A Critical View of Imam Bukhārī’s Term “Fīhi Naẓar” in Al Tārīkh Al Kabīr

التاریخ الکبیر میں امام بخاریؒ کی اصطلاح "فیه نظر"ایک تحقیقی جائزہ

Abstract

Among all the divine religions it is the capacity of Islam that all the utterances of the Messenger of Allah have been recorded and retained. In other religions, not only the sayings of spiritual leaders have been forgotten but many lies have been associated with them. In order to keep the Aḥādiths of Muhammad (PBUH) safe from liars, awareness about the knowledge, manners, and religious conditions of the narrators is necessary. In this regard, for the fair record of the Aḥādiths of Muhammad (PBUH), and for the acceptance of a hadith the knowledge of cross examination and neutralization (Jarḥ wa Ta’dīl) is very significant. For the acceptance of any narrator’s hadith, the experts of the knowledge of Ḥadīth, use specific terms in cross examination and neutralization (Jarḥ wa Ta’dīl). Without understanding these terms, it is really difficult to get to the meaning of Muḥaddith. One among these terms of the scholars of cross examination and neutralization (Jarḥ wa Ta’dīl) is Imam Bukhārī’s “Fīhi Naẓar”. In Al Tārīkh Al Kabir, Imam Bukhārī sometimes uses the phrase “Fīhi Naẓar”. In this treatise, Imam Bukhārī’s “Fīhi Naẓar” has been discussed and I have endeavored to answer the following questions. What does Imam Bukhārī means by “Fīhi Naẓar”? Whether Imam Bukhari means harsh cross examination (Jarḥ) or soft cross examination (Jarḥ)  from it? Have scholars other than Bukhari have used this phrase? Does it mean objection on the tradition of the narrator or the weakness of the chain?