What are the merits of each of the Sahihayn of al-Bukhari and Muslim over the other in terms of texts and in terms of chains of narration?

The questioner : The first question: What are the merits of each of "Sahih al-Bukhari" and "Sahih Muslim" over the other in terms of texts and in terms of chains of narration?

The Shaykh : It is well known that "Sahih al-Bukhari" has two merits over "Sahih Muslim." The first merit is that his knowledge of chains of narration, their defects, and the defects of the texts is more complete and perfect than that of his counterpart, Imam Muslim. Likewise, he is more knowledgeable about the narrators than he is, and than many others besides him. For this reason, the chains of narration in al-Bukhari are purer, safer, and stronger than the chains of narration in Imam Muslim. This is the first merit. The other merit is that Imam al-Bukhari did not limit his book solely to collecting authentic hadiths in every chapter of the jurisprudential chapters, as is the case with the other Imams of the six books and others, including Imam Muslim. The aim of these Imams in compiling these books was to collect the hadiths reported in every chapter, each according to his own criteria, and Imam Muslim is among them. As for al-Bukhari, he turned to another aspect, which is in fact the fruit of hadith, the fruit of engaging with hadith, compiling hadith, and collecting hadith: namely, jurisprudence. Imam al-Bukhari sets up many chapters for a single hadith and distributes a single hadith across various books, sometimes in prayer, sometimes in Hajj, in zakah, in marriage, in divorce, according to the benefits gathered from the hadith. He takes the jurisprudential benefit from this hadith, and sometimes he presents the hadith in its entirety under a single chapter, and sometimes—and this is the least—he takes paragraphs from this hadith and distributes them across chapters and books, and he sets up a chapter for each paragraph that indicates the jurisprudence contained in it. Therefore, it has become widespread among those who engage with "Sahih al-Bukhari" in explanation, clarification, and jurisprudential understanding that al-Bukhari's jurisprudence is in his chapters. Thus, if a person were to count the chapters of al-Bukhari, he would find them to be in the hundreds more than the chapters of Muslim, and indeed more than any other book of the six books. He sets up, as we said, many chapters for a single hadith, but he distributes them according to the books. This attention to clarifying the jurisprudence of hadith necessitated and led Imam al-Bukhari to introduce something new in this "Sahih," which is: to include many other hadiths that are not on his own criteria, which are sometimes authentic outside his "Sahih," sometimes good, and sometimes from the category of weak. This type of hadith is called by scholars: "the suspended hadith" (al-hadith al-mu'allaq). Imam al-Bukhari is unique in his abundance of this type of hadith in his book, even though his book is named "The Musnad of Authentic Reports from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." But to clarify the meaning of the chapter he headed with the hadith that he provided a chain for, which is on his criteria, between the chapter and the hadith with the chain, he presents a hadith from those suspended hadiths, which are of the three categories as we mentioned: authentic, good, or weak. This type of hadith is not found in the other six books. For example, some Imams of hadith counted the suspended hadiths in Muslim, and they did not exceed twenty hadiths, or rather, they were less than that, while the suspended hadiths in "Sahih al-Bukhari" are far more than a thousand, and they have not been fully counted yet, because the printing of the numbered abridgment of al-Bukhari, as I began in its first volume, has not been completed. These suspended hadiths help the reader of al-Bukhari to grasp the meaning that came in the hadith, for which Imam al-Bukhari headed a specific chapter. Thus, the suspended hadith helps the reader to understand the jurisprudence that al-Bukhari aimed for, sometimes it is clear and sometimes it is hidden. These are merits that are not found in "Sahih Muslim," but "Sahih Muslim" is not devoid of a merit that is not found in "Sahih al-Bukhari," and this is the law of the universe: that it is not possible for one person to possess all the virtues and benefits. In contrast to Imam al-Bukhari, who may report a hadith distributed in various places, and may sometimes report a hadith in its entirety in various locations, as for Muslim, he collects the ways and chains of narration of the hadith in one place. This saves the researcher, as is experienced, a great deal of effort, unlike "Sahih al-Bukhari." If one of us wants to obtain a hadith from the hadiths of al-Bukhari, he must search in many locations, because he may report it in one place in an abbreviated form and in another place in an extended form, while Imam Muslim mentions the hadith for you in one place with all its narrations that reached him. Therefore, Imam al-Bukhari is distinguished from Muslim in terms of authenticity, as he is more authentic than Muslim, and he is also distinguished from him in that he focused on drawing the reader's attention to the jurisprudence of the hadith, and he helped him in that by suspending some hadiths without a chain, which are either authentic, good, or weak.
This is what can be mentioned on this occasion.