Al-Bukhari's dishonesty & censorship

The study of narrators (ilm al-Rijal) is a very important science when it comes to the preservation of Islamic shari'ah through the hadiths that have reached us. These narrators are both studied in what they narrate and what books they author. Unfortunately, we rarely see people discussing the reliability of the authors of books. In this rather short article, we shall present a few examples displaying the censorship that al-Bukhari would do when narrating hadiths in his so-called 'Sahih', giving us doubt regarding his reliability in hadith. The following examples will be given:

Distortion 1: A companion selling alchohol

We read in Sahih al-Bukhari 2223

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ دِينَارٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي طَاوُسٌ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ يَقُولُ بَلَغَ عُمَرَ أَنَّ فُلاَنًا بَاعَ خَمْرًا فَقَالَ قَاتَلَ اللَّهُ فُلاَنًا، أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ قَاتَلَ اللَّهُ الْيَهُودَ، حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الشُّحُومُ فَجَمَلُوهَا فَبَاعُوهَا ‏"‏‏

Narrated by Humaydi from Sufyan from Amro bin Dinar from Tawus from Ibn `Abbas that he said: Once `Umar was informed that so-and-so sold alcohol. `Umar said, "May Allah destroy so-and-so! Doesn't he know that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'May Allah curse the Jews, for Allah had forbidden them to eat the fat of animals but they melted it and sold it."

In this report from Sahih al-Bukhari, a certain figure is found to be drinking alcohol. Who is this figure we ask? Keep in mind, Bukhari directly heard this narration from his teacher Humaydi. However, it is really strange that we see it was reported differently in Musnad al-Humaydi, vol. 1, pg. 9:

حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا سفيان، ثنا عمرو بن دينار، قال: أخبرني طاوس سمع ابن عباس يقول: بلغ عمر بن الخطاب أن سمرة باع خمراً فقال: قاتل الله سمرة، ألم يعلم أن رسول الله قال: «لعن الله اليهود حرمت عليهم الشحوم فجملوها فباعوها

Humaydi narrated from Sufyan from Amro bin Dinar from Tawus from Ibn `Abbas that he said: Once `Umar was informed that Samura sold alcohol. `Umar said, "May Allah destroy Samura! Doesn't he know that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'May Allah curse the Jews, for Allah had forbidden them to eat the fat of animals but they melted it and sold it.

 As we can see, Bukhari censored the hadith by hiding the name of the companion who was drinking wine and being cursed by Umar b. al-Khattab. Let us take a moment to imagine the sheer number of narrations that were censored or hidden in order to clean the image of many of the companions and their quarrels, fights and sometimes even wars. How can this be considered a reliable or objective methodology?

Distortion 2: Umayyad governors cursing Ali (as)

We read in Sahih al-Bukhari 441 and Sahih al-Bukhari 6280:

حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد، قال: حدثنا عبد العزيز بن أبي حازم، عن أبي حازم، عن سهل بن سعد، قال: (...) جاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم  بيت فاطمة فلم يجد علياً في البيت، فقال: «أين ابن عمك؟» قالت: كان بيني وبينه شيء، فغاضبني، فخرج، فلم يقل عندي، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم  لإنسان: «انظر أين هو؟» فجاء فقال: يا رسول الله، هو في المسجد راقد، فجاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم  وهو مضطجع، قد سقط رداؤه عن شقه، وأصابه تراب، فجعل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يمسحه عنه، ويقول: «قم أبا تراب، قم أبا تراب

Narrated by Qutayba bin Sa’eed from Abdel-Aziz from My Father from Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d: (...) Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went to Fatima's house but did not find `Ali there. So he asked, "Where is your cousin?" She replied, "There was something between us and he got angry with me and went out. He did not sleep (midday nap) in the house." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked a person to look for him. That person came and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! He (Ali) is sleeping in the mosque." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went there and `Ali was lying. His upper body cover had fallen down to one side of his body and he was covered with dust. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) started cleaning the dust from him saying: "Get up! Oh Abu Turab. Get up! Oh Abu Turab (literally means: O father of dust).

This narration seems fine at first, but this same hadith is found in Sahih Muslim, both narrated to them by Qutaybah b. Sa'ad yet there is one sentence that exists here that doesn't exist in Bukhari's version; Sahih Muslim 2409:

حدثنا قتيبة بن سعيد، قال: حدثنا عبد العزيز يعني ابن أبي حازم، عن أبي حازم، عن سهل بن سعد، قال: استعمل على المدينة رجل من آل مروان قال: فدعا سهل بن سعد، فأمره أن يشتم علياً، قال: فأبى سهل، فقال له: أما إذ أبيت فقل: لعن الله أبا التراب. فقال سهل: ما كان لعلي اسم أحب إليه من أبي التراب، وإن كان ليفرح إذا دُعِيَ بها، فقال له: أخبرنا عن قصته، لم سمي أبا تراب؟ قال: جاء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم  بيت فاطمة، فلم يجد علياً في البيت، فقال «أين ابن عمك؟» فقالت: كان بيني وبينه شيء، فغاضبني فخرج، فلم يقل عندي، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لإنسان: «انظر، أين هو؟» فجاء فقال: يا رسول الله، هو في المسجد راقد، فجاءه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم  وهو مضطجع، قد سقط رداؤه عن شقه، فأصابه تراب، فجعل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يمسحه ويقول: «قم أبا التراب، قم أبا التراب.

