In Islamic sciences, all knowledge of the religion comes back to two sources: the Quran and the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ – the hadith. The Quran is of course considered the un-changed word of Allah as revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and is thus the foundation of all Islamic knowledge. Second after the Quran is the example set forth by the Prophet ﷺ.
But considering that he lived 1400 years ago, how can we be sure that the sayings and doings we attribute to him are real and unchanged? To someone unfamiliar with the science of hadith, the collections of hadith may seem unreliable and susceptible to corruption. However, due to the work of Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari in the 9th century, the science of hadith has been protected from such problems using a systematic and thorough method of verification for each and every saying attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. Thus, in the 21st century we can still benefit directly from the authentic sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Al-Bukhari’s Early Life
Imam al-Bukhari was born and raised in the city of Bukhara, in Central Asia
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari was born in 809 or 810 in the city of Bukhara, in what is now Uzbekistan. He came from a Persian family that converted to Islam 3 generations before his time. Unfortunately for the young al-Bukhari, his father died while he was still an infant, leaving his upbringing to his mother. Despite the difficult circumstances, al-Bukhari dedicated himself to studying Islamic sciences from a young age.
Studying with the scholars in and around his hometown, al-Bukhari immersed himself in hadith studies as well as fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. From a young age he showed a unique ability to understand complex issues of law, but more importantly, he was capable of remembering long and complex chains of narrations of hadiths. For a hadith to be considered authentic, a reliable chain of narrators is needed to connect that saying to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In this, al-Bukhari excelled.
