Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min Sahih al-Bukhari - al-Ghunayman

Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min Sahih al-Bukhari (Commentary on the Book of Divine Unity from Sahih al-Bukhari) is a two-volume theological commentary by Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Ghunayman on the closing book of al-Bukhari's hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min…+1.

Background and Purpose

The author, who served as head of higher studies at the Islamic University of Madinah, composed the work to provide an exposition of Kitab al-Tawhid that adheres strictly to the creed of the Salaf regarding God's names and attributes Masa'il al-Aqida fi Kitab…+1. In his introduction, al-Ghunayman explained that he undertook the project after finding no dedicated commentary on this portion of Sahih al-Bukhari written from a Salafi perspective, and after his requests to contemporary scholars to write one went unfulfilled Masa'il al-Aqida fi Kitab…+1.

Al-Ghunayman observed that prominent classical commentators on Sahih al-Bukhari—such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Badr al-Din al-Ayni, Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi, Ibn Battal, and al-Qastallani—approached the text according to their own theological schools and frequently resorted to figurative reinterpretation (ta'wil) of divine attributes, contrary to what he argued was al-Bukhari's purpose of affirming attributes and refuting the Jahmiyyah Masa'il al-Aqida fi Kitab…+1.

Method and Structure

The work is organized in two volumes, following the chapter titles (tarajim), Quranic verses, and hadiths arranged by al-Bukhari in Kitab al-Tawhid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min…+1:

• Volume One opens with the author's general theological introduction and addresses the initial chapters of Kitab al-Tawhid, analyzing the evidence for God's oneness, divine essence, speech, and specific attributes Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min…+1.
• Volume Two begins with the chapter on the beatific vision of God in the Hereafter based on the verse وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَةٌ ﴿٢٢﴾ إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ (Faces that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord), and proceeds through the remaining chapters up to the weighing of human deeds and the concluding hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min…+1.

In his analysis, al-Ghunayman cites early commentators and traditional theological authorities to clarify al-Bukhari's intent in his chapter headings, evaluate variant readings and narrations, and refute dialectical theology (kalam) and theological interpretations that depart from the affirmation of divine attributes Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid min…+1.