Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Salam) and the tyrant

Narrated by Abu Huraira (RadiyAllah anhu):

Prophet Ibrahim Alaihi Salam (Abraham) did not tell a lie except on three occasion. Twice for the Sake of Allah when he said, "I am sick," and he said, "(I have not done this but) the big idol has done it." The (third was) that while Ibrahim Alaihi Salam and Sarah (his wife) were going (on a journey) they passed by (the territory of) a tyrant from among the tyrants.

Someone said to the tyrant, "This man (i.e. Ibrahim Alaihi Salam) is accompanied by a very charming lady." So, he sent for Ibrahim Alaihi Salam and asked him about Sarah saying, "Who is this lady?" Ibrahim Alaihi Salam said, "She is my sister." Ibrahim Alaihi Salam went to Sarah and said, "O Sarah! There are no believers on the surface of the earth except you and I. This man asked me about you and I have told him that you are my sister, so don't contradict my statement."

The tyrant then called Sarah and when she went to him, he tried to take hold of her with his hand, but (his hand got stiff and) he was confounded. He asked Sarah. "Pray to Allah for me, and I shall not harm you." So Sarah asked Allah to cure him and he got cured. He tried to take hold of her for the second time, but (his hand got as stiff as or stiffer than before and) was more confounded. He again requested Sarah, "Pray to Allah for me, and I will not harm you." Sarah asked Allah again and he became alright. He then called one of his guards (who had brought her) and said, "You have not brought me a human being but have brought me a devil." The tyrant then gave Hajar as a girl-servant to Sarah.

Sarah came back (to Ibrahim Alaihi Salam) while he was praying. Ibrahim Alaihi Salam, gesturing with his hand, asked, "What has happened?" She replied, "Allah has spoiled the evil plot of the infidel (or immoral person) and gave me Hajar for service." (Abu Huraira then addressed his listeners saying, "That (Hajar) was your mother, O Bani Ma-is-Sama (i.e. the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, Hajar's son).

Sahih Al Bukhari 4:578

The scholars tests the memory of Imam Bukhari

One of the most telling stories about Imam Bukharee’s (May Allah have Mercy on him) intelligence and powerful memory was related by Ahmad ibn’ Adee al-Hafiz. Ahmad was present when a number of Baghdad’s most eminent scholars were discussing the arrival of Muhammad ibn Ismael al-Bukharee in their native city. The scholars of Hadeeth were particularly excited by his arrival, and they decided to put his knowledge and memory to the test. The plan they agreed upon was as follows: They would choose one hundred Hadeeth narrations and mix up the text s of those narrations with their chains of narrators; in the end each text would be matched with an incorrect chain. And they appointed ten people to conduct the test; each of those ten people was to present ten incorrect Hadeeth narrations to Imam Bukharee.

When Imam Bukharee (May Allah have Mercy on him) attended a gathering, the above mentioned scholars put their plan into action, and the ten chosen examiners sat in the front of the gathering so they could easily execute their plan; however only some people in the gathering, and not everyone , knew in advance about the planned test.

At the outset of the gathering, one of the ten men began by mentioning one of his incorrect Hadeeth, (and by incorrect, I mean that the text of the Hadeeth narration did not correctly correspond to its chain of narrators). Imam Bukharee responded “I do not know this Hadeeth” Those who did not know about a plan were surprised that Imam Bukharee , who was renowned for his knowledge of Hadeeth, did not know about a Hadeeth narration; meanwhile , those who knew about the plan were well pleased with his answer. The first examiner continued to mention one narration after another until he reached his tenth and final narration; and in response to each narration, Imam Bukharee said, “I don’t not know this Hadeeth”. The scholars who knew about the plan began to give knowing looks to one another, as if to say: Yes, he understands very well what we are doing. Meanwhile everyone else was beginning to have doubts about Imam bukharee’s knowledge. Perhaps they thought his reputation as a scholar and memorizer of Hadeeth narrations had been blown way out of proportion.  Such doubts grew in intensity when the next examiner presented ten Hadeeth narrations, and when in response to each of those narrations, Imam Bukharee said, “I do not know this Hadeeth narration”. This pattern continued until the tenth and final examiner mentioned his tenth and final narration. Every time one of the ten examiners mentioned a Hadeeth narration, Imam Bukharee said, “I do not know this Hadeeth narration.”

