Baadhi ya watu wanadhani kwamba hadithi ni sahihi tu ikiwa imo katika Bukhari na Muslim. Wengine hata wanasisitiza kwamba dini yote ya Uislamu inapatikana katika Bukhari peke yake.

Some people think that a hadith is only authentic if it is in Bukhari and Muslim. Some even insist that the whole din [religion] of Islam is to be found only in Bukhari.

Mara moja, Mbedui mmoja alimwendea Mtume aliyebarikiwa (SAW). Alikubali Uislamu na akaswali Swala. Alipomaliza Swala yake, aliomba: "Ewe Allah (SWT), nihurumie mimi na Mtume aliyebarikiwa (SAW), wala usimhurumie mtu mwingine yeyote." Alikuwa anafikiri kwamba, "Nikiomba rehema kwa kila mtu, rehema ya Allah (SWT) juu yangu itapungua." Mtume aliyebarikiwa (SAW) alimwambia, "Umeifunga ile iliyo pana."38 Rehema ya Allah (SWT) ni pana, na ilivyo elimu ya dini yetu. Ni ujinga mtupu kuifunga dini yote ndani ya Bukhari. Kwa mtazamo huu, miaka ishirini na tatu ya utume wa Mtume aliyebarikiwa (SAW) imewekewa mipaka ndani ya hadithi za Bukhari pekee, na kila alichowahi kusema au kufanya katika miaka ishirini na tatu hiyo kiko ndani ya Bukhari tu, na si mahali pengine. Ni sawa na kusema kwamba, "Ni vigumu mno kufuata Qur'ani yote; tufuate sura ya ishirini na nne tu." Sasa mtu akiuliza kuhusu hukumu fulani, mtu huyu anauliza kama iko katika sura ya ishirini na nne. Akiambiwa, "Hapana, iko katika sura ya ishirini na moja," anasema, "Oh, siwezi kukubali hilo kwa sababu mimi hufuata sura ya ishirini na nne ya Qur'ani pekee." Ndivyo baadhi ya watu wanavyoshughulika na hadithi. Hadithi ikiwa katika Bukhari, wanaikubali; lakini isipokuwa hivyo, wanaikataa. Wataalamu wote wa hadithi na wanazuoni wamekubaliana kwamba kuna hadithi nyingi sahihi zilizo nje ya hadithi za Bukhari na Muslim. Hata Imamu Bukhari na Imamu Muslim wenyewe hawakuwahi kudai jambo kama hilo.

Once, a bedouin came to the Blessed Prophet (PBUH). He accepted Islam and prayed Salat. Once he completed his Salat, he prayed, “O Allah (PBUH), have mercy on me and the Blessed Prophet (PBUH) and no one else.” His thinking was that, “If I pray for everyone’s mercy, the mercy of Allah (PBUH) on me will decrease.” The Blessed Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “You have confined the vast.”38 The mercy of Allah (PBUH) is vast and so is the knowledge of our din. It is absolute ignorance to confine the whole din into Bukhari. According to this view, twenty three years of the Blessed Prophet’s (PBUH) prophethood is limited to the ahadith of Bukhari, and everything he every said or did in twenty three years is in Bukhari and nowhere else. It is like saying that “it is too difficult to follow the whole Qur’an; let’s just follow the twenty fourth chapter.” Now if someone asks about a ruling, this person asks if it is in the twenty-fourth chapter. If he is told, “No, it is in the twenty-first chapter,” he says, “Oh, I can’t accept that because I only follow the twenty fourth chapter of the Qur’an.” This is the same way some people treat the ahadith. If a hadith is in Bukhari, they accept it; but if it is not, it is rejected. All the hadith masters and scholars are unanimous that there are many authentic ahadith besides the ahadith of Bukhari and Muslim. Even Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim never made any such claim.

Hata hivyo, walipinga madai makali ya aina hiyo. Imam Bukhari alisema, "Nimeweka katika kitabu changu hadithi sahihi tu, lakini pia nimeacha hadithi nyingi sahihi kwa kuhofia kitabu kisije kikawa kirefu mno."39 Imam Muslim anaandika, "Sikuweka katika kitabu changu mkusanyiko wote wa hadithi sahihi."40 Ndiyo maana Hafiz Ibn Hajar anaandika katika Tadrib al-Rawi, "Imam Bukhari na Imam Muslim hawakuweka katika vitabu vyao hadithi zote sahihi, wala hawakukusudia kufanya hivyo."41

If anything, they opposed such radical claims. Imam Bukhari said, “I have only put authentic hadith in my book, but also left many authentic hadith for fear of the book becoming too drawn- out.”39 Imam Muslim writes, “I have not put the whole collection of authentic ahadith in my book.”40 This is why Hafiz Ibn Hajar writes in Tadrib al-Rawi, “Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim did not include all the authentic hadith in their books, nor did they intend to do so.”41

Sio hivyo tu, Imam Bukhari alipaita kitabu chake: al-Jami‘ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar min Umur Rasul Allah ﷺ wa Ayyamihī [Mkusanyiko Sahihi, Uliounganishwa na Ufupisho (wa hadithi) kutoka kwa Mtume Mtukufu ﷺ na Siku zake]

Not only that, Imam Bukhari named his book, al-Jami‘ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar min Umur Rasul Allah (SWTH) wa Ayyamihī [The Authentic and Continuous, Abridged Collection (of ahadith) from the Blessed Prophet (PBUH) and his Days].

Neno Mukhtasar [lililofupishwa] linaonyesha wazi kwamba Bukhari imefupishwa na haijumuishi hadithi zote sahihi zilizopo.

The word Mukhtasar [abridged] clearly indicates that Bukhari is condensed and does not include the whole gamut of authentic hadith.