Source: Ahkām wa Masā'il Kitāb-o-Sunnat Kī Roshnī Mein by Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbānī
Some people claim that Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله followed the Shāfiʿī school of thought. Is this statement correct?
Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله was a mujtahid, faqīh (jurist), and muḥaddith (hadith scholar). His mastery in fiqh (jurisprudence) was recognized and affirmed by his noble teachers. The one whom his own teachers refer to as a faqīh is undoubtedly among the higher ranks of juristic excellence.
✔ Imām Abū Muṣʿab Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Zuhrī said about him:
"Afaqah ʿindana" (He is the most knowledgeable in fiqh according to us).
He even considered him equal to Imām Mālik in both ḥadīth and fiqh.
✔ Imām Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī referred to him as:
"Faqīh hādhihil ummah" (The jurist of this ummah).
✔ Imām Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Bundār said:
"Afaqah khalqillāh fī zamāninā" (The most knowledgeable jurist of our time).
Numerous other scholars have affirmed his ijtihād:
All of them have recognized Imām al-Bukhārī as a mujtahid.
Anyone who has properly read and studied Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī knows well how brilliantly Imām al-Bukhārī engaged in ijtihād (independent reasoning) and istinbāṭ (legal deduction) throughout his book. His deep understanding of fiqh is especially evident through the chapter headings (abwāb) he constructed in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
Whoever has neither truly read nor taught Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is in no position to comment on Imām al-Bukhārī. Such a person is like one throwing stones in the dark at the head of the leader of the scholars of hadith and the master of jurists — blindly accusing without knowledge.
If Imām al-Bukhārī were truly a muqallid (blind follower) of Imām al-Shāfiʿī, he would not have contradicted him. The essence of taqlīd is that the follower sticks firmly to the views of his imām. However, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī contains numerous instances where Imām al-Bukhārī clearly opposes the views of Imām al-Shāfiʿī.
In Kitāb al-ʿIlm, under the chapter Bāb Kayfa Yuqbaḍ al-ʿIlm, Imām al-Bukhārī quoted the statement of the righteous caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz رضي الله عنه:
"Lā yuqbalu illā ḥadīthu al-Nabiyy ﷺ"
“Nothing should be accepted except the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ.”
❖ Question:
Some people claim that Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله followed the Shāfiʿī school of thought. Is this statement correct?
❖ Answer:
Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله was a mujtahid, faqīh (jurist), and muḥaddith (hadith scholar). His mastery in fiqh (jurisprudence) was recognized and affirmed by his noble teachers. The one whom his own teachers refer to as a faqīh is undoubtedly among the higher ranks of juristic excellence.
❖ Praise of Imām al-Bukhārī’s Jurisprudence by His Teachers:
✔ Imām Abū Muṣʿab Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Zuhrī said about him:
"Afaqah ʿindana" (He is the most knowledgeable in fiqh according to us).
He even considered him equal to Imām Mālik in both ḥadīth and fiqh.
Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 2/19, Tārīkh Dimashq 15/50, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 12/420
✔ Imām Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī referred to him as:
"Faqīh hādhihil ummah" (The jurist of this ummah).
Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 2/22, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 12/420
✔ Imām Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Bundār said:
"Afaqah khalqillāh fī zamāninā" (The most knowledgeable jurist of our time).
Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 12/429
Numerous other scholars have affirmed his ijtihād:
- Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām Mubārakpūrī in Sīrat al-Imām al-Bukhārī
- ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī (in Muqaddimah Fayḍ al-Bārī 1/58)
- Shaykh Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Sindī
- Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā in al-Imʿān al-Dārī p.18
- Sulaymān ibn Ibrāhīm ʿAlawī
- ʿAllāmah ʿAlī Shafīʿ in Aftāb Bukhārā p.127
All of them have recognized Imām al-Bukhārī as a mujtahid.
❖ Evidence of His Ijtihād:
Anyone who has properly read and studied Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī knows well how brilliantly Imām al-Bukhārī engaged in ijtihād (independent reasoning) and istinbāṭ (legal deduction) throughout his book. His deep understanding of fiqh is especially evident through the chapter headings (abwāb) he constructed in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
Whoever has neither truly read nor taught Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is in no position to comment on Imām al-Bukhārī. Such a person is like one throwing stones in the dark at the head of the leader of the scholars of hadith and the master of jurists — blindly accusing without knowledge.
❖ Refutation of the Claim that Imām al-Bukhārī Was a Shāfiʿī Muqallid:
If Imām al-Bukhārī were truly a muqallid (blind follower) of Imām al-Shāfiʿī, he would not have contradicted him. The essence of taqlīd is that the follower sticks firmly to the views of his imām. However, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī contains numerous instances where Imām al-Bukhārī clearly opposes the views of Imām al-Shāfiʿī.
❖ Explicit Declaration in
In Kitāb al-ʿIlm, under the chapter Bāb Kayfa Yuqbaḍ al-ʿIlm, Imām al-Bukhārī quoted the statement of the righteous caliph ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz رضي الله عنه:
"Lā yuqbalu illā ḥadīthu al-Nabiyy ﷺ"
“Nothing should be accepted except the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ.”
Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-ʿIlm]
This explicitly proves that Imām al-Bukhārī was devoted to accepting only ḥadīth, not the opinions of imāms.
Therefore, Imām al-Bukhārī was not a follower (muqallid) of any particular school of thought or imām. He adhered firmly to the ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, derived rulings directly from the Qur’ān and Sunnah, and solved legal issues through his own ijtihād.
He was a towering figure of his era — a great muḥaddith, faqīh, mufassir, and mujtahid.
This explicitly proves that Imām al-Bukhārī was devoted to accepting only ḥadīth, not the opinions of imāms.
❖ Conclusion:
Therefore, Imām al-Bukhārī was not a follower (muqallid) of any particular school of thought or imām. He adhered firmly to the ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, derived rulings directly from the Qur’ān and Sunnah, and solved legal issues through his own ijtihād.
He was a towering figure of his era — a great muḥaddith, faqīh, mufassir, and mujtahid.
