The Circular Logic of Hadith Biographies (Ilm al-Rijal)

Further proof that Bukhari completed his Tarik after his Sahih is that nowhere in his Sahih does he reference the work of Tarikh al-Kabir, yet there are potential references to his Sahih in his Tarik. On page 21 of the book by Muntasir Zaman entitled “The Textual Integrity of Sahih al-Bukhari,” he states:

In al-Tarik al-kabir, al-Bukhari directs readers to his book “al-Musnad” and another book titled “al-Mukhtasar.” Both labels are found in what later became the standard title of the Sahih (al-Jami’ al-musnad al-Sahih al-mukhtasar).

Zaman does point out some holes in the above claim, but realistically, it comes down to the dates of completion. According to most sources, Bukhari completed his Sahih in 846 CE / 231 AH, and according to the scholar Christopher Melchert in his article,”Bukhārī and Early Hadith Criticism,” he states that Bukhari wrote his Tarik in 866 CE / 252 AH.

Page 19 of Muntasir Zaman’s book “The Textual Integrity of Sahih al-Bukhari” indicates that al-Tarikh al-Kabir was written in 860 CE / 246 AH. In his footnote, he writes:

“38. In the opening paragraph of his recension of al-Tarikh al-kabir, Ibn Sahl al-Muqri’ states, “Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim al-Ju’fi narrated to us in Basra in 246 AH.” See al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-kabir, .