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Fatwa CenterHadith of Bukhari and Muslim
Question
I want to know the conditions laid by Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim for accepting a Hadeeth and grading it? Are there any weak, Hasan, Mawdoo, Ahadith in Bukhaari and Muslim?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The most correct books after the Book of Allah (Quran) are the two Sahih books of Hadeeth, i.e. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Sahih al-Bukhari is preferred over Sahih Muslim based on the authenticity of the Ahadith. Imam al-Bukhari was more strict in selecting Ahadith (chains) than Imam Muslim. Besides considering all the conditions of a Sahih Hadeeth, Imam al-Bukhari stipulated a further condition that a narrator should meet the person from whom he is narrating the Hadeeth. Imam Muslim did not stipulate the evidence of meeting the narrator from whom he is narrating, but according to him, it is sufficient to accept the Hadeeth of a narrator if he lives in the same period and there was the possibility of meeting the narrator from whom he is reporting the Hadeeth. So, the condition of Imam Muslim was less strict than the condition of Imam al-Bukhari. Even the Ahadith that are narrated without chain in Sahihain but are narrated with a firm wording are correct, because they were proved to be correct through many other books and narrations. Therefore, all the Ahadith that are reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim with their chains, or without chains but with the firm wording are sound and they hold the highest rank of authenticity. al-Hafiz Abu Nasar al-Sijzi said: "All the jurists and scholars have agreed upon that "if a person takes an oath of divorce that all the Ahadith of Sahih al-Bukhari are correct, he does not break his oath."
Allah knows best.
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