They seal it on the night of the 27th of Ramadan.. What is the secret of the Algerians' attachment to Sahih al-Bukhari?

Algeria -

For centuries, the Algerians have been reciting “Sahih al-Bukhari” annually through the country’s mosques, especially the ancient ones, as it begins with the beginning of the month of Rajab each year, to conclude with Laylat al-Qadr, which is believed to be the night of the 27th of the holy month of Ramadan.

Over time, this spiritual scientific event has become a “benign year” that enjoys the patronage of the government authorities, represented by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, which annually supervises its launch and accompanies it to its conclusion with official protocols.

Watch Bukhari reading

With great longing for a spiritual past, Sheikh Ali Aiya, the well-known imam, recalls, in the Great Mosque of Algiers since 1973, the special attention that the reading of Sahih al-Bukhari received from other religious activities during the sixties and seventies.

In his recounting of his memories, Ayah said - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that the reciters of Al-Sahih were at that time very vigorous, and they were originally from the "party" who constantly read the Quranic party roses collectively in mosques.

Sheikh Aya is a witness to the path of half a century of reading Sahih Al-Bukhari in Algeria (Al-Jazeera)

In a tone predominantly nostalgia, the Sheikh began to invoke the spiritual atmosphere, where the readers would wash and purify, then adorn themselves with the best clothes, wearing authentic Algerian dress, as is the custom of Muslims on their religious holidays.

The rituals of the pioneers of the “Bukhari Majlis” did not differ from the imams, as they invoked the intention of worship, and eagerly accepted it between the noon and afternoon prayers, where they listened to it in serenity and reverence, as he described it.

Those councils woven a strong brotherly bond with the members of the Arab community, from Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, where they continued to participate in Al-Bukhari’s circles, by virtue of their presence in Algeria as delegates for education, within the framework of the Arabization movement.

Algerian Maghreb melody

Sheikh Aya revealed to us that the reading in his time was in an Algerian Maghreb melody, sometimes mixed with the Andalusian tune, taking into account the provisions of the mudd and cases of endowment, after the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, and the raising of the call to prayer, in the Algerian way inherited centuries ago.

The reader sometimes stops to explain the difficult meanings on the fast, then completes his reading, usually alternately with 4 sheikhs, who take over the role of each other when moving from one section to another, according to the famous division in the book of Al-Bukhari.

The man remembers the brilliant names of the elders of Algeria, who were among the flags of Al-Bukhari’s councils, similar to the sheikhs: Abd al-Rahman Shaiban (Minister of Religious Affairs), Boualem Baqi (Minister in the same sector), Muhammad Sharif, Abd al-Qadir Boqaftan, Shaykh al-Balidi and Omar al-Asimi and others.

And the Algerians were keen on it, they allocated a financial grant to these readers from endowment funds and donations of benefactors, because the imams at the time were not affiliated with the public office, according to the speaker’s testimony.

In order to preserve this religious heritage, Sheikh Aayah appealed to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to transfer this event to the space of the “Great Mosque of Algeria” (the third largest mosque in the world) on the condition that it be established by senior sheikhs from the country’s references, with the heavy media being harnessed to broadcast it directly.

Generations have passed... and reading is one

Despite the passage of time and the succession of generations, Algerians are clinging to the inheritance of their fathers and grandfathers. Mourad Gurouj, the imam in Saida governorate (490 km west of the capital), confirmed that its ancient mosque has, since its foundation, been a beacon for reading and explaining Sahih al-Bukhari.

"If the month of Rajab enters, our mosques renew the covenant with the Sunnah of the Fathers, as the hadiths of Al-Bukhari are recited between the call to prayer until the time of prayer, which reflects that strong spiritual connection to the community with the healthiest book after the Book of God," Qarouj said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net.

He proposes reviving this heritage with a new spirit, which gives it more momentum and benefit, especially among today's youth, from the generation of technology and information, and those who are retreating on social networks, by exploiting these spaces to broadcast the reading of Al-Bukhari's book virtually.

