholars of Hadith
Many Narrators of Imam Muslim and Bukhari have been criticised overwhelmingly. The claim that no one has criticised them clearly illustrates the claimant’s lack of knowledge at the subject matter.
The following are some narrators of Muslim and Bukhari who have been criticised by the scholars of Ahadith. The information below has been obtained from the books of Hafidh Asqalani and Hafidh Dhahabi.
1) Uthmaan bin Abi Shaybah (Teacher and narrator of Imam Bukhari and Muslim)
Imam Ajaali has said that he used to tell such types of Hadith that when we had heard them, it would make us pray to Allah to keep our Imaan alive and take refuge in Allah. An example of the type of narrations he used to tell is: “Our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] attended a festival of non-believers and respected their idols the way they respected them. This is the reason why two angels refused to pray behind our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace].” Scholars of Hadith have said that this situation would never arise with our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace]. This Hadith is most definitely fabricated. Uthmaan, also used to interpret the Qur’an incorrectly and disrespected it by changing its words.
When he recited the verses of the Qur’an like surah al-hadid verse 13, Allah says ‘fa-duri-ba-bay-na-hum-bisoorilla hu baab’ meaning ‘a wall will be set up between the Muslims and the hypocrites in which there is a door’.
He used to recite the verse like this, ‘fa-duri-ba-bay-na-hum-bi-sunnuh-rin-la-hu-naab’ which meant that ‘there will be placed between them a cat and it will have a tail’. Another verse which he mocked was Surah Yusuf verse 10, ‘fa-lamma-jah-haza-bi-ja-haz-za-hum-ja-ala-assiqa-yata-fi-rahli-akhi-hi’ which means, ‘when he makes ready their baggage, he put the drinking cup in the saddle bag of his brother’.
Ibn Abi Shayba used to recite that verse in the following way, ‘fa-lumma-jah-haza-hum-bi-ja-haz-zi-him-ja-ala-asifinata-fi-rahli-akhi-hi’, which means ‘and when he made ready the baggage, he put a ship in the saddle bag of his brother’.
In Surah al-Shuara verse 130, ‘fa-izaa-ba-tash-tum-ba-tash-tum-jabbaa-reen’ which means, ‘and when you lay your hands on anyone, you lay hands in unjustice’. Ibn Abi Shaybah used to recite the verse like this, ‘fa-iza-ba-tash-tum-ba-tush-tum-kabbah-zeen’, which means ‘and when you lay your hands on anyone, you lay hands on naan (Pitta Bread)’. He also recited many other verses of the Qur’an like this and the verses mentioned above are some examples of this. He was a very humorous person. That is why whenever he used to recite the Qur’an he read it humorously, which was wrong. I think that Ibn Abi Shaybah might have repented this sin before he died.
(Mizaan I’tidaal and tadhkarat-ul-huffaaz by Hafidh Dhahabi)
Hafidh Asqalani writes:
Despite the above, Imam Bukhari has taken 53 narrations and Imam Muslim has taken 135 narrations from him. As usual, some scholars of Ahadith praised him.
(Mizaan-ut-ta’deeb by Hafidh Dhahabi And Hafidh Asqalani, “Biography of Uthmaan bin Abi Shaybah”)
Imam Daar al Qutini wrote a book called Kitaab-al-Tas-heef. In this book, he wrote various names of scholars who made fun of the Qur’an when reciting it. He wrote that the scholar who made the most fun of the Qur’an was Imam Ibn Abi Shaiba.
It could be that Ibn Abi Shaybah was reciting a different mode of recitiation, of which there are seven, and so this would support his reading of the Qur’an.
If we look at the different modes of recitation, we find that the general meaning does not change, but there may be slight variations like, for example, in one mode of recitation, the third aayah of surat-ul-faatiha, is ‘maaliki yaumiddeen’ - owner of the day of judgement. In another mode it is pronounced as ‘maliki yaumiddeen’ – king of the day of judgment. Both of these ways have been confirmed by Prophet Muhammad [May Allah bless him and grant Him peace] and angel Gibreel [May Allah bless him and grant him peace]. If someone was to introduce another mode of recitation, other than the ones which have been confirmed, it is totally unacceptable. When we look to the alterations which Ibn Abee Shaibah made, we see that both the meaning and wording is altered. This means that the way that he used to recite the Qur’an was totally contrary to the Sharee’ah.
