Sahih Al-Bukhari is regarded by a vast majority of the Muslims as the most authoritative collection of the Prophetic Sayings and Deeds - Hadeeths. Quoted below are two sources, written by learned Muslim scholars, that give details for the origin of Sahih Al-Bukhari, compiled by Imam Bukhari (died 256 A.H.). These source documents also tell us that hundreds of thousands of "UNRELIABLE" narrations were "REJECTED" by Bukhari. The Muslim Ummah has since then profusely complimented his great efforts. Circulation of the True Reports amalgamated along with the False Reports, attributed to the Prophet (s.a.s.), was not tolerated then and should not be tolerated now, if the bottom line is to propagate the Whole Truth, on behalf of the beloved Prophet.

       The figures recorded below show that Imam Bukhari had rejected more than 99% of the circulating Hadeeths that were memorized by the learned scholars and respected Imams of his own era and of his predecessors. 

Source # 1.  "It is said Imam Hanbal narrated one million (Hadeeths). Al-Ghazzali earned his title hujjat-al-Islam, the authority of Islam, by memorizing 300,000. The accepted authority, Imam Bukhari, after a lifetime's work, selected about 7,300 from 600,000 in 97 books. Collecting Hadeeths became an Islamic science."     ('Discovering Islam' by Dr. Akbar S. Ahmed, page 24). 

Source # 2.   "It is said that Imam Bukhari collected over 300,000 Ahadith and he himself memorized 200,000 of which some were unreliable. 
...although he had memorized such a large number he only chose approximately 7,275 with repetition and about 2,230 without repetition..." 
        ('The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih Al-Bukhari' by 
                      Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, page 18). 

The percentage of the rejection... 

        If one was to work out the percentage of the rejection by Imam Bukhari from the above recorded figures, one would be shocked and taken aback having arrived at the staggering high figures for the elimination. One can say that 99.27% of what Imam Hanbal had memorized was not included by Imam Bukhari; 97.57% of what Al-Ghazzali had memorized and 98.78% of what he himself had earlier memorized. These figures of the rejections would rise even further, if one was to work them on the bases of the accepted 2,230 Hadeeths without repetition. Respectively in the same order, the new percentage figures for the rejections would be  99.998%;  99.993% and  99.996%. Today, we are away from the Whole Truth but imagine how further we all would have been if all the then circulating Hadiths were printed, published, memorized and recited from the pulpit by the Imams and the Muslim scholars. 

     Imam Bukhari has never been criticized or accused of being a rejecter of Hadeeth - Munkar-e-Hadeeth, for rejecting the unreliable narrations. His efforts are being proudly complimented. The reality is that Imam Bukhari earned his reputation by his strict rules and accepting only a fraction of the percentage out of the million(!) in circulation. His diligent work of "rejection" is erroneously heightened by a few, to a degree of that of an infallible person. 

Need for a second 'Litmus Test'... 

         Nearly twelve centuries have passed since the day Imam Bukhari left this world. Today, the learned Muslim scholars have discovered that the "litmus test" used by the prominent compilers of his era had a major drawback and some serious flaws. Dr. Akbar S. Ahmed writes; "In time the Prophet's sayings and actions - hadith, traditions - came to be accepted as the truth by Muslims. The problem lay in location a genuine hadith. Relying mostly or solely upon the name that was tagged to a Hadith as its narrator and/or compiler - the collector, was considered to be the litmus test for the authenticity of a re-narrated report - hadith."  In other words little or no attention was paid to the contents or the subject matter of the narrations. The compilers were more interested in drawing a chart of the narrators that would link them as closely as possible to the Prophet. Today, we know with certainty that being a Prophet's closer companion need not necessarily mean they spoke nothing but the truth. Even the Prophet's first companions did lie before the Prophet. (see Qur'an  9: 43). The credibility or otherwise of the chain of narrators was not enough for a perfect Litmus Test. What was being reported in the name of the Prophet should have played a far greater role, which it did not. Consequently, many narrations that have passed the "litmus test", conducted twelve centuries or so ago, could NOT have passed the test today. The end result of it is that Islam today absolves more than 5,000 spurious, fabricated and weak Hadiths and that needs to be put out of circulation, sooner the better. For details please visit   http://www.mostmerciful.com/al-albaani.htm

The uphill battle...

