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Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) stands as one of the most distinguished figures in Islamic intellectual history. His
magnum opus, the
Ṣaḥīḥ, is revered as the most authoritative collection of Prophetic traditions in Sunni Islam and is the most cited book in Islamic history. Beyond its juridical and theological significance, the
Ṣaḥīḥ was venerated in pre-modern societies as a source of spiritual blessings, recited to invoke divine favour, seek salvation, and even bring rain. Al-Bukhārī's legacy endures, shaping Islamic scholarship and devotion to this day.
This pioneering critical study offers the first comprehensive examination of al-Bukhārī's life, intellectual trajectory and the socio-political landscape that influenced his scholarship. It meticulously analyses his methods of hadith criticism and explores his engagement with the theological and legal discourse of his time. Through an extensive study of the theological debates he engaged with and the
masāʾil (legal cases) in which he challenged Ḥanafī authorities, this book sheds new light on the legal landscape that underpinned his work. Providing both historical depth and analytical rigour, it is an essential contribution to the study of Islamic legal and hadith traditions.
About the author
Dr Belal Abu-Alabbas, B.A. (Al-Azhar), DPhil (Oxford), is a historian of Islamic intellectual and legal thought (7th-13th centuries). His research focuses on the hadith corpus, Islamic law and theology in the formative and classical periods. Dr Abu-Alabbas has previously held lectureships at the University of Nottingham and the University of Bristol, and a British Academy International Fellowship at the University of Exeter. He currently holds lectureships at Cambridge Muslim College and Al-Azhar University and is a Research Associate at the University of Nottingham. Among his publications are Belal Abu-Alabbas, Christopher Melchert, and Michael Dann, eds.,
Modern Hadith Studies: Continuing Debates and New Approaches (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020) and Belal Abu-Alabbas, "The Principles of Hadith Criticism in the Writings of al-Shāfiʿī and Muslim",
Islamic Law and Society 24:4 (2017): 311-35.
Summary
The first comprehensive critical biography of Isma?il al-Bukhari.
