The Value of Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ and Other Works of Imam Bukhari

Whatever has been written about your great compilation, *Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ*, is merely a handful representing a vast ocean. This is such a monumental book that entire volumes could be dedicated to explaining each of its words. It has numerous commentaries; *Fatḥ al-Bārī* may be called somewhat comprehensive. However, in today’s era, there is a need for another *Fatḥ al-Bārī*—a study of this great treasury of Prophetic traditions in the light of contemporary sciences. It is not difficult for Allah to bless the Muslim world with another distinguished scholar like Ibn Ḥajar who can render this service.

Besides this, Imam Bukhari authored many other valuable works. Among them, *Qaḍāyā al-Ṣaḥābah wa al-Tābiʿīn* was his first composition, written at the young age of eighteen. Regrettably, no copy of it is known today. During the same period, he also wrote *Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr*, which was later published in parts by Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif, Hyderabad.

*Al-Tārīkh al-Awsaṭ* and *Al-Tārīkh al-Ṣaghīr* are also among his important works. His other notable contributions include *Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād*, *Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ*, *Al-Ṣaghīr*, *Al-Musnad al-Kabīr*, and *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*, which is particularly distinguished for its comprehensive and refined ethical content. It has been beautifully compiled and has multiple Arabic commentaries and Urdu translations available. (In the year 1962 CE, a copy along with the commentary *Faḍlullāh al-Ṣamad* was received from Jeddah as a gift—may Allah reward the giver.)

*Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah Khalfa al-Imām* is another famous treatise that serves as a decisive reference on recitation behind the imam. It has been published in Egypt. In this work, Imam Bukhari affirmed the necessity of reciting al-Fātiḥah behind the imam based on hadith and Sunnah, also addressing counter-arguments. Similarly, another of his treatises, *Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn*, provides a well-reasoned defense of the practice of raising the hands in prayer according to the Ahl-e-Hadith methodology. These two works were transmitted by his distinguished student Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq Khuzāʿī, who was the last to study with him in Bukhara.

In addition to these, there are many other scholarly legacies of his, most of which have been lost. Some manuscript copies were found in the library of Dār al-ʿUlūm in Germany before World War II, but it is now uncertain whether they still exist. Nonetheless, "Allah erases what He wills and confirms what He wills, and with Him is the Mother of the Book." [Sūrah al-Raʿd: 39]

Most Authentic and Accepted Books After the Qur’an

◈ *Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ al-Musnad min Ḥadīth Rasūlillāh wa Sunanihi wa Ayyāmihi*, famously known as *Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ* or *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*

◈ *Al-Adab al-Mufrad*

◈ *Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr* (A large compilation on the biographies of hadith transmitters arranged alphabetically)

◈ *Al-Tārīkh al-Ṣaghīr* (A concise history of the Prophet ﷺ, the Companions, and their successors)

◈ *Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād*

◈ *Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn fī al-Ṣalāh*

◈ *Al-Kunā*

◈ *Al-Tārīkh al-Awsaṭ*

◈ *Al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr* is also among his works