Fath al-bari, Ibn Rajab's commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari

Fath al-bari, sharh Sahih al-Bukhari is Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's (d. 795 AH) commentary on Bukhari's collection (his biography). It was left unfinished. It opens with the book of faith and takes Bukhari's chapters one by one. ¹

Volume one covers the book of faith and the opening of the book of ghusl. The title page says the commentary reached the book of funerals, and quotes a remark that completing it would have been one of the marvels of the age. ²

Each chapter opens with its number and title as Bukhari gives them. The commentary then explains the words, and then the views of scholars on the question. For the first chapter, "Islam is built on five", it sets out the dispute over whether action ('amal) is nobler than doing (fi'l). It answers the view that action is nobler by noting that the Qur'an also calls the doing of evil deeds 'amal', and suggests the reverse argument would be stronger. ¹

The commentary relies on verses and hadiths, gathers scholars' views on each question, and uses legal-theory points and the meanings of words to explain the hadiths. ¹

The volume follows the chapters of the book of faith, from the first, "Islam is built on five", through "Your calling on Him is your faith" and "Matters of faith", to later chapters on the Islam of a person, faith, modesty and prayer. The first chapters begin on scan pages 7, 21 and 31. The volume ends in the book of ghusl, on scan page 393, at the chapter on washing what touches a woman's private parts. ³, ⁴, ⁵

Volume three begins Bukhari's book of prayer and takes its chapters in order. Each chapter carries the number of the hadith in Bukhari's text, for example hadith 379 in the chapter "If a worshipper's garment touches his wife when he prostrates". ⁶, ⁷

Where needed, the commentary refers back to an earlier passage. It notes that the hadith has already appeared in the chapters on menstruation, and uses it there to show that a menstruating woman's clothing is clean unless it shows impurity. It sets out the jurists' views on whether prayer is spoiled when a woman stands beside the worshipper: it is not spoiled if she is not praying, and disagreement arises only when both pray together with no barrier between them. Malik, Ahmad, Ishaq and later scholars are cited on the point. ⁶, ⁷

Volume ten is the index volume of the set. It lists the Qur'anic verses cited (scan page 7), the hadiths and reports (from about page 35), the reliability assessments in al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil, the transmission records, the references Ibn Rajab makes in the Fath, and the sources. It contains no commentary, so it is recorded here as a source only. ⁸

The views and chains in this record are those given by Ibn Rajab and the editors, and they have not been re-checked against other books. Page numbers are scan pages. ¹