Also, Imam Dhahabi, said in his book, meezaan-ul-I’tidaal, and tadhkarat-ul-huffaaz, that maybe, Ibn Abi Shaybah, repented for reading the Qur’an incorrectly. From this, it is proved that if the way that Ibn Abi Shaybah recited the Qur’an was correct there was no need for him to repent from the way he used to recite the Qur’an.
2) Abu bin Abas bin Sahaal Ansari Saad
Imam Dahabi has said that Saad was not strong in knowledge of Ahadith. Yahyaa bin Mu’een has said that he was a weak narrator. Imam Ahmed has said that he used to tell Hadith which no one had any knowledge about. Naas’ee has said that he had minimum knowledge of Hadith. Dahabi has said that Imam Bukhari has said that he had minimum knowledge of Hadith, but nevertheless, Imam Bukhari has taken Hadith narration from him. The narration, which Imam Bukhari took, is that of the Excellency of Ibrahim [May Allah bless him and grant him peace].
(Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani)
3) Ahmed bin Salaah Abu Ja’far Nasaa’ee(Teacher of Imam Bukhari)
Nasaa’ee has said that he is not authentic and he has not accepted his narrations. Imam Ahmed had evicted him from his meetings. Yahyaa bin Mu’een has said that he was a lair but some scholars of Hadith had praised him.( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, “Biography of Ahmed bin Salaah”)
4) Ayyoob bin Sulaimaan-il-Madinee (Teacher of Imam Bukhari)
Abul-Fath has said that the type of Ahadith he told were not told by anyone else. Daar Qutni has made similar remarks. Ibn Abi Burr has said that Sulaimaan was weak. But some scholars of Hadith have praised him.( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, “Biography of Ayyoob bin Sulaimaan)
5) Ja’far bin Sulaimaan-il-Ba’see(Narrator of Imam Muslim)
Yahyah Bin Sa’eed has said that his Hadith should not be written and that he was a weak narrator. Ibn ul Madinee has said that he used to tell the sort of narrations that no one else would relate. Ibn Maadi has said that his narration has no value. Ibn Sa’eed has said that he was authentic but weak. Once, a scholar of Ahadith asked Ja’far if he swore at Abu bakr and Umar. Ja’far replied: “I do not swear at them but I hate them.” Ahmed bin Madaam has said that once he attended a meeting of Yazeed bin Zoorah accompanied by Jafaar. Yazeed bin Zoorah said to the people “Do not let him (Ja’far) come near me because he swore at Abu Bakr and Umar.” Imam Bukhari has said that he was a weak narrator. Dowri has said that whenever Ja’far talked about Mu’awiah, he used to swear at him and whenever he used to talk about Ali, he used to cry. ( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani “Biography of Ja’far bin Sulaimaan”)
6) Harab bin Maymoon al basri (Narrator of Imam Muslim)
Imam Bukhari has said that he used to make many mistakes in Hadith but he was a truthful person. One day Harab brought a box and said that the box contained pictures of the family of Qaroon. He then showed these pictures. But what he said was a big lie. Imam Bukhari Ibn Ali and Abdullah have said that he was a weak narrator. Asqalani has said that he was a big liar but some people have still praised him.(Mizaan-ut-Ta’deeb, Dhahabi and Asqalani, “Biography of Harab bin Maymoon Al Basri”)
7) Husain Bin Ibraahim Al quramaani (Narrator of Imam Muslim and Bukhari)
Nasaa’ee has said that he was not an expert in the knowledge of Hadith. Ibn Adee has said that whenever he told Hadith he made mistakes. Imam Ahmed has rejected his narrations. Uqalee has said that his Hadith are doubtful. Ibn Madeenee has said he was a Qadiree (One from a deviant sect) but he was authentic. As always, some people have still praised him. ( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani “Biography of Husain Bin Ibrahim Al quramaani”)
8) Zakariyyah bin Yahyaa Ath-thaani(Teacher of Imam Bukhari)
Daar Qutni has said that he had no knowledge of Hadith and he used to tell the type of Hadith, which no-one would tell. Haakim had said that he was a weak narrator and used to make many mistakes in narration. Bukhari has said that the scholars of Ahadith have ignored him and did not take any Ahadith from him. Nonetheless, Imam Bukhari has taken narrations from him. (Sahih Al Bukhari, Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, “Biography of Zakariyyah Bin YaHyaa Ath-thaani”)
9) Ayyoob bin Saalih il-Kufee(Narrator of Imam Bukhari)
Abu Zoorah said that he was a weak narrator. Ibn Hiban has said that he used to make mistakes in Ahadith. Imam Bukhari has said that he was Murjee(From a misled sect). Imam Bukhari has mentioned his faults, but nonetheless, still took narrations from him. This seems very strange.( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, “Biography of Ayyoob bin SaaliH”)
10) Sa’eed Bin Abdur-Rahmaan Al Madaan (Narrator of Imam Muslim)
Ibn Adee has said that he used to relate the type of narrations that no one else would repeat. Abu Hataam and Ibn Jawzee have said that his narrations cannot be used as evidence. Ibn Hataam has also said that he used to tell fabricated Hadith in the name of pious people. Some scholars of Ahadith have praised him. ( Mizaan-ul-Itihdaal and Ta’zeeb-ut-ta’zeeb by Hafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, “Biography of Sa’eed bin Abd-ur-Rahmaan Al Madaan)
From the above, it can be clearly seen that the above claim is completely false. The above ten narrators are not the only narrators which have been criticised, but we only mentioned some of the narrators in one specific decade. Hafidh Asqalani has made a list, in the preface of Fath-ul-Baari, of all those narrators, of Imam Bukhari, who have been criticised, by the scholars of Ahadith.