After the tenth examiner mentioned his final narration there was complete silence in the gathering, and Imam Bukharee realized that they were all finished and that it was his turn to speak. He turned to the first examiner and said, “As for the first Hadeeth you mentioned, you said such and such, but its correct version is such and such. As for the second Hadeeth you mentioned, you said such and such , but its correct version is such and such. And he continued in this manner until he corrected all ten narrations, matching each narration to its correct chain of narrators. Then he went on to do the same with the other nine examiners. When he was done, everyone that was present acknowledged his superior knowledge and memory.

Commenting on this story Al Hafiz ibn Hajar (May Allah have Mercy on him) wrote: It is not something to wonder at that he was able to correct the mistakes (that was presented to him) for that was to be expected from him since he was a prolific memorizer of Hadeeth narrations. What was so amazing was that, having heard the examiners presentations only once, he was to able to memorize, in order all of the mistakes that they presented to him. 

Source: The biography of Imam Bukharee by Salahudden ibn Alee ibn Abdul Maujood. 

A beautiful story of trusting in Allah

In his Saheeh, Imam Bukhari related that a man from the children of Israel asked another to lend him one thousand diners.

The second man asked, "Do you have a witness (for this transaction)?"

The first man replied, "I have no witness except Allah."

The other man then asked, "Do you have a guarantor?"

The man said, "I have no guarantor except Allah."

The second man said, "Allah is Ever All-Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs."

He then gave him the thousand diners; they parted and between them there was an agreement upon a place and time for the paying back of the loan. As it happened, they lived on opposite sides of a river. When the time drew near for the transaction, the borrower went to the shore to find a boat so that he could repay his debt. To his disappointment, he found no boat. He continued to wait until long after nightfall without succeeding in finding someone to take him across to the other side.

He said, "O' Allah, he asked me for a witness and I found no one but you; he asked me for a guarantor, and I found no one but you. O' Allah, make this letter reach him." He took a piece of wood, hollowed it out, and inserted the thousand diners with the letter. Then he hurled the piece of wood into the river.

By the permission of Allah, it floated forward according to a guided course. The lender went to the shore in keeping with the appointment. He waited for a little while, and when the other man did not come, he said to himself, "Why don't I at least take some firewood for my family?" He passed by the piece of wood and took it home. Finding that it was hallow, he broke it open and found the money with the letter.

Source: Don't be sad by Aaidh al Qarni

What some scholars said about Al-Bukhari

(Rahimahullah)

Nu’aym ibn Hammaad said, “Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel (Al-Bukhari) is the Faqeeh of the Ummah.”

Ishaaq ibn Raahawaih said, “Write narrations from this young man (meaning al-Bukhari), because if he had lived in the time of al-Hasan the people would have had need of him due to his knowledge of hadeeth and its understanding.”

Aboo Bakr ibn Abee Shaybah and Muhammad ibn Abdullaah ibn Numayr both said, “We have not seen anyone like Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel.”

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Khuraasaan has not brought out the like of Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel.”

Aboo ‘Ammaar al-Husayn ibn Huraith praised al- Bukhaaree and said, “I am not aware that I have seen anyone the like of him, it is as if he had been created solely for the hadeeth.”

Muhammad ibn Bashshaar said, “The great memorizers of the world are four: Aboo Zur’ahi in Rayy, ad-Daarirnee in Samarqand, Muhammad ibn Ismaa’eel in Bukhaaraa and Muslim in Neesaaboor.”

Ibn Khuzaymah said, “I have not seen under the sky anyone having more knowledge of and better memorization of the hadeeth of Allaah’s Messenger (swallallahu alayhi wasallam) than Muhammad ibn Isrnaa’eel.”

Abul-Azhar said, “There were four hundred students of hadeeth in Samarqand and they came together for a week and hoped to find Muhammad ibn Ismaa‘eel make a mistake. So they entered the chains of narration of Shaam upon those of ‘Iraaq, and chains of Yemen upon those of Makkah and al-Madeenah, but they could not find a single mistake from him in any chain of narration or any text.”

Source: The creed of the Imam of Hadeeth Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismaa'eel ( Rahimahullah)