An Introduction to Sahih al-Bukhari by Mustafa al-A’zami

Sahih al-Bukhari is unsurprisingly the most widely recognised book among Muslims after the Qur’an. Curious readers of Bukhari’s magnum opus are often left with burning questions that lie beyond its contents. Who was Imam Bukhari? How and why did he write the Sahih? How was it transmitted? Are there any reliable extant manuscripts of the work? In this introduction, Dr. Mustafa al-A’zami answers these questions in a simple and accessible manner. It looks at the biography of Imam Bukhari, details of his teachers, students, transmitters and his critical modus operandi in compiling his Sahih, and details of the Sahih’s various transmissions and codices.