حَدَّثَنَا الْحُمَيْدِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيُّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنَ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ “ إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ ”.
Narrated ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍ. ʿanhu):
I heard Allāh's Messenger ﷺ saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for."
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī Ḥadīth 1
ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd relates that a man emigrated to marry a woman called Umm Qays, so the man was known as muhājir Umm Qays (the one who emigrated for Umm Qays).
Some have argued that the ال in the word الأعمال has come for istighrāq (encompassing all), i.e. that every action is judged upon its intention. For example, if one went a whole day without eating but his purpose was not to fast, then he will not be rewarded for this action. On the other hand, if he made the intention to fast and then did not eat the whole day, then he will be rewarded.
al-Ḥumaydī: his name is ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr al-Ḥumaydī (d. 219H). He is also known as al-Makkī. It has been said that Imām al-Bukhārī started his book with the narration of al-Ḥumaydī due to his link to Makkah, as this was where waḥy began.1
Sufyān: his name is Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah al-Makkī al-Tābiʿī (d. 198H).2 He completed Ḥajj seventy times.3 It is mentioned that he heard from seventy tābiʿīn.4
Yaḥyā b. Saʿīd al-Anṣārī (d. 143H)5 was from the ṣighār al-tābiʿīn. His grandfather was Qays b. ʿAmr, who was a Ṣaḥābī. His teacher was Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Taymī (d. 120H),6 who was from the awsaṭ al-tābiʿīn. His teacher ʿAlqamah b. Waqqāṣ al-Laythī was from the kibār al-tābiʿīn.7
Ibn Ḥajar mentions that this ḥadīth is only brought for blessings. Imām al-Bukhārī brought this ḥadīth to remind himself (or others) about the importance of having good intentions before starting an act. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī iterates the importance of having sincere intentions and says that this ḥadīth should be brought at the beginning of every chapter.
It has also been mentioned that this ḥadīth fulfils the purpose of having a khuṭbah for the kitāb, as it comes in the ḥadīth that ʿUmar (raḍ. ʿanhu) was giving khuṭbah in the presence of the Ṣaḥābah, and therefore Imām al-Bukhārī lets this suffice as the khuṭbah for his book. However, if this were the case then Imām al-Bukhārī should have brought it before the tarjamah (chapter heading), as others have done.
Ibn Munīr says that during the beginning of prophethood, the Prophet ﷺ would travel to the cave of Ḥirāʾ for the sake of Allāh. Therefore this ḥadīth is linked, as it talks about emigration for the sake of Allāh.
ʿAllāmah Sahāranpūrī says that one of the reasons Imām al-Bukhārī brought this ḥadīth first is because it was the first ḥadīth which the Prophet ﷺ narrated when he arrived at Madīnah.8
Another reason why this ḥadīth may have been brought first is that it is related to the word بدء, meaning beginning. All beginnings should be made with ikhlāṣ (sincerity). Since Imām al-Bukhārī is talking about the start of waḥy, and also starting his book, he started with this ḥadīth.
A biographical sketch of Imām al-Bukhārī: his lineage, character, scholarly competence, teachers, students, madhhab, writings, and death.
How Imām al-Bukhārī came to compile his Ṣaḥīḥ: its name, scope, method of writing, places of authorship, and the principal commentaries upon it.
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.
The opening chapter of *Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī*: why Imām al-Bukhārī begins with revelation, the meaning of waḥy, and the forms it takes.
