الأبواب والتراجم لصحيح البخاري-العلمية

al-Abwab wa-al-Tarajim li-Sahih al-Bukhari

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani sahib writes in his foreword to this edition:
“The eminent scholar, the leading authority of his age in Prophetic ḥadīth and its jurisprudence, Shaykh Muḥammad Zakariyyā al-Kāndahlawī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—left behind a rich legacy in the Islamic sciences, and particularly in the sciences of ḥadīth, a legacy from which students of knowledge such as ourselves continue to benefit throughout their scholarly and daʿwah lives.

May Allah Most High have mercy on him: he was among those who devoted the greatest attention to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. He received instruction in it from the leading scholars of his age and studied it for many years, from beginning to end. He delved deeply into its study and uncovered its hidden treasures in his book Lāmiʿ al-Darārī and al-Kanz al-Mutawārī, and in the lectures which he delivered before his students.

Among the finest of his writings concerning Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is his book al-Abwāb wa-l-Tarājim, in which he explained the objectives of Imam al-Bukhārī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—in the chapter headings that he assigned to the chapters. This is a subject in which the understanding of scholars, both past and present, has been greatly exercised, to the extent that Imam al-Sakhāwī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said: “Explaining al-Bukhārī’s chapter headings is a debt incumbent upon the scholars of this Ummah.”

Many have indeed undertaken to discharge this debt, but the book of Shaykh al-Kāndahlawī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was the greatest of them in benefit and the foremost in drawing attention to the subject. His explanation of these chapter headings was based upon what he had imbibed through his extensive and constant engagement with the work of Imam al-Bukhārī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
Perhaps if Imam al-Sakhāwī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—had seen his book, he would have said: “This is the book that has discharged this debt.”

Anyone who teaches Bukhari would admit that it isn’t possible to properly understand the tarajim of Bukhari without this masterpiece.

📘 Good-quality edition in 5 thick volumes.