Irrefutable Evidence That Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah Are Books of Imām al-Bukhārī
Also see this article: The Complete Chain of Transmission and Verification of Narrators of the Ẓāhiriyyah Manuscript of Imām al-Bukhārī’s Book Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn.
It has been heard from some people that the attribution of Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām to Imām Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH) is not established. The foundation of their objection is that within the chain of transmission of these treatises there is a narrator named Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq al-Bukhārī al-Khuzāʿī al-Qawwās, about whom it is claimed that he is “unknown (مجهول).” Based on this, it is said that these treatises cannot be attributed to Imām al-Bukhārī.
Below, these objections will be examined in detail, and it will be proven that declaring the said narrator as “unknown” or unreliable is incorrect. In fact, his credibility has been affirmed by the very Imāms of Ḥadīth themselves. Moreover, a large group of ḥadīth scholars and jurists have decisively (with certainty) referred to Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah as books of Imām al-Bukhārī, presenting arguments on that basis.
The Status of Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq al-Bukhārī al-Khuzāʿī al-Qawwās
Reference from Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, in his book Muwāfaqat al-Khabar al-Khabar (vol. 1, p. 417), has graded a narration transmitted by Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq as ḥasan (sound).
When a muḥaddith (ḥadīth scholar) declares an individual narration of a transmitter to be ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan, this is considered a tawthīq (attestation of reliability) for that narrator.
Ḥāfiẓ Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī writes:
"قولهم: (هذا حديث حسن أو صحيح) توثيق للرواي”
(Naṣb al-Rāyah, vol. 1, p. 190; vol. 3, p. 264)
According to this principle, other ḥadīth scholars also agree that when a narration is explicitly graded as ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan, it is evidence of the narrator being trustworthy.
Conclusion
From the commentary of Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī in Muwāfaqat al-Khabar al-Khabar and from the general principles of ḥadīth sciences, it is established that calling Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq “unknown” is incorrect. A great critic of narrators like Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar, if he declares a narration as ḥasan, it necessarily implies that the narrator is neither “mastūr al-ḥāl (of hidden status)” nor “majhūl al-ʿayn (unknown identity),” but rather reliable.
Statements of Other Imāms Regarding the Attribution of Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah to Imām al-Bukhārī
(a) Reference from Imām al-Nawawī
Imām al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH), in his famous book al-Majmūʿ (vol. 1, p. 405), states:
"وروى البخاري في كتاب رفع اليدين بإسناده الصحيح عن نافع…”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī, in his book Raf‘ al-Yadayn, has narrated from Nāfiʿ with an authentic chain.
This is clear evidence that Imām al-Nawawī not only accepts this book as authored by Imām al-Bukhārī but also affirms its chain as authentic.
(b) Reference from Imām Ibn al-Mulaqqin
Imām Ibn al-Mulaqqin al-Shāfiʿī (d. 804 AH), in his book al-Badr al-Munīr (vol. 3, p. 478), states:
"وروى البخاري أيضاً في كتاب رفع اليدين بإسناد صحيح…”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has also narrated this ḥadīth in his book Raf‘ al-Yadayn with an authentic chain.
(c) Reference from Imām al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī
Imām al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī (d. 762 AH), who is well-known for presenting Ḥanafī evidences in his book Naṣb al-Rāyah, repeatedly writes (vol. 1, pp. 390, 393, 395):
"وذكر البخاري الأول معلقاً في كتابه المفرد في رفع اليدين”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has mentioned the first ḥadīth in his independent book Raf‘ al-Yadayn in a suspended form (muʿallaq).
The decisive statement of Imām al-Zaylaʿī, who himself was a Ḥanafī, stands as a strong proof that this book is indeed authentically attributed to Imām al-Bukhārī.
(d) Reference from Imām al-Bayhaqī
Imām al-Bayhaqī (d. 458 AH) also accepted Juz’ al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām with certainty as a book of Imām al-Bukhārī and cited evidences from it. He states in his book al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām (p. 23):
"البخاري في كتاب القراءۃ خلف الإمام…”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has narrated this in his book al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām.
(e) Reference from Imām al-Mizzī
Imām Jamāl al-Dīn al-Mizzī (d. 742 AH), in his renowned work Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (vol. 14, p. 67), writes:
"روى له البخاري في كتاب القراءة خلف الإمام…”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has narrated from him in his book al-Qirāʾah Khalf al-Imām.
(f) Reference from Imām al-ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī
Imām Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī (d. 855 AH), in his famous commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, ʿUmdat al-Qārī (vol. 5, p. 272), states:
"وقال البخاري في كتابه رفع اليدين في الصلاة…”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has said in his book Raf‘ al-Yadayn fī al-Ṣalāh…
Similarly, Imām al-ʿAynī has also mentioned this with certainty in his works Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd (vol. 3, p. 350) and Maʿānī al-Āthār (vol. 3, p. 476).
