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Abstract

The general rule for any work on narrators’ biographies is that every independent entry indicates that it belongs to a unique narrator and is entirely separate from all other entries, even if they have similar names. This is the general rule for all biographical collections, the only exception being for the author to clearly state that one entry is related to another, such as to say “so-and-so is so-and-so” in reference to a previous or later entry, or for him to mention something linking the two narrators and indicating that he is of the conclusion they are one and the same. This is in fact the methodology of al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr in identifying and distinguishing narrators, as is the case with all other biographical collections. This is how all scholars understood al-Bukhārī’s methodology in his Tārīkh. All referred to his work and disputed his conclusions based on this understanding, until Sh. al-Mu`allimī offered an alternative understanding of al-Bukhārī’s method of dealing with issues of al-jam` wa ‘l-tafrīq. He based this conclusion on three points which he considered evidence for his view. This paper seeks to challenge the justifications underpinning al-Mu`allimī’s view, demonstrating they are false. Thereby, it seeks to reiterate that the method of al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr with regards to al-jam` wa ‘l-tafrīq is like all other biographical collections, contrary to the view of Sh. al-Mu`allimī may Allāh have mercy on him. This paper has reached the following conclusions: 1. Imām al-Bukhārī is like other authors of biographical collections in that when he makes distinct biographical entries, this indicates that the subject of the entries are different narrators, regardless of whether he mentions these entries side by side or separates them, except when there is some indication otherwise. 2. Al-Mu`allimī was fundamentally wrong in his understanding of Imām al-Bukhārī’s approach to dealing with cases of al-jam` wa ‘l-tafrīq.

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