Birr al-Walidayn - al-Bukhari
- Author died
- 256 AH
- Editions
- t Makki · t Abd al-Ati
Birr al-Walidayn (Dutifulness to Parents) is a thematic hadith monograph (juzʾ) compiled by the hadith scholar al-Bukhari (d. 256 AH / 870 CE), comprising prophetic traditions and companion reports devoted to filial piety and the virtues of maintaining family ties.
Scope and Contents
The monograph consists of seventy-six hadiths and non-prophetic reports (āthār). Al-Bukhari did not include an authorial preface stating his methodology or reasons for composition, nor did he provide explicit thematic chapter headings for the narrations. In modern printed arrangements, the material has been organized into forty-five chapters.
The narrations encompass marfūʿ (prophetic), mawqūf (companion), and maqṭūʿ (successor) transmissions, with the majority being elevated directly to the Prophet ﷺ. The legal and moral topics addressed in the text include:
- The superiority and merit of dutifulness to parents.
- Treating polytheist parents well while upholding religious boundaries.
- The mother's distinct right to fine companionship.
- Obtaining parental consent before embarking on jihad or migration (hijrah).
- The answered prayer of a parent.
- Categorizing disobedience and mistreatment of parents (ʿuqūq al-wālidayn) among the major sins (al-kabāʾir).
- Continuing filial ties after a parent's demise by honoring their friends and relatives.
Methodology and Isnad Characteristics
Al-Bukhari’s compilation criteria in Birr al-Walidayn differ from the strict conditions he applied in his al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ. While the majority of the narrations are authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) or good (ḥasan), the work also contains weak (ḍaʿīf) reports. The text excludes fictional anecdotes and ecstatic claims, presenting reports through continuous chains of transmission.
The author transmitted the contents through forty-three direct teachers, including Adam ibn Abi Iyas and Abdullah ibn Salih. He consistently employed the highest forms of performance terminology, notably ḥaddathanā (he narrated to us) and ḥaddathanī (he narrated to me). In several instances, he paired two teachers in a single line of narration when both shared equivalent reliability and complete agreement in wording and isnad.
The isnads range from elevated three-narrator chains (thulāthiyyāt) linking al-Bukhari to the Prophet ﷺ to lower transmissions containing up to six intermediaries. The tract includes one suspended (muʿallaq) report from Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah and provides connected chains for several narrations that al-Bukhari had cited elsewhere without full isnads in his al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ.
Transmission and Manuscripts
The primary surviving chain of transmission for Birr al-Walidayn runs through al-Bukhari’s student Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Dillawayh al-Daqqaq (transmitting in 328 AH), and from him to Abu Ya'la Hamza ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Muhallabi. Later scholars, including Salah al-Din al-'Ala'i and Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, documented receiving and teaching the work through this transmission path.
The work has survived in manuscript form, including a copy preserved within a collective manuscript (Majmu' No. 452) at the Royal Palace Library in Marrakech.
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