Sharh al-Bukhari lil-Safiri = al-Majalis al-Waiziyya fi Sharh Ahadith Khayr al-Bariyya
- Author died
- 956 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
al-Majālis al-Waʿẓiyya fī Sharḥ Aḥādīth Khayr al-Bariyya (Arabic: المجالس الوعظية في شرح أحاديث خير البرية, lit. 'The Admonitory Sessions in Explaining the Hadiths of the Best of Creation'), commonly known as Sharḥ al-Bukhārī lil-Safīrī, is a homiletic commentary on selected hadiths of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī composed by the Shafi'i scholar Shams al-Din al-Safiri (877–956 AH / 1472–1549 CE).
Author and Context
The author, Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Ahmad al-Safiri al-Halabi al-Shafi'i, was born in Aleppo in 877 AH (1472 CE). Biographers record conflicting dates for his death: Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali and Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli date it to 956 AH (1549 CE), whereas Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi records it as 939 AH (1532/1533 CE), and Umar Rida Kahhala states that he was alive in 939 AH. Al-Safiri studied under prominent scholars of his era, notably Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH), whom he cites extensively throughout the commentary, as well as al-Ala al-Mawsili, al-Kamal Ibn Abi Sharif, Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Ali al-Qahiri (known as al-Tawil), Minla Khalil, and Badr al-Suyufi.
Structure and Content
The work is organized into thematic admonitory sessions (majālis):
- Introductory Sessions: The first session (al-majlis al-awwal) is devoted to the biography of Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, his lineage, virtues, the status of his compilation, and accounts regarding the blessings attributed to reading his Sahih.
- Textual Exposition: Subsequent sessions proceed through chapters of Sahih al-Bukhari, beginning with the Book of the Beginning of Revelation (Kitab Bad' al-Wahy), and address specific prophetic traditions, such as the eighteenth session on the hadith المسلم من سلم المسلمون من لسانه ويده ("A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hands Muslims are safe").
Method and Approach
Al-Safiri combines scholarly analysis with an overarching preaching and exhortative style:
- Linguistic and Legal Exegesis: He analyzes hadith phrasing grammatically, explains obscure vocabulary (gharīb), and outlines jurisprudence across the four Sunni madhhabs (such as comparative rulings on audibly uttering the basmala during prayer).
- Homiletics and Spiritual Lessons: Sessions frequently incorporate sermons, poetic verses, discussions on divine attributes, theological warnings against anthropomorphism and negation, and narratives concerning pious forebears to evoke ethical reflection and spiritual devotion.
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the commentary are preserved in repositories including the Taymuriyya Library in Cairo, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Municipal Library of Alexandria, the Awqaf Library in Aleppo, and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh. The book was edited by Ahmad Fathi Abd al-Rahman and published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya in Beirut in 1425 AH / 2004 CE.
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