THE INTELLECTUAL JOURNEYS OF IMĀM BUKHĀRI: A METHODOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN HADĪTH STUDIES

Abstract

The preservation and authentication of the prophetic traditions
represent one of the most remarkable material undertakings in Islamic
scholarship. At the heart of this great endeavor and a turning point for
the methodology of ḥadīth authenticity and collection was
Muḥammad bin Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī’s four decades of academic
expeditions in the Islamic world. Imām Bukhārī’s travels spanned
almost 75,000 kilometers through the main centers of Islamic
learning, and far from being mere physical adventures, they were an
intellectual and scholarly expedition that molded the foundation of
Islamic scholarship. This research study outlines the three stages of
Bukhārī’s scholarly journey: the formative stage, the
extensive mobilization period, and the reformation stage, with each
stage representing Bukhārī’s methodological innovations. This
research comparatively investigates his travel routes and scholarly
engagements with differing communities, it demonstrates how
Bukhārī’s mobility provided cross-regional scrutiny over teachings
and ensured some degree of integrity in the transmission of ḥadīth. It
also explores his challengers and his work, especially the magnum
opus, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, delving deeper into the mechanics that made
Hadīth scholarship is possible.