Discussion of what is found in some copies of al-Bukhari regarding Fatimah (peace be upon her).

The questioner : Yesterday we passed through al-Bukhari where it mentions Fatimah (peace be upon her). We said that this expression might be a Shi'ite expression, meaning that someone said "Fatimah (peace be upon her)." So what do we say about this hadith? Fatimah, when the captives came to her and he wanted to give them to her, then he gave them the tasbih (glorification of Allah) and takbir (magnification of Allah). Also, the well-known hadith says "you two glorify." He said: First, regarding (peace be upon her); second, look at the tasbih and takbir, there is a transposition (targhib) and delay (ta'khir) in it.

The Shaykh : First, when you read the hadith, who said (peace be upon her)? The Messenger, or 'Ali, or the narrator?

The questioner : The narrator. It seems that in al-Bukhari it says "Fatimah (peace be upon her)."

The Shaykh : I am not asking you where? Did the Messenger say it?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Or 'Ali? Or one of the narrators?

The questioner : One of the narrators.

The Shaykh : If it is one of the narrators, the matter is easy, because we believe that the expressions of praise (taradhi) which are not disputed vary greatly in the copies of hadith books. In other words, one book mentions the expression of praise and another does not. In other words, these phrases are interjections, supplications said by one of the narrators. Therefore, we do not give weight to such a difference. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, those who work on Sahih al-Bukhari know that there is a very large difference in the copies of al-Bukhari: a difference in the chapters, a difference in mentioning one hadith over another. If you have read, even in the past, in some books, a copy of al-Bukhari printed in old Istanbul called the "Nuniyyah" copy, you will find in the margin a reference to the differences in the copies of al-Bukhari. This difference, first, is not fundamental; it is not something that constitutes a criticism or insinuation against the hadiths narrated by al-Bukhari, because if we say that all of them, or at least the majority of them, are narrated in other books with chains like them, or better than them, or without them. But these symbols and these references to the differences in the copies of al-Bukhari remind us of His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: And this is one of our arguments against those who are fanatical about the person of al-Bukhari, or about the person of Sahih al-Bukhari, and about Sahih Muslim. I read two completely opposing articles in the past. One was published in the magazine "Al-Mujtama'"—excuse me, the Kuwaiti magazine "Al-Arabi." You must know this magazine; it does not have a religious methodology, and it often presents articles that contradict the religion. Among them, it published an article with a very large title: "Not everything in Sahih al-Bukhari is authentic." A very dangerous title. One of the enthusiasts from the Society for Social Reform in Kuwait wrote an article, and perhaps the time is far now, published in a magazine and then compiled into a thesis. I read the thesis; the title of the thesis is "Everything in Sahih al-Bukhari is authentic." This is in one world and that is in another world. That one speaks with extreme ignorance, because I remember that what indicates the ignorance of the author of the first article, "Not everything in Sahih al-Bukhari is authentic," is that he cited the hadith of the Lady 'A'isha that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) So he interpreted "mubasharah" (intimacy) with the meaning mentioned in His saying, the Exalted: He said, how can the Messenger be fasting and having intimacy?! So he attributed the meaning of "mubasharah" here to the meaning of sexual intercourse and demolished the hadith, whereas it is known to the people of knowledge that the "mubasharah" intended here is touching. Therefore, it came in many other hadiths that he and so on. So this is an example of the examples that indicate the ignorance of the first writer. But the other one, out of enthusiasm, responded to him with enthusiasm that everything in al-Bukhari is authentic. Whereas we find that the one who is the most knowledgeable about Sahih al-Bukhari, the Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, clarifies in many cases that there are phrases—first I say phrases—in some hadiths that are not authentic, even though they came in Sahih al-Bukhari. And sometimes he mentions that one of the narrators who narrated the hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari" is weak. He may explicitly state the weakness of the hadith, or he may not explicitly state it. What came in "Sahih al-Bukhari" and "Muslim" of this kind indicates the ignorance of the second responder. That the Messenger (peace be upon him) said in the well-known hadith of the white marks (ghurrah) and the white soles (tahjeel) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said at the end, when he said "I will know my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection by the white marks and the white soles," he said, "So whoever among you can lengthen his white mark, let him do so." The Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned here that a group of the preservers of the Ummah agreed that this phrase is not part of the hadith. In the terminology of hadith, they say it is an inserted phrase (mudrajah), not part of the hadith. Among those who mention this, and I saw this in the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), he is also one of those who explicitly stated that this phrase is inserted. Likewise, the Hafiz al-Mundhiri in "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib" mentioned that this phrase is inserted. And the examples are many and very many, which indicate that these people respond to those who deviate from the Sunnah with emotion, not with knowledge.

The questioner : I say, in confirmation of your words, I asked... Muhammad Raghib al-Tabakh, you know... the hadith used to say that there are thirteen hadiths that the scholars took issue with al-Bukhari regarding. Is this correct?

The Shaykh : I do not count the number, but that there are some.

The questioner : Al-Daraqutni or others, I do not know.

The Shaykh : There are some, but no, it is al-Daraqutni. If you remember, al-Daraqutni criticized three hundred hadiths in "The Two Sahihs," but the Hafiz Ibn Hajar says in "Fath al-Bari" that he did not succeed in most of them. As for the number that remains criticized, I do not know it, but that there are things criticized, no scholar of hadith doubts that at all.

The questioner : So we do not say (peace be upon her).

The Shaykh : We do not say this. My intention is that if there is something in the texts of the hadiths, then such a thing is even more so.

The questioner : What about the transposition and delay in the tasbih and takbir?

The Shaykh : This, of course, requires study, and I do not have anything to mention now. I do not have a study on this hadith in particular. Allah knows best.

The questioner : Is it not better that when we transmit these hadiths, we take the thing known to people that the tasbih is first, then the tahmid (praise), then the takbir? So if we give them "you two magnify" forty-four times, "you two praise" thirty-three times, and "you two glorify."

The Shaykh : The important thing is that we do not speak except with knowledge, Professor. Because now, speaking about this hadith, I do not permit myself to do so because I am not recalling the position of the scholars who studied this hadith. It may be of the type that Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) describes as permissible variation. What do you call it? There is a difference of contradiction and there is a difference of variation. The difference of contradiction is not considered, but the difference of variation exists, and examples are given for it, such as the variation in the supplications of opening (istiftah), the salutation upon the Messenger, and the tashahhud, and so on. Likewise, it may be that there is in the tasbih something of this kind. But I cannot give an answer about something I have not studied. Okay, that is it.The Shaykh : Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is of the permissible variation. What do you call it? There is a difference of contradiction and there is a difference of variation. The difference of contradiction is not considered, but the difference of variation exists, and examples are given for it, such as the variation in the supplications of opening (istiftah), the salutation upon the Messenger, and the tashahhud, and so on. Likewise, it may be that there is in the tasbih something of this kind. But I cannot give an answer about something I have not studied. Okay, that is it.