Narrated by Qutayba bin Sa’eed from Abdel-Aziz from My Father from Sahl b. Sa`d reported that a person from the offspring of Marwan was appointed as the governor of Medina. He called Sahl b. Sa`d and ordered him to abuse `Ali. Sahl refused to do that. He (the governor) said to him: If you do not agree to it (at least) say: May Allah curse Abu Turab. Sahl said: There was no name dearer to `Ali than Abu Turab (for it was given to him by the Prophet himself) and he felt delighted when he was called by this name. He (the governor) said to him: Narrate to us the story of his being named as Abu Turab. He said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to the house of Fatima and he did not find `Ali in the house; whereupon he said: Where is your uncle's son? She said: (There cropped up something) between me and him which had annoyed him with me. He went out and did not rest here. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked a person to find out where he was. He came and said: Allah's Messenger, he is sleeping in the mosque. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to him and found him lying in the mosque and saw that his mantle had slipped from his back and his back was covered with dust and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) began to wipe it away from him (from the body of Hadrat `Ali) saying: Get up, covered with dust (Abu Turab); get up, covered with dust.

Bukhari chose to censor the part in which one of the family members of Marwan b. Al-Hakam, who was a govenor (most likely during the reign of Mu'awiyah), ordered Sahl b. Sa’ad to curse Imam Ali (as). The Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali (as) is well-known to anyone who studies history, but due to Ahlus Sunnah's censorship methodology this has become less known through-out the Islamic world. How many more reports is it that we do not find the original versions of, that have been censored by Bukhari? How can we trust the corpus of a mudalis?

Distortion 3: Wiping during wudu

We read in Sahih al-Bukhari 5616:

حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ مَيْسَرَةَ، سَمِعْتُ النَّزَّالَ بْنَ سَبْرَةَ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ عَلِيٍّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ أَنَّهُ صَلَّى الظُّهْرَ ثُمَّ قَعَدَ فِي حَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ فِي رَحَبَةِ الْكُوفَةِ حَتَّى حَضَرَتْ صَلاَةُ الْعَصْرِ، ثُمَّ أُتِيَ بِمَاءٍ فَشَرِبَ وَغَسَلَ وَجْهَهُ وَيَدَيْهِ وَذَكَرَ رَأْسَهُ وَرِجْلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ قَامَ فَشَرِبَ فَضْلَهُ وَهْوَ قَائِمٌ ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّ نَاسًا يَكْرَهُونَ الشُّرْبَ قَائِمًا وَإِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم صَنَعَ مِثْلَ مَا صَنَعْتُ‏.‏

Narrated An-Nazzal bin Sabra: `Ali offered the Zuhr prayer and then sat down in the wide courtyard (of the Mosque) of Kufa in order to deal with the affairs of the people till the `Asr prayer became due. Then water was brought to him and he drank of it, washed his face, hands, head and feet. Then he stood up and drank the remaining water while he was standing. and said, "Some people dislike to drink water while standing thought the Prophet did as I have just done."

The people at Sunnah.com did not even translate this hadith correctly, it should say: 'Then water was brought to him and he drank it, and washed his face and hands, and then mentioned his head and feet.' This hadith does not mention how Ali (as) did his wudu entirely, it's censored when it comes to his head and feet. Though we can guess what real word is, let us present the original version anyways in Musnad Abu Dawood al-Tayalusi, vol. 1, pg. 125:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي عَبْدُ الْمَلِكِ بْنُ مَيْسَرَةَ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ النَّزَّالَ بْنَ سَبْرَةَ، يَقُولُ: صَلَّى عَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ الظُّهْرَ فِي الرَّحَبَةِ ثُمَّ جَلَسَ فِي حَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ حَتَّى حَضَرَتِ الْعَصْرُ ثُمَّ أُتِيَ بِكُوزٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَصَبَّ مِنْهُ كَفًّا فَغَسَلَ وَجْهَهُ وَيَدَيْهِ وَمَسَحَ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ وَرِجْلَيْهِ ثُمَّ قَامَ فَشَرِبَ فَضْلَ الْمَاءِ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ ثُمَّ قَالَ: إِنَّ نَاسًا يَكْرَهُونَ أَنْ يَشْرَبُوا وَهُمْ قِيَامٌ وَرَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَعَلَ مِثْلَ الَّذِي فَعَلْتُ وَقَالَ: «‌هَذَا ‌وُضُوءُ ‌مَنْ ‌لَمْ ‌يُحْدِثْ» 