Statements of Later Ḥanafī Scholars
(a) Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Nīmowī al-Ḥanafī
Al-Nīmowī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1322 AH), in his book Āthār al-Sunan (p. 169), writes:
"رواه البخاري في جزء رفع اليدين واسناده صحيح”
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has narrated this ḥadīth in his book Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn, and its chain is authentic.
(b) Mawlānā Ṣūfī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Khān Sawātī al-Diyūbandī
Mawlānā Ṣūfī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Sawātī al-Diyūbandī, in his book Namāz Masnūn Kalān (p. 646), writes:
Translation: Regarding Raf‘ al-Yadayn in the Qunūt of Witr, Imām al-Bukhārī in his treatise Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn has narrated from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (RA) with an authentic chain.
(c) Faiz Aḥmad Multānī al-Diyūbandī
Faiz Aḥmad Multānī al-Diyūbandī, in his book Madallal Namāz (p. 118), states:
Translation: Imām al-Bukhārī has said in Juz’ al-Qirāʾah (p. 11)…
This too is a testimony that Juz’ al-Qirāʾah is authentically established as a work of Imām al-Bukhārī.
From all these statements of senior and later scholars, it becomes clear that both earlier and later generations have acknowledged Imām al-Bukhārī as the author of these treatises.
The Objection and Its Analysis
The Objection:
“It is claimed that within the chain of transmission of Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah there is a narrator named Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq who is majhūl (unknown). Therefore, these books cannot be attributed to Imām al-Bukhārī.”
The Analysis:
As mentioned earlier, Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī has already declared a narration of Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq to be ḥasan.
When a ḥadīth scholar grades a narration of a narrator as ḥasan or ṣaḥīḥ, it serves as an attestation (tawthīq) of that narrator. This is a firmly established principle in the science of jarḥ wa-taʿdīl (criticism and validation of narrators).
Furthermore, among those great scholars who have decisively ascribed Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah to Imām al-Bukhārī are:
- Imām al-Nawawī
- Imām al-Bayhaqī
- Imām al-ʿAynī
- and other trustworthy authorities.
It is not possible that so many prominent ḥadīth scholars and jurists would unhesitatingly attribute a book, containing a chain with a so-called “unknown narrator,” to Imām al-Bukhārī and establish rulings upon it.
In practical terms as well, many ancient manuscripts of these treatises exist, and from the very beginning, they were attributed to Imām al-Bukhārī. Their scribes and transmitters were also reliable.
Additional Testimonies and Research
- Ḥājjī Khalīfah (d. 1067 AH), in his book Kashf al-Ẓunūn (vol. 1, p. 597), has mentioned these treatises of Imām al-Bukhārī.
- Numerous ḥadīth researchers of both the past and the present have compiled catalogues of the manuscript copies of Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah. In the beginnings and endings of these manuscripts, the attribution to Imām al-Bukhārī is clearly recorded.
When all these evidences are brought together, the matter becomes as clear as daylight that Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah are indeed authored by Imām al-Bukhārī. There is no weakness within them that would render their attribution doubtful.
6) Summary of the Research
① Maḥmūd ibn Isḥāq al-Bukhārī al-Khuzāʿī al-Qawwās is by no means an unknown (majhūl) or unreliable narrator. According to the explicit statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, declaring his ḥadīth as ḥasan is itself a verification of his reliability.
② The reliable scholars and jurists of both earlier and later times—such as Imām al-Nawawī, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, al-Zaylaʿī, al-Bayhaqī, al-ʿAynī, al-Nīmowī al-Ḥanafī, Ṣūfī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Sawātī al-Diyūbandī, and others—have repeatedly affirmed Juz’ Raf‘ al-Yadayn and Juz’ al-Qirāʾah as works of Imām al-Bukhārī and have used them as proofs.
③ Several manuscript and printed copies of these treatises are still available today, and from ancient times their attribution to Imām al-Bukhārī has been accepted.
④ Whether Ḥanafī or non-Ḥanafī, scholars of nearly every school have acknowledged these treatises as decisively authored by Imām al-Bukhārī and have dismissed the objections as baseless.
Therefore, the claim that these two treatises are not established as works of Imām al-Bukhārī cannot stand against the overwhelming evidences and testimonies.
Supplication
May Allāh ﷻ grant all of us the understanding of pure religious evidences and the ability to accept them.
May He also grant all the people of knowledge the strength to spread the true awareness of dīn while walking the path of mutual respect and research. Āmīn.
وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَىٰ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْهُدَىٰ
