al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-Bukhari

al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-Bukhari (Introduction to Sahih al-Bukhari) is a contemporary handbook on hadith methodology, transmission, and the textual history of al-Bukhari's al-Jami' al-Sahih, authored by the Syrian scholar Muhammad Abu al-Huda al-Ya'qubi al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1.

Background and Purpose

The author composed the work to serve as a concise, accessible reference for readers, students, and researchers of Sahih al-Bukhari al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1. Its publication was prepared in conjunction with two specific occasions: the convening of traditional hadith audition gatherings (majalis al-sama') to read Sahih al-Bukhari by transmission at the Ashton Central Mosque in Manchester, England, and the facsimile reprint of the historic Ottoman "Sultanic edition" (al-Tab'ah al-Sultaniyyah) of the Sahih al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1. The Sultanic edition had originally been printed in Cairo at the Amiri Press in 1313 AH / 1895 CE by order of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and Dar Tawqi'at in the United Kingdom reissued it in facsimile alongside al-Ya'qubi's introductory volume in 1440 AH / 2019 CE al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1.

Structure and Contents

The work is arranged into an introduction (tamhid), twelve chapters, and two appendices, integrating what the author characterizes as six distinct treatises into a single volume al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…:

1. Biography of al-Bukhari: Details on his life, lineage, and reception, along with scholars' praise of him al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1.
2. Introduction to al-Jami' al-Sahih: An analytical overview of the compilation, scholarly reception across Islamic history, its transmission lines, printed editions, and its authoritative standing in Islamic creed among Sunni schools al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1.
3. The Yunini Recension and the Sultanic Edition: A study dedicated to the recension of Sharaf al-Din al-Yunini (al-Nuskhah al-Yuniniyyah) and its principal branches, followed by an examination of the Sultanic edition al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…. This section provides biographies of the figures and supervisors involved in producing the edition—including Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Ghazi Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha, the Shaykh of al-Azhar Hassunah al-Nawawi, and the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad Jamal al-Din Efendi—as well as documentation drawn from Ottoman archival correspondence regarding its preparation al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B….
4. Etiquette of Hadith Transmission (Adab Riwayat al-Hadith): Discussions on the spiritual and scholarly benefits of attending audition sessions, the rules of narration, the legal status of grammatical errors (lahn) during reading, and the technical conventions of writing certificates of audition and transmission (balaghat, sama'at, and tibaq) al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B….
5. Chains of Transmission (Thabat al-Asanid): A registry of the author's own chains of transmission connecting him to Sahih al-Bukhari, notably through his father, Ibrahim al-Ya'qubi, and the scholar Muhammad al-Makki al-Kattani al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B…+1.
6. Supplication for Completion (Du'a' Khatm al-Jami' al-Sahih): The traditional prayer recited upon finishing the reading of the collection al-Madkhal ila Sahih al-B….