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Bukhari's Methodology |
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| Reader discretion is strongly advised. !! ADULT CONTENT !! Most of these Hadith narrations will most likely prove distressing for the readers. |
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| Al-Bukhari’s methodology in portraying Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) Personality |
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By: - Ahmed Mansour
Originally published in Arabic
On February 10-2009
Translated by Mohammad Dandan
(1)
A researcher or a reader in Sahih Al-Bukhari needs quite a bit of effort to find what he needs. For it has
its unique feature that differentiates it from other books of Hadith (Reported sayings of the prophetPBUH-). It is the scattering of the same Hadith among hundreds of chapters, sections and books,
narrating it in different forms and with different Ascription (The supposedly uninterrupted chain of
authorities on whom a tradition is based), and with different headings. Although the general method in
Sahih Al-Bukhari is to arrange Hadiths juristically, yet the overlapping between subjects of discussions
and Hadiths subjects of discussions and Hadiths renders this method futile.
Besides, Sahih Al-Bukhari lacks the organizational approach to the extent that a researcher, at first
glance, would think that Al-Bukhari is not up to the standards of being an author, especially if his book
was compared with other books of Hadiths and History contemporary to his time, like (Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d)
and Sahih Muslim, both of which is better organized, arranged and sectioned. But with a discerning eye
and a sagacious mind, a researcher can detect Al-Bukhari’s shrewdness through this intended chaos in
his book…by which certain Hadiths are distributed among heaps of other Hadiths which sound quite
good, fine and well intentioned. And by doing so, those Hadiths that Al-Bukhari scatters among
thousand others, he expresses his own conviction and his impression of Islam, and by which he tried to
tarnish the image and reputation of the prophet (PBUH), exploiting every opportunity to re-introduce
them under different headings derived from its own subjects. He used to labor to coin those headings
which points to the real intention for re-mentioning it.
(2)
If you wanted to assassinate an adversary by poison, it is inconceivable that you bring him a glass full of
poison and ask him to drink it. It is more reasonable that you bring him a glass of honey laced with
enough poison to get the job done. This is exactly what Al-Bukhari has done. He placed his concentrated
poison in the middle of thousands of harmless Hadiths, some of which say something positive, and
others do not say much at all. He made sure to plant some Hadiths that praise and laud the prophet,
with special attention to Hadiths narrated by Abu Hureira that urge and exhort obedience to the
Sultan, any Sultan, thereby guaranteeing that his Sahih will always receive protection from governing
authority, why shouldn’t be so, and Al-Bukhari always warns against sedition, discord, dissension and
strife against the Sultan.
(3)
This organized chaos in Sahih Al-Bukhari has its own methodology; we will get acquainted with through
one Hadith that he scattered in the folds of his book.
Hadith Um Haram, which Al-Bukhari fabricated claiming that the prophet (PBUH) used to enter her
home and sleep there. He dispersed it through different locations of his book and narrated it in different
forms; it was obvious that he would take any opportunity to narrate it listing it under any title. We give
few examples to illustrate:
Within the chapter titled (Calling for jihad and martyrdom for men and women), Al-Bukhari narrates it as
follows:
“The prophet used to go in on Um Haram Bint Melhan, she would feed him, and Um Haram was married
to Ubada Ibn As-Saamit, the messenger (PBUH), entered her place, she fed him and deloused his hair,
then messenger of Allah(PBUH), fell asleep, then he woke up laughing, she said: I said what makes you
laugh O messenger of Allah?, he said ,people from my Umma ,I saw them fighting in the cause of Allah ,
they ride the waves of this sea, kings on their thrones, or like kings on their thrones, Ishaaq doubted, she
said: I said O messenger of Allah, ask Allah to include me with them, messenger of Allah prayed for her,
then he rested his head, then he woke up laughing, I said what makes you laugh O messenger of Allah?
He said people from my Umma, I saw them fighting in the cause of Allah, as he said in the first time, she
said: I said O messenger of Allah, ask Allah to make me one of them, he said, you are one of the firsts, so
I rode the sea during the time of Mu’aaweya Ibn Abi Sufyaan, she fell off her animal when she exited the
sea and died”
The funny part in this is the fact that the narrator of this Hadith is Um Haram herself, who the Hadith
describes as dead at the end of the narration, meaning she probably narrated it after her death.
