Hadith criticism in İbn Hacer's "Fath al-Bârî bi Sharh Sahîh al-Bukhârî"

The formation of a correct understanding of the Sunnah requires not only the transmission of hadiths in accordance with their original form but also, when necessary, the criticism of hadiths to distinguish the authentic ones from the weak and fabricated ones. Throughout Islamic scholarly tradition, scholars have devoted significant effort to this issue and developed comprehensive methods to determine the authenticity of hadiths. Ibn Hajar, one of the prominent figures in the science of hadith, made significant contributions to hadith criticism. In this context, the hadiths discussed in his work Fath al-bârî bi sharh sahîh al-Bukhârî have been examined, and the methods he followed in his commentary, based on his critiques of the hadiths, have been analyzed through examples. The development of the science of jarh and ta'dil directly related to hadith criticism has been discussed, and Ibn Hajar's contributions and the methods he followed in this field have been evaluated. Furthermore, the most frequently used terms in his criticism of hadiths in his commentary have been compared with the views of other scholars of criticism, and through examples, the appropriateness of these terms to the method and their semantic scope has been analyzed. In addition, hadiths criticized due to disruptions in their chains of narration, as well as the criticism of narrators and disagreements regarding trustworthy narrators, have been analyzed in the context of examples. Finally, Ibn Hajar's criticisms regarding the content of the hadiths have been evaluated within the framework of the criteria he employed and discussed with various examples. As a result, it has been determined that Ibn Hajar placed particular emphasis on the criticism of the chain of narration and evaluated hadiths within the framework of text criticism by comparing them with the Qur'an, authentic hadiths, principles of jurisprudence, historical information, and logical reasoning. Additionally, it has been observed that he criticized certain hadiths as originating from Israiliyyat, noting that they were not found in reliable hadith sources, and sometimes made generalizations by stating that all or most hadiths on a particular topic could not be authentic. Moreover, he pointed out that certain narrations were found in works written to compile fabricated hadiths, which is also noteworthy in his criticism. Key Words: Hadith, Criticism, al-Bukhârî, Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bârî.