DefinePK

Abstract

During the era of the Ṣaḥābah (Companions), the tradition of ḥifẓ (memorization) and tadwīn (documentation) of ḥadīth was institutionalized by the early muḥaddithūn. Among the most prominent figures in the canonization of authentic traditions is Imām Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH), whose compilation al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaḥīḥ stands as a seminal contribution to the discipline of ḥadīth. His work was methodologically organized into thematic chapters (abwāb), reflecting both fiqhī and isnād-based structuring. Since its compilation, the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī has been subject to rigorous scholarly exegesis (sharḥ) and textual criticism (naqd al-matn wa al-isnād) by successive generations of ḥadīth scholars. Distinguished exegetes such as al-Kirmānī, Ibn Baṭṭāl, Ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī, al-‘Aynī, al-Qasṭallānī, Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī, Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī, and Shabbīr Aḥmad ‘Uthmānī have engaged with the hermeneutics of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, addressing its intricate and complex narrations. In the 20th century, the subcontinent witnessed renewed engagement with these narrations, primarily in the Urdu language. Among notable contemporary contributions is the Arabic-language commentary Ilhām al-Bārī fī Ḥall Mushkilāt al-Bukhārī by Qāḍī Shams-ud-Dīn (1901–1985) of Attock, who provided an analytical exegesis of mushkil al-ḥadīth (difficult traditions) and critically evaluated aspects of al-Bukhārī’s discourse vis-à-vis Ḥanafī jurisprudence. This paper offers a critical appraisal of Qāḍī Shams-ud-Dīn’s scholarly methodology, highlighting his unique approach to problematized ḥadīths and his polemical engagement with Bukhārī’s critique of the Ḥanafī madhhab. Notably, his work remains largely unexamined in contemporary ḥadīth scholarship. This study aims to foreground the significance of Ilhām al-Bārī within the broader discourse of shurūḥ literature and its role in resolving exegetical complexities.