Two pages later, Al-Bukhari narrates the same Hadith with slight adjustment, under a new title “Section
in the merit and preference of those who fight in the cause of Allah, and perish, then he is one of them”
(It was narrated by Um Haram that she said, the prophet slept one day close by me, then he woke up
smiling, I said what makes you laugh? He said people from my Umma, I saw them riding this green sea,
as if kings on their beds, she said ask Allah to make me one of them, he prayed for her, then he slept
again, then he did the same, she said what she said before, he answered her likewise, she said ask Allah
to make me one of them, he said you are one of the firsts. She accompanied her husband Ubada Ibn AsSaamit on an expedition. It was the first time the Muslims rode the sea with Mu’aaweya, upon their
return from war, back to Syria; her riding animal jumped her killing her.
And under a new title “Section of Women’s invasion at sea”, Al-Bukhari narrates “messenger of Allah
entered Ibnet Milhan place, he reclined, then he laughed, she said why are you laughing O messenger of
Allah, he said people from my Umma ride the green sea…etc…….”
Under another title, “Section of what it has been said in fighting the Byzantines”
Al-Bukhari relates the same story in a different form, going like this:
Someone came to Ubada Bin as-Saamit when he was in Humms, in a building with his wife Um Haram
who related the Hadith, “The first army from my Umma to invade by sea, their rewards are guaranteed,
Um Haram said: I said O messenger of Allah am I with them? He said: you are with them…etc….
Then under the heading “Whoever visits others and takes a nap at their place” …Al-Bukhari relates the
Hadith in the original form, exactly.
And regardless of differences in forms of narrating of the Hadith, what Al-Bukhari intends to, becomes
deep-rooted in the subconscious of the reader, the gist of the Hadith and its general perimeter, which is,
the prophet used to go in on Um Haram, sleeps at her place, eats there, drinks there and delouses him
too, the rest of incidental extras are but touchups to fortify the principal idea and help the reader
swallow it hook, line and sinker.
(4)
Al-Bukhari has a unique methodology in composing those narrations. He is keen to finalize the dramatic
plot for his narration. This skill manifests itself the best in his composition of the story accusing Ayesha
(Prophet’s wife) of unsavory behavior, traditionally referred to as Hadith Al-Ifk (Gossip of Untruths). This
story is testimonial to his ability in dramatic writing, where the star roles, the secondary roles, stage
help, evil characters, the prominent actors representing good causes, with tears, the ooh’s, the aah’s,
the wronged wife, bewildered father, devastated mother, the husband beset by rumors hounding his
beloved one, unable to believe in any of it…. then the grand finale…everyone is relieved…including the
reader. The shrewdness of Al-Bukhari is in the formation of his style as he composes each narration
considering its particular conditions. For he has a goal in composing that narration, and the story comes
to fulfill that goal. We will get acquainted with Al-Bukhari’s skill in this narration that he ascripted to
Anas (That Um Seleem used to spread a cot for the prophet (PBUH), to take a nap at her place, and
when he would fall asleep, would collect his sweat in a little bottle, save some of his hair that fell off,
then she gathered everything in a little sac. When Anas Bin Malik drew nearer to his death, he asked to
have some of that stuff in the sac included in his shroud.) Al-Bukhari delivered what he wanted in the
very beginning of the narration, which is, the prophet (PBUH) used to sleep at Um Seleem, and she used
to collect his sweat and hair while he was asleep, and he would leave the rest to the reader’s
imagination. The rest of the story is nothing but to serve the initial part of it.
The same method was used by Al-Bukhari in the case of Um Haram. He started by stated the objective
of the narration, which is the entry of the prophet (PBUH) into her house in the absence of her husband
and him sleeping there. He followed his hidden purpose with a long story about the vision he had while
asleep, Jihad, sailing the seas, then the death of Um Haram. The reader is absorbed with details, dreams
and stories about the unknown, and what happened to Um Haram, and he swallows from the beginning
what Al-Bukhari intended for him to swallow and the issue is reduced to tidbits about what Um Haram,
and not what the story hints at the prophet’s character.
It is symptomatic of Al-Bukhri’s slyness, for him to make the narrative plot, tied to the original topic
and founded on it, for the prophet (PBUH) had to have slept at Um Haram’s home, in order for him to
see a dream, and tell her what is going to happen in the future. And he had to have slept at Um
Seleem’s, for her to collect his sweat and hair, later on to be given to Anas to seek blessing by placing it
in his death-shroud. One would think, couldn’t Anas have been able to collect the sweat and hair, during
the time he served the prophet (PBUH) for ten years? And he would not have needed Um Seleem or her
troubles? But if that were to take place, then would he have the chance to tarnish the prophet’s
(5)
Al-Bukhari has a special method of choosing those words that suggest what ultimately, he intends, it
reflects itself in the type of his writings of the primary goal of his narration and his choice of
terminology, that deliberate, intended choice.
