Sahih Bukhari (in Arabic صحيح البخاري, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) is a collection of hadiths (narrations) by a non-arab, al-Bukhari, who was born in Persia around 200 years after Muhammad's death [1]. He collected narrations which were transmitted only orally for generations. Although he started collecting the orally transmitted stories generations after Muhammad's death, the collection is called "authentic" (sahih). The "authenticness" of a narration is judged by subjectively judging the people in the chain of narrators (if they were good truthful Muslims). In the English translation of the hadiths, often only the last narrator (the one who narrated it to Bukhari) is mentioned, but in the original Arabic, there is always a long list of narrators. This collection of hadiths is considered (by sunni Muslims) to be the most authentic along with the collection Sahih Muslim. It is also part of "the six books" (الكتب الستة, Al-Kutub as-Sittah), the most trusted hadith collections. There are over 7000 narrations in the collection, but there are often different version of the same story, so the actual number of narrations is less than 3000 [2].

Problematic numbering

There is more than one way of numbering the hadiths in this collection. Every hadith has it's own number (from 1 to 7495 [3], 7563[4] or 7658 [5]), but the collection was also divided into volumes and books. There are either 93[6], 97 [7] or 98 [8] books and there are 9 volumes (in the 93 books version). So for example, if someone tells you about a hadith in the book 98, you might find out your collection has only 93 books and the hadith is actually in the book 93 in your collection. Also what is in one version considered as two separate hadiths might be in other collection considered to be one big hadith. So we can't tell how many hadiths are there.

The English names of the books often aren't a literal translation of the Arabic original. For example the book "كتاب السلم" (kitaab sallam, book of payment) is named "A book of Sales in which a Price is paid for Goods to be Delivered Later".

98 97 93 Vol93 Book name Q98 Q97
1 1 1 1 Revelation 7 7
2 2 2 1 Belief 51 51
3 3 3 1 Knowledge 78 76
4 4 4 1 Abolutions 114 113
5 5 5 1 Bathing 44 46
6 6 6 1 Menstrual periods 37 40
7 7 7 1 Rubbing hands and feet with dust 15 15
8 8 8 1 Prayers 165 172
x x 9 1 Virtues of the prayer hall x x
9 9 10 1 Times of prayers 78 82
10 10 11 1 Call to prayers 265 273
x x 12 1 Characteristics of prayer x x
11 11 13 2 Friday prayer 65 66
12 12 14 2 Fear prayer 6 6
13 13 15 2 The two festivals 37 42
14 14 16 2 Witr prayer 15 15
15 15 17 2 Invoking Allah for rain 34
16 16 18 2 Eclipses 24
17 17 19 2 Prostration during recital of Qur'an 13
18 18 20 2 Shortening the prayers 37
19 19 21 2 Prayer at night 63
20 20 x x Virtues of prayer at Masjid Makkah and Madinah 9
21 21 22 2 Actions while praying 27
22 22 x x Forgetfulness in prayer 14
23 23 23 2 Funerals 149 x
24 24 24 2 Obligatory charity tax (Zakat) 116
x x 25 2 Zakat ul-Fitr x
25 25 26 2 Pilgrimage 247
26 26 27 3 Minor pilgrimage 33
27 27 28 3 Pilgrims prevented from completing the pilgrimage 17
28 28 29 3 Penalty of hunting while on pilgrimage 46
29 29 30 3 Virtues of Madinah 24
30 30 31 3 Fasting 119
31 31 32 3 Praying at night in Ramadan 6
32 32 x x Virtues of the night of Qadr 11
33 33 33 3 Retiring to a mosque for remembrance of Allah 21
34 34 34 3 Sales and trade 193
35 35 35 3 Sales in which a price is paid for goods to be delivered later 16
36 36 x x Shuf'a 3
37 37 36 3 Hiring 25
38 38 37 3 Transferance of a debt from one person to another 3
39 39 x x Kafalah 9
40 40 38 3 Representation, Authorization, Business by proxy 18
41 41 39 3 Agriculture 28
42 42 40 3 Distribution of water 31
43 43 41 3 Loans, payment of loans, freezing of property, bankruptcy 24
44 44 x x Khusoomaat 15
45 45 42 3 Lost things picked up by someone 15
46 46 43 3 Oppressions 43
47 47 44 3 Partnership 22
48 48 45 3 Mortgaging 8
49 49 46 3 Manumission of slaves 42
50 50 x x Makaatib 6
51 51 47 3 Gifts 69
52 52 48 3 Witnesses 62
53 53 49 3 Peacemaking 20
54 54 50 3 Conditions 24
55 55 51 4 Wills and testaments 45
56 56 52 4 Fighting for the cause of Allah (jihaad) 311
57 57 53 4 One-fifth of booty to the cause of Allah 63
58 58 x x Jizyah and mawaada'ah 30
59 59 54 4 Beginning creation 137
60 60 55 4 Prophets 156
61 61 56 4 Virtues and merits of the prophet and his companions / merits of sunnah 152
62 62 57 5 Companions of the prophet 136
63 63 58 5 Merits of the helpers in Madinah 179
64 64 59 5 Military expeditions led by the prophet 510
65 65 60 6 Prophetic commentary on the Qur'an 516
66 66 61 6 Virtues of the Qur'an 89
67 67 62 7 Wedlock, marriage 189
68 68 63 7 Divorce 101
69 69 64 7 Supporting the family 23
70 70 65 7 Food, meals 96
71 71 66 7 Sacrifice on occasion of birth 9
72 72 67 7 Hunting, slaughtering 71
73 73 68 7 Al-Adha festival sacrifice 31
74 74 69 7 Drinks 67
75 75 70 7 Patients 38
76 76 71 7 Medicine 94
77 77 72 7 Dress 194
78 78 73 8 Good manners and form 266
79 79 74 8 Asking permission 78
80 80 75 8 Invocations 106
81 81 76 8 To make the heart tender 186
82 82 77 8 Divine will 27
83 83 78 8 Oaths and vows 89
84 84 79 8 Expiation for unfulfilled oaths 16
85 85 80 8 Laws of inheritance 47
86 86 81 8 Limits and punishments set by Allah 31
87 x 82 8 Punishments of disbelievers at war with Allah and his apostle / Disbelievers 52
88 87 83 9 Blood money 55
89 88 84 9 Dealing with apostates 21
90 89 85 9 Saying something under compulsion 13
91 90 86 9 Tricks 28
92 91 87 9 Interpretation of dreams 68
93 92 88 9 Afflictions and the end of the world 90
94 93 89 9 Judgements 87
95 94 90 9 Wishes 22
96 95 91 9 Accepting information given by a truthful person 21
97 96 92 9 Holding fast to the Qur'an and sunnah 98
98 97 93 9 Oneness, uniqueness of Allah 194

References

  1. Muhammad died 632. Bukhari was born 810.
  2. A.C. Brown, Jonathan (2009). Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (Foundations of Islam series). Oneworld Publications. p. 32. ISBN 978-1851686636.
  3. http://al-islamic.net/hadith/bukhari
  4. https://sunnah.com/bukhari/97
  5. http://al-islamic.net/hadith/bukhari/98
  6. https://www.sahih-bukhari.com/Pages/Bukhari_2_20.php
  7. https://sunnah.com/bukhari
  8. http://al-islamic.net/hadith/bukhari