Narrated by Abu Dawud from Shu’ba from Abdel-Malik ibn Maysara from An-Nazzal bin Sabra who said: Ali offered the Zuhr prayer and then sat down in the wide courtyard (of the Mosque) of Kufa in order to deal with the affairs of the people till the `Asr prayer became due. Then water was brought to him and he drank of it, washed his face, hands, then he wiped his head and feet. Then he stood up and drank the remaining water while he was standing. and said, "Some people dislike to drink water while standing thought the Prophet did as I have just done." Ali (as) finished by saying : this is the wudhu of a person who has not become impure.

Again, we see that Bukahri narrated the same narration and he changed the word 'wiped' with the word 'mentioned' to hide the wudu of Imam Ali (as) in which he wiped his feet. The reasoning here is evident, the Sunnis believe that the feet should be washed in wudu while the Shi'a believe they should be wiped. He didn't want to give the Shi'a the upper hand here, in that the wudu of Imam Ali (as) was identical to the wudu that the Shi'a probagate for. This censorship should worry any honest person, Bukhari would rather censor the truth to follow his corrupted ways than simply accepting it.

Distortion 4: Umar b. al-Khattab accused of lying 

We read in Sahih al-Bukhari 4230:

قَالَ عُمَرُ الْحَبَشِيَّةُ هَذِهِ الْبَحْرِيَّةُ هَذِهِ قَالَتْ أَسْمَاءُ نَعَمْ‏.‏ قَالَ سَبَقْنَاكُمْ بِالْهِجْرَةِ، فَنَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْكُمْ‏.‏ فَغَضِبَتْ (...) وَقَالَتْ كَلاَّ وَاللَّهِ، كُنْتُمْ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُطْعِمُ جَائِعَكُمْ، وَيَعِظُ جَاهِلَكُمْ، وَكُنَّا فِي دَارِ أَوْ فِي أَرْضِ الْبُعَدَاءِ الْبُغَضَاءِ بِالْحَبَشَةِ، وَذَلِكَ فِي اللَّهِ وَفِي رَسُولِهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَايْمُ اللَّهِ

Asma' bint 'Umais who was one of those who had come with us, came as a visitor to Hafsa, the wife the Prophet (ﷺ) . She had migrated along with those other Muslims who migrated to Negus. `Umar came to Hafsa while Asma' bint 'Umais was with her. `Umar, on seeing Asma,' said, "Who is this?" She said, "Asma' bint 'Umais," `Umar said, "Is she the Ethiopian? Is she the sea-faring lady?" Asma' replied, "Yes." `Umar said, "We have migrated before you (people of the boat), so we have got more right than you over Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) " On that Asma' became angry and said, "(...) No, by Allah, while you were with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) who was feeding the hungry ones amongst you, and advised the ignorant ones amongst you, we were in the far-off hated land of Ethiopia, and all that was for the sake of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) .

This report can also be found in Sahih Muslim, but in Imam al-Bukhari's version we see a similar issue of him missing out content and we can see why he deemed this to be very problematic; Sahih Muslim 2502, 2503:

‏ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ سَبَقْنَاكُمْ بِالْهِجْرَةِ فَنَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْكُمْ ‏.‏ فَغَضِبَتْ وَقَالَتْ كَلِمَةً كَذَبْتَ يَا عُمَرُ كَلاَّ وَاللَّهِ كُنْتُمْ مَعَ

We have decided to not quote the translation, for it's been utterly mistranslated to ''Umar, you are not stating the fact'. The actual text states, 'And she said, "You lied O Umar! No by Allah, while you were..."'.

Bukhari censored this part in which Asma bt. Umays (sa) is calling Umar a liar. The great truthful Umar as recorded in Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3682 -

"Indeed Allah has put the truth upon the tongue and in the heart of 'Umar." 

-turns out to be called out for his lies by the woman of paradise, Asma bt. Umays (s). So much so for 'Adalat al-Sahaba' and that the companions are the 'most truthful nations of all'.

It is crucial to keep in mind that the goal of this article was simply to prove the unreliability of Bukhari as a hadith complier. These examples are all factors that would discredit him as being dishonest and point him out to be a mudalis, who would censor hadiths due to his desires. If he is playing with narrations to suit his beliefs, how can we rely on his book and take our religion from it? Is it true that the religion of Allah (swt) is being preserved through censorships? We hope you have recognised that the mindset that he had when writing his "sahih" book, and far more critics could be presented there.