We noticed his main objective in the story of Um Haram was mentioned in the very beginning, when he
said “The messenger of Allah used to go to Um Haram Bint Melhan, and she would feed him. Um Haram
was the wife of Ubada Ibn As-Saamit, The prophet (PBUH), went in, she fed him, deloused him, he fell
asleep (PBUH), then he woke up laughing” up till now, the purpose has been set, the rest is nothing
more than to serve that end and provide a cover.
Let us identify Al-Bukhari’s method in choosing the words that exemplifies a profound shrewdness in
fulfilling his objective in tarnishing the prophet’s image.
He says: “The prophet used to enter in upon Um Haram Bint Melhan”, meaning he (got in the habit) of
entering upon this lady who was neither a wife nor a mehrem (a person you cannot marry, due to
familial or other marital constrictions), he says…he used to enter upon Um Haram Bint Melhan and she
would feed him…here he descends with the prophet to the lowest forms of allegory by comparing him
to (whoever) enters a home to be fed and watered, or to the lowest forms of allegory by comparing him
to (whatever) enters a home to be fed and watered. Our Islamic manners prohibit us from openly saying
what Al-Bukhari is alluding to by choosing such an expression.
Then he says…Um Haram was the wife of Ubada Bin As-Saamit…Here you can clearly see the illintentions of Al-Bukhari …he wants us to understand unequivocally that, that lady the prophet used
to enter her home was married to one of his companions, perhaps if he was well intentioned, he
would have said that the prophet used to enter the home of Ubada Bin As-Saamit …then there would
be no room for allegations, hinting or assumptions, but this is what Al-Bukhari does not want to happen,
he purposely said that Um Haram (whom the prophet used to enter in upon) was the wife of Ubada Bin
As-Samit. This hint is fundamental in fulfilling the goal he started his narration with, and the rest is
nothing but ornament towards that objective.
Notice that Al-Bukhari did not mention the name of Ubada Bin As-Saamit in this narration except to
consolidate every word or digression or incidental sentence to serve his original goal. Then he repeats
the expression about the prophet entering upon that woman, and repetition is an important factor in
emphasizing suggestion and enforcing the psychological impact of such an expression. He says, “the
messenger of Allah entered in on her and she fed him” and he said right before that “The messenger of
Allah used to enter in upon Um Haram Bint Melhan and she would feed him”, then he says “She fed him
then deloused his hair”. He does not put that statement for naught, especially after he told us that that
Um Haram was the wife of Ubada Bin As-Saamit, who was not present at the time, of course. Al-Bukhari
leaves us, after these blatant suggestions, to imagine what it means for a man to be alone with a
married woman in her home, while her husband was absent, She feeds him and delouses his hair, no
barriers between them, she treats him as a husband, delouses his hair, a hidden allegations about lice
and cleanliness, and the shortcomings of the prophet’s wives (The Mothers of The Believers) towards
him and his needs….Then he says “ she started delousing his hair, so messenger of Allah fell asleep then
woke up”. The reader will innocently ask…where did the prophet sleep? And how did he go to sleep while the woman is delousing him? Thousands of questions revolving around one subject or goal, and
that is what Al-Bukhari intended exactly.
(6)
Al-Bukhari was fascinated with choice of sexually over toned words, even if the course of the
narration does not require or bear it. In a Hadith, he says about Aisha “Abu Bekr scolded me and poked
me in my side; the only reason that prevented me from moving was the position of the messenger of
Allah and his head being on my thigh”. That was all to it. Al-Bukhari did not mention the reason for the
scolding, because what was important for him was to prove to us that the messenger used to sleep with
his head on Aisha’s thigh….The same emphasis on denuding the prophets in our minds, and to invade
the privacy and sanctity of the prophet, For that reason, Al-Bukhari listed this Hadith alone under a title
he coined from the subject matter of the Hadith, only to pass that sexual innuendo, even more, his
infatuation with those sexual hints made him modify those narrations about the prophet’s death to a
series of narrations especially woven to portray how the prophet used to lay down at the time of his
death in proximity of Aisha’s body, as if there is worse time to depict that scene with such words or
lowly suggestions. And of course, Al-Bukhari attributed those narrations to Aisha, we give few examples
here:
“And when he complained, and his departure approached, his head resting on Aisha’s thigh, he
fainted”—“Abdurrahman Bin Abi Bekr entered upon the prophet with my chest, his resting place”---
“and she used to say : he died between my midriff and my neck” ---
“Some of the blessings of Allah upon me are the death of the messenger of Allah in my home, on my
day, and between my neck and my stomach” ---Al-Bukhari repeated those narrations many times while
chasing the prophet with that style of narration even on his death bed, at his last moments on this
earth.