      It is conceivable, knowing well the human psychology, that initially Imam Bukhari may have faced serious opposition to his work, especially from those who had earned their reputation and status by memorizing and preaching the discarded hundred of thousands of "unreliable" Hadeeths. Today, those who oppose the notion of second revision often argue that the learned Muslim scholars of the former generations have treated the circulating Hadeeths to be authoritative and never expressed their doubts to the authenticity. We cannot speak with certainty for what did and did not transpire in the distant past. But history of the recent past reveals that this claim is not entirely true. Whenever a learned Muslim scholar had raised his voice, he has been summarily and instantaneously rejected and labeled Munkar-e-Hadeeth  or  Mukar-e-Islam. The Muslim Ummah was swiftly warned to keep a safe distant from such Muslim scholars and their works. The opportunity to express their opinions freely was denied and their work was suppressed. Here is a brief list of scholars of repute who have spoken out against the "unreliable" Hadeeths. 

1. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan of India (d. 1898).
2. Mufti Muhammad ‘Abduh of Egypt.
3. Maulana Shibli Numani of Darul ‘Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, India.
4. Shams Pirzada author of “Dawat-ul-Qur’an”.
5. Sheikh Muhammad Nasir-ud-deen Al-Albaani 
       the famous Muhaddith and Faqeeh of our century (d. 1999)

Islam is now passing through a phase where it is possible to send the messages across the world through the Internet and permit anyone and everyone to participate in a healthy discussion. Today, it is not easy to silence the voices of Knowledge, Reasoning and Logic. Besides, there is a big gap between ways the earlier generations were lead to the Truth and the Muslims of the present generation search and discover the Truth. Everyone has access to information. 

       To those who OPPOSE the idea of REVISION and do DENOUNCE the individuals who make such suggestions, here is my simple question:

My Dear Brothers and Sisters; are you fully comfortable with the following Hadeeths? Read each one carefully and then honestly reply to your own self: 

1. Hadeeths that contradict the verses of the Qur'an, e.g. 
The Earth and Adam were created in SEVEN Days Muslim # 6707. 
The entire Universe was created in SIX Days Qur'an 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, 32:4. 

2. Hadeeths that throw ridicules upon the Messenger of Allah, e.g.
Prophet Suleman had sex with his 99 wives in one night to have a child from each wife. Bukhari 8:634; 8:711; 9:561 and 4:635. Surprisingly, the incident happened once but the figures for the wives vary from 60, 70, 99 and 100.
A grievous Chastisement will be upon men who patronize ridiculous hadeeths without the knowledge and thus mislead others from the path of Allah 31: 6-7

3. Hadeeths that foretell questionable details for the end times, e.g. Sun will rise from the West! (One need not elaborate the consequences!). 
Dajjal will take away the Qur'an from the earth although Allah has promised to Guard it. Qur'an 41:42; 15:79; 73:20. Islam will prevail over other religions at the end times Qur'an 9:33; 110:3; 61:9. Will it prevail without the Qur'an?

4. Hadeeths that speak of the Future and Unseen Qudsi and the non Qudsi.
The knowledge of that is with Allah Alone and He does not disclose that to anyone except by Revelation Qur'an 7:188; 72: 26; 67: 26; 27:65; 46:9; 6:50.
If the future or unseen is Revealed that Message becomes the Qur'anic verse. 

5. Hadeeths, too many of them,  that speak of the harsh punishments to the dead bodies that are lying in their tombs 
Will the punishments be given to the dead bodies before the Day of Resurrection? And, even before the promised Day when the Records of their Deeds will be given to each one in their right or left hand? And, even before the promised "Day of Judgment" when Allah will judge them according to their deeds and pronounce the punishments? Having absolute faith in the "Day of Judgment" and the particulars mentioned in the Qur'an, is the tenet of Islam.

6. Hadeeths that unjustly cut short the lives of Muslim men and women (particularly in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia). 
The questionable Sayings of Prophet (s.a.s.) are placed ahead of the verses of the Qur'an. The punishment of "stoning to death" supersedes the prescribed punishment of flogging Qur'an 24: 2 - 3. A questionable Saying of Khalifa Umar (r.a.) also claims that the Verse of stoning to death (rajam) is missing in the Qur'an that we are reading. Bukhari Vol. 8 Bk. 36, No. 6829. This is a very serious matter. THINK, if a Muslim truly believes that the Qur'an is not Guarded and is Incomplete whom has he discredited, if not ALLAH???

 7. Qudsi Hadeeth that claims on the Day of Judgment, the sins of Muslims will be unloaded and placed upon the back of Jews and Christians. Qudsi Hadeeth No. 8, Book '110 Hadith Qudsi'. Allah promises; He will not deal unjustly with any man in aught Qur'an 10:44/ 54; 2: 281; 36:54

8. Hadeeths that record; upon the orders of the prophet (s.a.s.) the eyes of the thieves of his camels who had also murdered a shepherd were branded with heated irons, their hands and legs were cut off and were thrown in a rocky place. When they asked for  water to drink they were not given the water. Bukhari 1: 234;  8:794.  "We sent thee not (O' Muhammad) but as a mercy for all creatures" Qur'an 21: 107.

