The Transmission of Muslim's Ṣaḥīḥ

Extract

The collections of Tradition compiled by Al-Bukhārī and Muslim are considered to be more authoritative than any other. Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ says: “Their books are the soundest after the mighty Book of God.” Most Muslims consider Al-Bukhārī's Ṣaḥīḥ to be the more authoritative of the two, but there have been some who have expressed a preference for Muslim's. Abū 'Alī al-Ḥusain b. 'Alī al-Naisābūrī is quoted as saying: “There is no book under the face of heaven sounder than the book of Muslim b. al-Ḥajjāj.” Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ says that if this merely means that Muslim did not imitate Al-Bukhārī in giving statements in his headings unaccompanied by an isnād, there is no harm; but if it means that the book itself is sounder, it is to be refuted. Al-Nawawī remarks that Muslim's Ṣaḥīḥ has an advantage over Al-Bukhārī's because he gives all the lines of transmission when he mentions a tradition, whereas Al-Bukhārī repeats traditions in different places, sometimes giving one line of transmission and sometimes another. Al-Dhahabī quotes Ibn 'Uqda to the effect that Al-Bukhārī sometimes makes the mistake of mentioning a man on one occasion by his name and on another by his kunya and imagining that there are two men, whereas Muslim rarely makes an error. But Al-Dhahabī shows that he himself considers Al-Bukhārī to be superior, for after mentioning the words of Abū 'Ali al-Naisābūrī quoted above, he remarks laconically: “Perhaps Al-Bukhārī's Ṣaḥīḥ had not reached Abū 'Alī.” In addition to Abū 'Alī, some shaikhs of the Maghrib are said to have preferred Muslim; but the general view is that, while the two are of the highest authority, Al-Bukhārī's Ṣaḥīḥ takes first place.