Najah al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari - Kitab al-Janaiz
- Author died
- 1167 AH
- Editions
- Shākir Muḥammad Maḥmūd al-Zībārī
Najah al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari – Kitab al-Janaiz is the funeral section of the expansive multi-volume commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari authored by the Ottoman Hanafi scholar Yusuf Afandi Zada al-Amasi (1085–1167 AH / 1674–1754 CE) .
Author and Composition
The author, Abu Muhammad 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Mannan, known as Yusuf Afandi Zada, was an Ottoman theologian, Quranic reciter, logician, and preacher originally from Amasya who resided and died in Istanbul . He named the overall work Najah al-Qari li-Sahih al-Bukhari (The Reader's Success in [Explaining] Sahih al-Bukhari), a commentary extending to around thirty volumes .
According to the author's own colophons, he commenced the first part of the commentary on the night of mid-Sha'ban (Laylat al-Bara'ah) in 1123 AH (1711 CE) and completed the entire compilation on Monday, 21 Rabi' al-Akhir 1163 AH (1750 CE) .
Scope and Structure
The Kitab al-Janaiz (Book of Funerals) covers the entirety of al-Bukhari's chapters on funeral rites, death, and burial practices . In the primary manuscript preservation of the broader commentary, this section occupies volume six, spanning folios 77 to 293 .
The text adheres strictly to the thematic chapters and sequence laid out by al-Bukhari, addressing each chapter heading, its textual variations, and its relationship to the hadith reports cited beneath it .
Method and Sources
Yusuf Afandi Zada opens sections by analyzing the vocalization, grammar, and linguistic meanings of the chapter titles and their textual variants . When encountering broken or hanging chains of transmission in al-Bukhari's text, he connects them through alternate transmission routes from al-Bukhari or other authoritative hadith collections .
The commentary functions as an extensive synthesis of earlier classical works on Sahih al-Bukhari, drawing substantially from:
- Umdat al-Qari by Badr al-Din al-Ayni, from which Yusuf Afandi Zada frequently transcribes long passages verbatim .
- Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, constantly cited with attribution .
- Prior commentaries by Ibn Battal, al-Kirmani, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, and Ibn Rajab .
Beyond textual and hadith analysis, the author engages in comparative legal jurisprudence (fiqh muqaran), presenting the positions and proofs of the various legal schools while noting his own legal preferences within the Hanafi tradition .
Academic Edition
The Kitab al-Janaiz section was edited and studied as a master's thesis in Islamic Sharia at Cairo University's Faculty of Dar al-'Ulum by Shaker Muhammad Mahmoud, under the supervision of Rif'at Fawzi 'Abd al-Muttalib (1435–1436 AH / 2014–2015 CE) .
Answer updated