9. Hadeeth that has an unbelievable story. A stone ran away with the clothes of Prophet Moses (a.s.), while he was taking a bath.  Prophet Moses ran naked after that stone, caught it and beat it with his clothes. Narrator Abu Hurayrah swears that he personally saw that stone with the marks of cloth beating. Bukhari 1 : 277
A grievous Chastisement upon men who patronize ridiculous hadeeths  31: 6-7 

          I URGE YOU ALL TO PLEASE READ the verses of the Glorious Qur'an 31: 6 and 7. This time, keeping in the focus that the REVEALED ARABIC phrase "lahw al-Hadeeth" in reality translates "RIDICULOUS / LUDICROUS HADEETH" and not music or the idle tale, if one was to read the rest of the text in proper context. Read the punishments prescribed in verse 7 for PATRONIZING such Hadeeths, without the knowledge (of their authenticity), and thereby MISLEADING MEN from the REVEALED PATH OF ALLAH and THROWING RIDICULE IN THE PATH ALLAH (S.W.T.).

   I do not expect all the surfers to find all the above quoted re-narrated reports to be questionable or ridiculous. But, I do expect them to find one or more reports to be either "unreliable" or "illogical". The next question is do we have among us in this era some scholars that can do the job of weeding out of the "unreliable" and "illogical"?  The answer is; YES, we do have them...
This article will be incomplete if I did not give out further details on the subject of revision and who these individuals are. In the meantime, please read the following: 

"Those who disbelieve and turn (men) from the way of Allah, He rendereth their actions vain. And those who believe and do good works and believe in that which is revealed unto Muhammad --and it is the truth from their Lord-- He riddeth them of their ill deeds and improveth their state. That is because those who disbelieve follow falsehood and because those who believe follow the truth from their Lord. Thus Allah coineth their similitudes for mankind."          Glorious Qur'an 47: 1 to 3.

           Islam is the fastest growing religion today. Majority of those who enter Islam do so after studying the Verses of the Qur'an. They compare these text with what they have been told to believe or did believe. As long as these new converts stay within the realm of the Revealed Text they find Islam to be transparent, rational, simple and above all easy to understand faith. Once they step into the realm of the re-narrated reports, the number of these reports are far more in excess of the revealed verses, Islam no longer appears to be the same logically clear headed and totally lucid when they had joined. Those who are in the field of doing the Daw'ah know this to be the fact. Furthermore, they are also aware that the serious challenges they face from the enemies of Islam have their roots in the text of "unreliable Hadeeths". In a mix public gathering of Muslims and non-Muslims, they find themselves in embarrassing situations. How to put down something that is being quoted from the published Islamic Books or placed on an Islamic Internet Web sites as "fabricated document"?
It is often argued that to understand the verses of the Qur'an one must refer to the Hadeeth Literature. On the other hand there are several narrations within this Questionable Literature (as we have today), that the unreliable Narrations do contradict the reliable Verses of the Qur'an, and at times, these contradictions are even unexplainable by the scholars doing the Daw'ah.
Obviously, these are the Fabricated Hadeeths implanted by the enemies of Islam to CORRUPT the Deen of Allah. The Messenger of Allah -- through whom all the Verses of the Qur'an were revealed and who had personally guided his companions to recite them correctly -- could NOT have narrated any material that would contradict the Revealed Message. It is not an easy matter for a Muslim scholar to give out such an "honest answer" before a mixed gathering of devoted traditionalist Muslims and the non Muslims that would discredit what is published for the last few centuries as a Secondary Document of Islam by the Muslim Publishers and sold as such by Islamic Book Stores.

Give me your "honest answer"...
         IMAGINE, you were bold enough to approach the learned Imam of your local Mosque and request him to give his "honest answer" to the question;  Brother, have you discovered any Hadeeth from the collections by Imam Muslim and/or Imam Bukhari that disagrees with the verses of the Qur'an?

A.  IF, your Imam was honest enough and admits before you; YES, there are a few... Then ask him what may happen to his credibility within the Jamaat if he was to admit that TRUTH before the Jamaat in his Friday Khutbah? IF, the Imam's "honest answer" is; I can sacrifice anything for the TRUTH. Ask him the final question; would he be willing to join the panel of Revisionists??

