Imām al-Bukhārī labels this section bāb rather than kitāb.1 The distinction between kitāb, bāb, and faṣl is one of scope: kitāb is the jins (genus), bāb is the nawʿ (type), and faṣl is the fard (singular). The three may be thought of as book, chapter, and section respectively.
A question naturally arises: is this chapter on revelation a prelude to the forthcoming kitāb al-Īmān (Book of Īmān), or does it stand on its own? The point is contested among the commentators of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, much as the question of whether Sūrat al-Fātiḥah falls within or outside the first juzʾ. Most commentators hold that this chapter stands on its own and is not part of kitāb al-Īmān, since kitāb al-Īmān has its own heading. Some have held that the reason it is not styled a kitāb is that it has no bāb falling under it.
The word باب itself can be read in three ways:
The definition of waḥy is the words of Allāh that are revealed to the Prophet ﷺ.
Why does Imām al-Bukhārī begin his book with the chapter of waḥy? The reason offered is that waḥy is the source of all good and the foundation upon which the laws of religion stand: the dīn rests on what was revealed and inspired to the Prophet ﷺ. One who does not believe in waḥy cannot believe in ḥadīth or in the rulings derived from it.
Shaykh Zakariyyā Kāndhlawī notes that Imām al-Bukhārī follows the chapter of waḥy with the chapter of īmān, then ʿilm, and then ṭahārah. The order is itself instructive: waḥy clarifies the rulings of religion and so opens the door to ʿamal (action). Correct aʿmāl require ʿilm, and ʿilm in turn presupposes īmān. Ṭahārah then follows, since it is the condition of the foremost of aʿmāl, that is, ṣalāh.3
﴿وَقَوْلُ اللَّهِ جَلَّ ذِكْرُهُ: ﴿إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ﴾
Sūrat al-Nisāʾ 4:163: Surely, We have revealed to you as We have revealed to Nūḥ and to the prophets after him.
Waḥy may take several forms. Dreams can be a form of waḥy, as can inspiration in the heart,4 and likewise revelation through Jibrāʾīl. The first prophet to receive waḥy was Nūḥ, not Ādam.
Ibn Baṭṭāl notes that the meaning of this āyah is that Allāh has given waḥy to the Prophet ﷺ as He gave waḥy to all of the prophets before him. The waḥy in question is the waḥy of prophethood, not the waḥy of ilhām (divine inspiration).
The opening ḥadīth of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, narrated by ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, on the principle that deeds are judged by their intentions, with notes on the Bukhārī isnād.
Why Imām al-Bukhārī opens his Ṣaḥīḥ with the tasmiyah alone, and how the ḥadīth of niyyah fulfils the rights of both tasmiyah and ḥamd.
How Imām al-Bukhārī came to compile his Ṣaḥīḥ: its name, scope, method of writing, places of authorship, and the principal commentaries upon it.
Ibn Ḥajar's nine views on the fate of the children of the mushrikīn who die before reaching the age of accountability.
