Man Rawa Anhum al-Bukhari fi al-Sahih
- Author died
- 365 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyyah
Man Rawa Anhum al-Bukhari fi al-Sahih (The Transmitters from Whom al-Bukhari Narrated in the Sahih) is a biographical dictionary of hadith transmitters by the Persian hadith critic Ibn Adi (277–365 AH / 890–976 CE), cataloging the direct teachers of al-Bukhari featured in his canonical collection Sahih al-Bukhari .
Title and Scope
The work is referenced in historical and biographical literature under multiple variant titles, including Asma' man rawa 'anhum al-Bukhari and Tasmiyat rijal al-Bukhari . In the opening heading of the text itself, the author introduces the treatise as an alphabetical enumeration of the direct teachers (mashayikh) whom al-Bukhari mentioned in his Sahih, detailing their lineages, cities of origin, and accounts regarding their standing, knowledge, and piety (zuhd) . It stands among the earliest specialized works dedicated to documenting the transmitters of Sahih al-Bukhari .
Contents and Structure
The book is structured in two principal parts: an extensive introductory biographical profile of al-Bukhari, followed by the alphabetical dictionary of his teachers .
Biography of al-Bukhari
Ibn Adi opens the work with a detailed account of al-Bukhari's life and virtues :
- Lineage and Birth: He traces al-Bukhari's lineage as Muhammad ibn Isma'il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mughira ibn Bardizbah (or Yazdibah) al-Ju'fi, noting that Bardizbah died a Zoroastrian and al-Mughira accepted Islam through the governor of Bukhara, Yaman al-Ju'fi . He records his birth as occurring on Friday after the congregational prayer, thirteen nights into Shawwal in the year 194 AH .
- Physical Description: Quoting al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn al-Bazzaz, he describes him as a slender-bodied elder of moderate height, neither tall nor short .
- Trial and Memorization: Ibn Adi relates famous episodes highlighting al-Bukhari's memorization, including the examination in Baghdad where scholars tested him with one hundred deliberately scrambled hadith chains and texts, all of which al-Bukhari restored to their correct pairings in order . He also records the controversy al-Bukhari faced in Nishapur regarding the vocal recitation (lafz) of the Quran, his response affirming that the Quran is the uncreated speech of God while human actions are created, his subsequent isolation, his relocation to Khartank near Samarkand, and his death there on the eve of Eid al-Fitr in 256 AH at the age of sixty-two minus thirteen days .
Transmitters
Following the introductory biography, the dictionary arranges al-Bukhari's teachers alphabetically according to their given names, commencing under the letter alif with transmitters named Ahmad, such as Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Yunus al-Yarbu'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Ahmad ibn Salih al-Misri . Each entry provides the transmitter's patronymic (kunya), geographic origin, biographical anecdotes, and narrated reports .
Transmission and Reception
The text was transmitted by later scholars through verified isnads; Abu Ali al-Ghassani al-Jayyani received it via pathways including Abu al-Walid al-Baji (from Abu Bakr ibn Sakhtawayh from Ibn Adi) and Abu al-Abbas al-Udhri (from Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Bundar al-Razi in Mecca from Ibn Adi) . Al-Jayyani utilized and cited Ibn Adi's identifications alongside works by al-Daraqutni and Abu Nasr al-Kalabadhi when resolving omitted or obscure lineages among al-Bukhari's transmitters in Taqyid al-muhmal . A manuscript copy of the treatise is preserved in the Laleli collection in Istanbul (MS 2089, comprising 16 folios) .
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