al-Ajwiba an al-Masail al-Mustaghraba min Kitab al-Bukhari
- Author died
- 463 AH
- Editions
- Waqf al-Salām al-Khayrī
al-Ajwiba ʿan al-Masāʾil al-Mustaghraba min Kitāb al-Bukhārī (Answers Regarding Obscure Questions from the Book of al-Bukhari) is a hadith treatise by the Andalusian scholar Ibn Abd al-Barr (368–463 AH / 978–1071 CE), written to clarify difficult and ambiguous narrations found in Sahih al-Bukhari .
Background and Title
The treatise was written in response to a written inquiry sent to Ibn Abd al-Barr by an interlocutor—identified by al-Sakhawi in al-Jawāhir wa-l-durar as al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra—who mentioned that certain hadiths in al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ had proved obscure and difficult to comprehend . The questioner also expressed frustration that contemporary jurists in his region neglected prophetic hadith, focusing solely on secondary legal branches rather than primary foundations . Ibn Abd al-Barr noted in his introduction that despite suffering from bodily illness, limited energy, and mental preoccupation, he chose to answer concisely without lengthy elaboration or extensive proofs .
The book is cited under various title formulations across classical works:
- Ibn Abd al-Barr himself cited it as al-Ajwiba ʿan al-masāʾil al-mustaghraba min kitāb al-Bukhārī in his major works al-Tamhīd and al-Istidhkār, a formulation also used by al-Suhayli in al-Rawḍ al-unuf and al-Zurqani in his commentary on the Muwaṭṭaʾ .
- Qadi Iyad titled it al-Ajwiba al-mūʿiba fī al-masāʾil al-mustaghraba in Tartīb al-madārik, followed by al-Dhahabi in Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, while Katib Çelebi and Ismail Pasha recorded it with a textual corruption reading al-murʿiba instead of al-mūʿiba .
- The manuscript cover bears the modern inscription al-Ajwiba al-mustawʿaba ʿan al-masāʾil al-mustaghraba, matching the title given by Ibn Luyūn .
Content and Method
The work addresses twenty-one specific hadiths and issues from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī . Ibn Abd al-Barr systematically introduces each query using the exact wording of the questioner before providing his concise commentary and legal analysis . His commentary encompasses Quranic exegesis where relevant, elucidating the meanings of disputed texts, evaluating hadith narrations, assessing hidden defects (ʿilal) in chains of transmission, and discussing narrators through critique and appraisal (al-jarḥ wa-l-taʿdīl) .
Reception and Editions
The treatise served as an early reference for subsequent commentators on Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and biographical literature. It was cited and utilized by later scholars such as al-Suhayli, Ibn al-Mulaqqin in al-Tawḍīḥ li-sharḥ al-jāmiʿ al-ṣaḥīḥ, and al-Qastallani in Irshād al-sārī .
The text was edited by Abd al-Khaliq ibn Muhammad Madi as a master's thesis at the University of Algiers (defended in 1422 AH / 2002 CE) and published in Riyadh by Waqf al-Salam al-Khayri in 1425 AH / 2004 CE in a single volume .
Answer updated