"And We sent down the Book to thee for the express purpose that thou shouldst make clear to them those things in which they differ and that it should be a guide and a mercy to those who believe."
                     Glorious Qur'an  16 : 64

    I hope some of you would approach your Imams and then let me know their 
"Honest Answers"...  Thanks.

Good News...  The Admission of "Weak Hadeeths" and "Israelites Stories" within the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir... Process of Weeding Out initiated by the Muslim Scholars and Islamic Organizations...

Below are the excerpts from http://www.ibnkathir.com/
For complete text please click the above URL

Major works of Ibn Kathir and his concise commentary of The Noble Qur’an abridged by a group of scholars under the supervision of

SHAYKH SAFIUR-RAHMAN MUBARAKPURI 

This commentary (by Ibn Kathir), is the most popular interpretation of the Noble Qur’an in the Arabic Language and the majority of the Muslim Ummah in the world today consider it to be the best available source of understanding of the Qur’anic text based on the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah. 

The Arabic work spans 3,200 pages in four volumes.

To cover all of the references, Ibn Kathir has also collected some weak Hadith and stories from the Israelites. Some repitions also occur in it as and when the topics require them.

This abridged translation of the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir has been summarized by a group of scholars supervised and coordinated by Shaykh Abu Al-Asbal Ahmad Shagif of Rabitah Al-Alam Al-Islami at Makkah and Shaykh Safi-ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri. The English translation has been done by Mr. Jalal Abualrub (USA), Mr. Nasir Khitab, his wife Ms. Huda Khitab (Canada), Mr. Aqeel Walker (USA), Dr. Muhammad Al Jibali (USA), and Mr. Sami Ayoub (USA). 

Copy editing work was undertaken by Mr. Abu Khaliyl (USA), Mr. Muhammad Farook (Pakistan), Mr. Abdul Ahad (India), Ms. Jalal Abualrub (USA), Mr. Abul Mun’im (Egypt), Mr. Sidheeque MA Veliankode (India),Qari Muhammad Iqbal (Pakistan), Mr. Shakil Ahmed As-Salafi (India), and Hafiz Abdul Mateen (Pakistan)

Careful analysis and eforts have been made and taken to ensure that weak Hadith are not included within the abridged version of the English translation.

JazakAllah wa Khairan! to Mr. Abdul-Malik Mujahhid, General Manager, Darrussaalam Publications, Riyadh, for embarking on this valuable project and seeing it completed successfully to maximum fruition. Alhamdulillah!

Slowly, the days of the inherited BLIND Faith and Fellowships of the famous Shaikhs, Alims and/or Imams that lived centuries ago, are coming to an end.

"It is for Us to collect it (Qur'an) and to promulgate it. But when We have promulgated it follow thou its recital (as promulgated). Nay more it is for Us to explain it (and make it clear)." 75 : 17 - 19

"Alif Lam Ra. (This is) a Book with verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning) further explained in detail from One Who is Wise and Well-Acquainted (with all things)." 11 : 1

Revision (Review) of the Hadeeth Literature:

    By the Grace of Allah (S.W.T.), four eminent Muslim Scholars of our era have agreed to undertake the formidable task of reviewing the re-narrated narrations (hadeeths), that have been attributed to Prophet Muhammad 
(peace and salaams be upon him). One of the Scholars happens to be a translator of the Glorious Qur'an in English, besides being the author of several titles on Islam. The other Muslim Scholar is the President of an International Islamic Research Foundation for Spiritual and Intellectual Growth. The other two Muslim Scholar have studied the subject and are reputed Doctors in their own fields. I am indeed very grateful to these 
Four Learned Scholars for having agreed to undertake this mammoth task. 
May Allah (S.W.T.) reward each one for his noble offer, here and hereafter.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters; I am presently facing with a very critical and grave question arising from the verses of the Glorious Qur'an. Over a period of two or more decades, I have heard too many presentations, arguments, questions and answers on the subject of the Prophetic Hadeeths, from BOTH SIDES to the topic. The surfers to my website continuously send me feed backs and ask critical questions. To be honest, this profoundly significant and distinctively exceptional question has never come up before. Most importantly, this awe-inspiring question has its root in the Revealed Verses of the Qur'an. I request you all and in particular the above mentioned Four Muslim Scholars to  read carefully this profoundly significant question. It may open a New Avenue. Only Allah (S.W.T.) knows the best. To do full justice to this fundamental awe-inspiring issue I have written a separate article. Please click below and don't miss this critical query.

PROFOUNDLY SIGNIFICANT QUESTION BEFORE THE UMMAH

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