al-Ahadith allati Aalla al-Imam al-Bukhari Mutunaha bi al-Tanaqud
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- A research paper within Issue 34 of Majallat al-Hikmah [a peer-reviewed semi-annual Islamic scholarly journal concerned with research, Islamic studies, and manuscript editing]
al-Ahadith allati Aalla al-Imam al-Bukhari Mutunaha bi al-Tanaqud (The Hadiths Whose Matns Imam al-Bukhari Declared Defective Due to Contradiction) is an academic study in hadith criticism written by Bassam al-Atawi . The work investigates the methodology of al-Bukhari in evaluating the texts (matn, pl. mutun) of hadiths and non-prophetic reports (athar), focusing specifically on instances where narrations were declared defective (ila) due to evident contradictions .
Author and Publication
The study was authored by Dr. Bassam ibn Abd Allah ibn Salih al-Ghanim al-Atawi, who served as head of the Department of Islamic Studies at the Teachers College in Dammam . The research was published in issue 34 of the peer-reviewed Islamic journal Majallat al-Hikmah in Muharram 1428 AH (2007 CE) and was also printed by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh .
Purpose and Scope
The primary objective of the work is to demonstrate the presence and rigor of textual criticism (naqd al-matn) among early hadith masters, taking al-Bukhari as a primary model . The author specifically responds to arguments by Western Orientalists—including Ignaz Goldziher—who asserted that classical Muslim critics focused exclusively on chains of transmission (isnad) to the neglect of textual content, accepting contradictory or unrealistic reports as long as the chain appeared sound . Al-Atawi argues that early scholars scrutinized textual coherence and that attention to the chain of transmission was fundamentally a means of safeguarding the authenticity of the text .
Structure and Methodology
The author organizes the narrations criticized by al-Bukhari into six distinct thematic sections based on the nature of the contradiction :
- Contradiction with the Authentic Sunnah: Hadiths rejected because their texts conflict with established, authentic prophetic traditions .
- Contradiction with the Narrators' Own Established Reports: Hadiths whose texts conflict with what is authentically transmitted from the narrators themselves .
- Contradiction with the Practice of the Companions: Reports deemed defective because their content directly opposes the known practice of the Prophet's Companions .
- Contradiction with the Narrator's Stated Opinion and School: Narrations whose text contradicts the personal legal view or doctrine held by the person who transmitted them .
- Contradiction with Reality: Reports declared defective because their contents contradict established historical facts and observable realities .
- Contradictions in Non-Prophetic Reports (Athar): Non-prophetic transmissions from Companions or early figures declared defective because their texts contradict what has been reliably established from those figures .
In his analysis of each report, al-Atawi provides a scholarly extraction (takhrij) across primary sources, explains the precise reason al-Bukhari declared the matn defective, details any underlying weaknesses in the isnad, and cites relevant assessments from leading classical hadith authorities .
Key Findings
The study concludes that al-Bukhari exercised rigorous textual scrutiny to verify that hadiths were free from irreconcilable contradictions . It highlights that in the vast majority of cases where al-Bukhari identified a defect in the matn, he also pointed out a corresponding defect in the isnad, illustrating the structural correlation between textual soundness and chain integrity in classical hadith criticism .
Answer updated