Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari "Fihi Nazar

Man Qāla Fīhi al-Bukhārī "Fīhi Naẓar" wa-Aqwāl Ahl al-Jarḥ wa-al-Taʿdīl: Dirāsah Taṭbīqiyyah fī Kitābihi "al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr" (Those Regarding Whom al-Bukhari Said "He Is Subject to Scrutiny" and the Statements of the Critics: An Applied Study in His al-Tarikh al-Kabir) is a specialized work in hadith criticism (ʿilm al-rijāl) by the Iraqi scholar Abd al-Qadir al-Muhammadi, head of the Hadith Department at the Islamic University in Baghdad Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …. The book investigates the exact significance, critical grade, and application of al-Bukhari's derogatory evaluation fīhi naẓar ("there is question concerning him" / "he is subject to scrutiny") across his biographical lexicon al-Tarikh al-Kabir Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …+1.

Purpose and Scope

The author composed the treatise to clarify the scholarly disagreement regarding what al-Bukhari meant when evaluating a narrator with the phrase fīhi naẓar or fī baʿḍihi naẓar, by conducting an inductive survey of all transmitters so described in al-Tarikh al-Kabir and contrasting al-Bukhari's verdicts with those of other early and late hadith critics Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …. The scope of the study is confined specifically to al-Bukhari's evaluation of the narrator himself, deliberately excluding expressions targeted at an isnad or a particular narration, such as ḥadīthuhu fīhi naẓar or isnāduhu fīhi naẓar, which the author notes require separate study Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari ….

Structure and Methodology

The work is organized into an introductory framework followed by two primary chapters:

• Theoretical Analysis of the Term (al-Faṣl al-Awwal): Divided into three sections:

  1. The View of Severe Disparagement: Details the position held by later scholars—beginning notably with al-Dhahabi in al-Mūqiẓah and Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, and followed by Ibn Kathir, Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, al-Sakhawi, Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi, and Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi—that al-Bukhari reserved this phrase for severely compromised or abandoned (matrūk) transmitters because of his gentle style in criticism Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …+2.
  2. The View of Mild or Moderate Disparagement: Details the arguments of scholars who regarded the phrase as indicating mild critique or intermediate standing, drawing on inferences from al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Adi, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's remark in Badhl al-Māʿūn describing it as an appraisal for intermediate narrators Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …+1.
  3. Discussion and Synthesis: Examines classical citations—including a report transmitted by Ibn Yarbūʿ via Yusuf ibn al-Zaki al-Mizzi—and addresses contemporary critiques such as those of Habib al-Rahman al-A'zami and al-Sharif Hatim al-Awni Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …+2. The author concludes in favor of al-Dhahabi's assessment, arguing that an inductive study shows the vast majority of narrators so labeled by al-Bukhari were indeed considered severely weak or suspected by general critical consensus Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …+1.

• Applied Biographical Study (al-Faṣl al-Thānī): Provides an alphabetically arranged catalog of narrators in al-Tarikh al-Kabir to whom al-Bukhari applied the term fīhi naẓar Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari …. For each transmitter, the entry cites al-Bukhari's original wording alongside the critical judgments of other authorities of al-jarḥ wa-al-taʿdīl (such as Yahya ibn Ma'in, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Ibn Hibban, and al-Daraqutni) and notes their presence or absence in the primary Sunni hadith collections Man Qala Fihi al-Bukhari ….