(7)
And in Hadith dealing with jurisprudence matters, Al-Bukhari made sure to follow a style of
contradiction. He adhered to putting contradicting Hadith in the same location, under same title, to
prompt the reader to compare and lead the reader to accuse the prophet of saying contradictory
Hadiths, or have the reader develop doubts about Sharee’a and religion—as long as he considers those
Hadiths as inspiration, or have doubts about rituals, especially since contradictory issues, included
prayers and purification.
At the same time, Al-Bukhari did not forget his hobby of using suggestive terms in jurisprudence
Hadiths, for Al-Bukhari relates that “the prophet used to lead us in prayers on the outskirts of AlMedina, with a goat roaming around him, Zuhr two Ruk’a (segment, portion of ritual prayer), Asr, two
Ruk’a, a woman, or a donkey would pass in front him, The intention of Al-Bukhari is to throw doubts
about the number of Ruk’a…and in order for people not to assume that the prophet used to shorten
Zuhr and Asr prayers, by praying two Ruk’a each, we see that Al-Bukhari placed a goat in front of the
prophet while praying, then he depicts the donkey and the woman as walking in front of him while
praying, and the intention is to create a calm peaceful atmosphere, not an atmosphere of travel or with
sense of danger, especially since he specified the location as the outskirts of Al-Medina, where conditions are normal, with goats roaming freely, donkeys moving about in front of people praying and
women strolling peacefully in front of the prophet and those praying with him.
This is how Al-Bukhari coins those suggestive expressions with deep cunning setups to serve his
purpose of defaming the prophet of Islam yet exhibiting innocence that fooled everyone for over a
thousand years. With that innocence and the ability to fabricate, Al-Bukhari succeeded in creating a
counterfeited personality for the prophet (PBUH), two centuries after his departure.
(8)
The peculiar thing about Al-Bukhari’s personality is Al-Bukhari himself. With all his popularity, he is in
reality obscure. All we know about his Persian roots is that he is the descendent of Berzewieh, and as
customary back then, he acquired an Arab patronage and an Arab name, as practiced during the Abbasid
period. In his biography, nothing is mentioned about his upbringing, his family, his social status. All
there is the names of those he heard Hadiths from, and names of those who heard Hadiths from him,
and of course, his books. Those tidbits are not comparable to or suitable for his wide reputation, it does
not live up to others’ biographies, which fills pages about scholars who lived before and after him and
never achieved his widespread notoriety, some even lived before the age of recording. Yet, biographies
were abundant about them, with more detailed descriptions, well known to people, and easy to find.
Ask any fair-minded researcher to compare the biography of Al-Hasan Al-Bessri of the Umayyad period,
way before the age of recording, brimming with information about him, to that of Al-Bukhari, or the
biography of Sa’eed Bin Al-Musayyib with its many filled pages of information with few pages of AlBukhari’s. Of course, I mean the biographies written by his contemporaries, not those who came later
on, and worshipped him and everything he wrote, and composed volumes in his virtues and feats,
fabrications that will startle the devil himself.
It sounds strange that Al-Bukhari who lived at the height of the recording age, and yet was not fortunate
enough to have a biography that fits his era or his reputation that overwhelmed and spread far and wide
later on.
Reason being that Al-Bukhari (Ibn Berzeweih), appeared suddenly carrying an Arab patronage and an
Arabic name, to conspire against Islam with this book (Sahih Al-Bukhari) to score an intellectual and
doctrinal victory over Islam, after his people, the Persians failed to defeat the Muslims during the
Abbasid period.
