Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari

Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (194-256 AH / 810-870 CE) is the compiler of al-Jami as-Sahih, known as Sahih al-Bukhari, which scholars of Ahl us-Sunnah consider the most authentic book after the Quran. Born in Bukhara in Central Asia, he demonstrated an exceptional memory from childhood, memorizing hadith with their full chains of transmission at a remarkably young age. He traveled across the Islamic world for sixteen years, studying under more than a thousand scholars.

From a vast collection of over 600,000 narrations he had memorized, al-Bukhari selected approximately 7,275 hadith (with repetitions) for his Sahih, applying the strictest criteria ever employed in hadith compilation. He required that each narrator in the chain be trustworthy, possess strong memory, and have verifiably met the narrator above them in the chain. He reportedly performed two units of prayer before including each hadith in his collection. His chapter headings are considered works of subtle juristic reasoning in their own right.

Beyond the Sahih, al-Bukhari authored al-Adab al-Mufrad on prophetic etiquette, at-Tarikh al-Kabir (a biographical encyclopedia of hadith narrators), and several other works on hadith criticism. He died in the village of Khartank near Samarkand in 256 AH (870 CE). His Sahih has been the subject of more commentaries than any other Islamic text besides the Quran, with Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani being the most celebrated.