Al-Albaani's comments on Al-Bukhari's 'Al-Adab Al-Mufrad'
Fatwa No: 137043

Question

Assallam wa alykum, i heard that shaikh nassuriddin albani had removed some hadeeths from Sahihi Bukhari regarding Kiss of leg/hands---- if he did he must have mention why he did as i know him my his knowledge and work i dont think he will just do it without any explanation or reason jazak allah khair

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

First of all, you should know that Al-Bukhari did not report in his “Saheeh” – as far as we know – any Hadeeth about kissing the hands and legs.

Secondly, Al-Bukhari reported these Ahaadeeth in “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad”, and Shaykh Al-Albaani classified them as Dha’eef [weak] in his checking to the Ahaadeeth of “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad”.

This will be clarified as follows: Al-Bukhari reported in “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad” a Hadeeth about a woman whose name was Umm Abaan who was the daughter of Al-Waazi’ from her grandfather (Az-Zaari’ ibn ‘Aamir ) who was among the delegation of ‘Abd Qays, that he said: “We came, and it was said: “‘That is the Prophet ’, so we kissed his hands and legs.” Shaykh Al-Albaani said: “Its chain of narration is Dha’eef, as Umm Abaan is unknown.” End quote [Dha’eef Al-Adab Al-Mufrad]

Also, Al-Bukhari reported in “Al-Adab Al-Mufrad” a Hadeeth from Suhayb who said: “I saw ‘Ali kissing the hand and legs of Al-‘Abbaas.” Al-Albaani said: “Its chain of narration is Dha’eef, and it is not directly attributed to the Companion. In addition to this, Suhayb who was a freed slave of Al-‘Abbaas is not known.”  [This is extracted from Dha’eef Al-Adab Al-Mufrad by Al-Albaani]

Finally, we would like to mention that Shaykh Al-Albaani criticized some Ahaadeeth in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim, but he was not an innovator in this issue as some prominent scholars did so before him, like Ad-Daaraqutni. Shaykh Al-Albaani made Ijtihaad (i.e. the effort a jurist makes in order to deduce the verdict) about this and he will be rewarded whether he was right or wrong, and it is not necessary that he was right. Moreover, such a behavior from Ad-Daaraqutni or Al-Albaani does not degrade the rank and status of Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim.

Allaah Knows best.

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