A Study of Ijtihad in the Interpretation of Tafsir al-Bukhāri, and its Strong Effect from Abu Obeida

Sahih al-Bukhāri, one of the source books and references of Sunni Islam, includes a section called the book of commentary (Kitāb al-Tafsir) which is a collection of interpretive narrations. Every simple Hadith book written in early centuries is only expected to be regarded in terms of its special approach to supported tradition. The aforementioned section of Sahih al-Bukhāri, however, appears to be a display of rational (literary-rhetorical) interpretation rather than traditional interpretation. Documenting narratives, using mojtahid interpreters, choosing pure narrations, collecting interpretive narrations, and entitling them, and selecting sound traditions from others are factors which highlights Ijtihād in this exegesis. In this exegesis, most of the time, al-Bukhāri have mentioned the name of interpreter under the interpretation of the words of Quran. When the interpreter’s name is not included, it is assumed that he himself is the interpreter of that part. A few centuries later, the exegetes of Sahih al-Bukhāri attributed most of those interpretations to Abu Obeida Moammar ibn al-Muthanna. Investigating why al-Bukhari hesitate to bring the name of Abu Obeida indicates that there are two main reasons; (a) following early scholars’ method in avoiding to cite main reference of statements, and (b) attempting to decrease the size of book.