The Persians were the ones who exhausted the Umayyad with successive rebellions, some of which
were plain open revolts; others were under the banners of Ahl-Albeit, until they were successful in
dismantling the Umayyad Dynasty. Abu Muslim Al-Khurasaani was the real founder of the Abbasid
Dynasty and the most powerful figure in its ranks, which ignited the Caliph Al-Mensour’s fears so he
assassinated him. His followers revolted in Khurasaan under the leadership of his daughter Fatima Bint
Abi Muslim Al-Khurasaani, but the Abbasid defeated them. The Persians revolted many times against the
Abbasid, their efforts always ended in failure.
The Persians waged another form of war against the Arabs, a cultural, intellectual war, known
traditionally as (Ash-shu’oobeyya—Non-Arab Populists--the believe in Islamic rather than Arab
dominated commonwealth of nations), the most prominent among its leaders was Al-Hayythem Bin Adiyy, died in 207 Hijri, another definition for Shu’oobeyya, is to hate Arabs and be fanatic about Persian
Ethnicity.
Al-Hayythem Bin Adiyy specialized in fabricating tales that defamed Arabs and their tribes. He used his
knowledge of old tales, stories and poetry to revile Arabs and make up stories about their flaws. His
most dangerous and effective methods were using poetry, anecdotes, storytelling and proverbs, all of
these means were the most widespread and in use, but since most of those dealing with Hadiths and its
authenticities, accused Al-Hayythem of fabricating and lying, his followers and students, ardent
supporters of (Ash-shu’oobeyya-Non-Arab Populists), left Arab poetry and Arab lineage and
concentrated on fabricating Hadiths and stories about prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his wives. They
spread those lies, contradicting the Quran within what they labeled as Sunnah and prophetic biography.
It is strange that most of the (Icons) and (High Priests) of Hadiths and oral Sunnah all appeared within a
relatively short time, and all of them are of the Persian (Populists)…They were more skillful and
dangerous than Al-Hayythem, because they specialized in falsification of Islam by fabricating Hadiths
and attributing it to the prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
To summarize; the populist movement led a literary war against the Arabs started with Hammad the
storyteller, ended with Al-Hayythem Bin Adiyy in the first Abbasid era. After this attempt was
uncovered, the populist movement, in the second Abbasid era, waged a war, not against the Arabs this
time, but rather against Islam itself, as a response to extinguishing their repeated armed rebellions in
Khurasaan. The populist movement succeeded in corrupting Islam through fabricated Hadiths and
Narrations spread by Al-Hayythem Bin Adiyy’s students, and if Al-hayythem died in 207 Hijri as an
obscure weary unknown, one of his populist students, a Magi, succeeded beyond expectations, and
became a mini-God sanctified by the riffraff of Muslims even today, although he has passed in 256
Hijri. He is Ibn Berzeweih, famous among us as Al-Bukhari, traced back to Bukhara in Khurasaan, the
most anti-Arab, anti-Islam region in Persia.
So…what Abu Muslim Al-Khurasaani failed to accomplish militarily, and what Al-hayythem Bin Adiyy
failed to implement culturally and historically, Ibn Berzeweih the Khurasaani, succeeded, popular with
us as Al-Bukhari.
This way, Al-Bukhari managed to avenge, in the worst possible ways, for his people, his anti-Arab
populist sentiment, from Islam and the prophet of Islam, and his vengeance is still ongoing, and in
control, evident in what Al-Bukhari and his book represent as a religious importance in the hearts of
millions of Muslims, who put his book ahead of the Quran, we were reared on this belief since
infanthood, we swore by the book of Al-Bukhari in every matter, big or small, it became customary for
people to say “Did I make a mistake in Al-Bukhari?”, meaning did I commit blasphemy? Because his
book became the most sanctified, sacred, and nobody dared make a mistake while quoting Al-Bukhari.
It happened once, during a Quranic recitation at national Broadcasting Radio, one of the better known
Recitors committed a mistake, when he was warned about, he became agitated and said, “Did I make a
mistake in Al-Bukhari?”
(9)
I wonder…Did I commit a mistake regarding Al-Bukhari too?
I do not think so…. All I have done, was to read what Al-Bukhari had written, with open eyes, at a time
when Muslims closed their eyes and their minds for a short period of time not exceeding twelve
centuries.
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NOTE
This research was the final part of the section dealing with Al-Bukhari in my book (The Quran…..
and suffice the Quran). At that time, the owner of the printing shop refused to print this portion, and it
got lost, until, I found it later, still hand written, as before, to find its way to be published after nineteen
years.
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