The speaker attributed the Algerians’ popular and official attachment to reading Sahih al-Bukhari to the fact that “God blessed them with the first scholar who explained Sahih al-Bukhari, namely Abu Jaafar Ahmed bin Nasr al-Daoudi al-Masili al-Tilmisani.”

Who is Ahmed bin Nasr Daoudi Algerian?

In the first part of his book “The History of Algerian Culture from the Phoenician Era to Independence,” the researcher Saleh Farkous mentions that the scholar Abu Jaafar Ahmed bin Nasr Al-Daoudi Al-Masili Al-Telmisani, lived in Tripoli (Libya) for a while, and wrote his book “Sharh Al-Muwatta” in it, then moved to Tlemcen. (Western Algeria) until he died in the year 402 AH.

The historian al-Daoudi describes him as an imam, a modern jurist and a glorious author, who had a fortune in the sciences of the tongue and sight.

He also took from him jurisprudence and religious sciences: Abu Abdullah Al-Bawni, Abu Bakr bin Abi Zaid Al-Qayrawani and others, and Al-Qadi Ayyad said about him that he is “one of the Maliki imams in Morocco, and the glorious scholars of authorship.”

As for the books of Imam Daoudi, the most prominent of them are the book “Al-Nami” which is an explanation of the Muwatta of Imam Malik, “Al-Wa’i fi Fiqh” and “The Clarification in Refutation of Qadariyyah”, as well as “Al-Nisa’ah fi Sharh Al-Bukhari”, “Al-Osoul” and “Tafsir of the Qur’an” The Holy One, and the book “The Money”.

The famous scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani took from his sheikhs “Sharh al-Muwatta” and “Sharh al-Bukhari” for the imam of Algeria, and mentioned this in his dictionary, as many of his sayings were quoted from him in his book “Fath al-Bari” either directly or through Ibn al-Tin, and the scholar al-Maliki Ibn al-Tin also authorized it. Abd al-Bar, according to what the investigator in Islamic history, Ali al-Zubair, reports.

The Maliki jurist, the scholar Abu Bakr bin al-Arabi, quoted some of his explanations from him, and the same was done by Judge Iyadh in his explanation of Sahih Muslim, and scholars cited many of his fatwas, similar to al-Aqbani al-Tilmisani, al-Wancharisi and al-Shatibi in his approvals and al-Mazari.

Victory in wars and lifting of affliction

Regarding the symbolism of Sahih al-Bukhari in the Algerian popular consciousness, Boumediene Bouzid, Secretary-General of the Supreme Islamic Council, believes that the celebration of Sahih al-Bukhari is a celebration of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, as he “has become present in the popular imagination as knowledge and for blessing.”

In a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, he said that the immortalization of works, poems and books is a historical issue that appeared since the tenth century of migration, and began to take root in popular memory, so that families named Al-Bukhari's name on their children in blessing and hope that they would become like him.

Bouzid believes that Sahih al-Bukhari had a deep presence in the popular imagination (Al-Jazeera)

In his journey (18th century), Ibn Hamadush mentions the Algerians’ celebration of the reading of Sahih al-Bukhari during the Ottoman era, which continued to this day in the Great Mosque in Algiers, where he was recited in a collective voice by eminent scholars, after spraying the wall with rose water, which made him a part of blessing .

Bouzid, a researcher in Islamic philosophy, explained that Sahih Al-Bukhari accompanied the armies in the last two centuries, as it was recited during the war march or in adversity, to beg God for its demise, until it became a symbol of victory.

The speaker stated that Emir Abdul Qadir always carried with him the book of Al-Bukhari in his resistance to the French occupation (1830-1847) and hung in its margins, and his personal copy is still preserved.

The Sultan of Marrakesh, Moulay Ismail Alaoui (1672-1727), also established a group whose mission was to read Sahih Al-Bukhari in the army and wars, which he called “the army of Al-Bukhari or his servants” and its founding - according to others - dates back to the era of the Saadian state in Morocco (1510-1658), according to the researcher Boumediene.

And he considered the adherence of the Algerians, now and in the future, to this tradition in reading Sahih Al-Bukhari in order to preserve privacy, as it is part of the heritage and falls within the tourism and cultural field.