“Imam Bukhari and Muslim have gathered all the authentic Hadith in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim!!!”
The scholars of Ahadith are in agreement that there are many authentic Ahadith that have been left out of Sahih Muslim and Bukhari. These can be found in other Ahadith books, for example, Ibn Habbaan, Ibn Khuzaimah, Musnad Ahmad, Abu Da’ood, Tirmidhee, and Nasaa’ee etc.
Hafidh Ibn Kathir writes that there are many authentic Ahadith that were left out of Sahih Muslim and Bukhari and can be found in other Hadith books like Tirmidhee, Abu Da’ood, An-Nasaa’ee.
(Ikhtaisar-ul-Uloom ul Ahadith, page 21, by Hafidh Ibn Kathir)
Hafidh Ibn Salaah writes that many authentic Ahadith were left out of Sahih Muslim and Bukhari and that Imam Hakim has collected all the authentic Ahadith, which met the Hadith principles of Muslim and Bukhari, and put them in a book called “Mustadrak ‘alas-Saahihain”. It is written in four volumes and contains enormous amounts of authentic Ahadith. Imam Bukhari, himself, said that he knew 100,000 authentic Ahadith and 200,000 which were not authentic, but in the Sahih Bukhari there are only 4,000 Ahadith without repetition.[3]
(Uloom-ul-Ahadith, page 17, “Bukhari and Muslim”, by Hafidh ibn Salaah)
Hafidh Asqalani writes that there are 9682 narrations in sahih Bukhari, but each narration has been repeated many times. The total number of individual narrations in Bukhari is 2623.
(Preface of Fath-ul-baari, by Hafidh Asqalani)
Even the name of Sahih Bukhari can tell us that there are lots of authentic Ahadith which have been left out of Sahih Bukhari. The full name of Sahih Bukhari is “Al Jamee’ ul Musnad-is-SaaHiH-il-Mukhtasari Min al murree Wa yaamayhee”. The meaning of this is “The short collection of the Sunnah of our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace]”.
(Tah’deeb-ut-ta’deeb by Hafidh Asqalani)
Imam Nawawee and Imam Dhahabi write that Imam Muslim compiled Sahih Muslim from the 300,000 Ahadith that he knew. The total number of Ahadith in Sahih Muslim is 12,000. If repetitions can be left out, the actual number would be 4,000.
(Sharh Sahih Muslim by Imam Nawawee and Tadhkarat-ul-Huffad by Imam Dhahabi)
From the references above we can understand that Imam Bukhari and Muslim knew a very large numbers of Ahadith by memory but in Sahih Muslim and Bukhari only approximately 10% of these Ahadith has been compiled. Hence, it can clearly be seen that there are large numbers of authentic Ahadith present, which have been left out of Sahih Muslim and Bukhari. These Ahadith can be found in other Ahadith books.
How did Bukhari become an entity?
Hafidh Asqalani writes:
Imam Bukhari said “One day we were at the meeting of Is-haaq bin Rahaawiyyah and some-one from among our companions said “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one of you could write a short book regarding the sunnah of our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace].” This was directed at everyone, but somehow this request became embedded in my heart. It was my good fortune that Allah wanted this work to be carried out by me. I then started to collect the material for the book, which would contain only Sahih Ahadith. I have left out many authentic Ahadith because I thought that the book would become too large. This book is the concise summarisation of the 600,000 Ahadith which I knew. The book was completed in sixteen years.”
(Fath-ul-baari, “Biography of Imam Bukhari” by Hafidh Asqalani)... To be continued....

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