Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

One ahle hadees imam said to me that only 2 hadiths are right sahi muslim and sahi bukhari rest all are zaheef hadiths is this right ?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Only Bukhari muslim right sahih

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It would not be absolutely accurate to state that only Muslim and Bukhari have recorded the collection of authentic or ‘sahih’ hadiths; according to the science of declaring hadiths authentic or ‘sahih, the collection of many other eminent scholars have also been recognized and declared as ‘sahih’, amongst them are Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Maalik, Nisaai, Ibn Maajah, Ahmad, etc. Thus it would not be true that only the collection of Muslim and Bukhari are authentic and all the other works of eminent scholars are collections of weak or ‘daeef’ hadiths.

Beloved brother in Islam, the collections and documentations of hadiths is a work of man, and as with every work of man, there is always a chance of error. The science and the process of elimination used by Bukhari and Muslim is indeed regarded as the strictest and most researched by the scholars. And amongst the scholars, the hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim are indeed recognized as having the largest pencentage of ‘sahih’ hadiths compared to the works of other scholars. One must also realize that as good and pious as Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim were, they were human beings, and thus it is also possible that even their collections might include some ‘weak’ hadiths.

It is only the All-Mighty and All-Wise Lord of the Worlds Who is Absolutely Perfect in everything He does, and Far Exalted above ever making an error; and one can say with absolute confidence that ONLY His Revelation and Collection and Documentation of the Glorious Quran is absolutely authentic and ‘sahih’. All the others are works of man, and must be scrutinized and examined for their authenticity.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan