Al-Bukhārī

Abu-Alabbas’s meticulous study of al-Bukhārī's life and thought, with its unparalleled discussions of his legal theory and theology, especially the theology of God’s speech, establishes al-Bukhārī as not only an eminent collector of ḥadīth but also a key contributor to the articulation of Sunni traditionalism. -- Jon Hoover, University of Nottingham
Few scholars in the Islamic tradition have been spoken of as reverently as al-Bukhārī, author of what is often called the most authoritative book in Islam after the Quran. Bypassing the centuries of hagiography around al-Bukhārī, Abu-Alabbas provides us with a much-needed examination of al-Bukhārī and his works based on an exhaustive reading of those works themselves. Centuries of scholars have written about al-Bukhārī, but this book can claim to have contributed something new. -- Jonathan AC Brown, Georgetown University
Al-Bukhārī is one of the towering figures of the Islamic tradition. His passion was obviously to collect and sift the sayings and precedential actions of the Prophet. His selection was close enough to the Sunni consensus of what those should be that he has sometimes seemed not a scholar of his time like al-Shāfiʿī or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal but a window onto the state of things over two centuries before him. Modern-day scholars have been notably wary of probing the record for more about him than was laid out in the fifteenth century. Belal Abu-Alabbas’ study is very welcome, then, in making al-Bukhārī himself a subject of extensive inquiry, particularly developing his legal thought. -- Christopher Melchert, University of Oxford