All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds. May His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
Muslim scholars have unanimously agreed that the hadiths in the collections of Bukhari and Moslim do not contain any fabricated (Mawdu') hadiths. They also agree that these are the most authentic two books after the Holy Quran.
As for the Israelite narrations (Isrā'īliyyāt): these are plural of Isrā'īliyyah, which is a term referring to the Children of Israel (Banī Isrā'īl). Israel is our Prophet Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham (peace be upon them). These are narrations transmitted to us by some hadith scholars and exegetes from the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) during the time when the Islamic state expanded and Muslims mixed with the People of the Book, lived as their neighbors, and many of them entered Islam.
Some people have used these Isrā'īliyyāt as a way to discredit the imams and scholars of Islam who had a firm footing in the religion. They have challenged some of the hadiths in the two Sahih collections, and rejected them on the pretext that they are Isrā'īliyyāt and that they contradict the Quran, science, and reason.
However, the hadith scholars, led by Al-Bukhari and Moslim, did not overlook the issue of some Companions narrating from the People of the Book. This is evident in several places through their handling and critical analysis (Ta'lil) of certain narrations, in addition to their establishing specific hadith principles. This gave rise to a critical methodology through which it was impossible for any of these false notions to seep into the authentic Prophetic hadiths. Among these approaches and principles are:
1. Minimizing narration from the People of the Book: They limited their use to a narrow scope that was consistent with the Quran, the Sunna, and the universal principles of Islam. If one were to track the narrations transmitted by the authors of the authoritative hadith collections, one would find that they are few in number compared to other books of history and exegesis, for example. Ka'b Al-Ahbar, for instance, was mentioned by Al-Bukhari only in passing, and Moslim transmitted three narrations from him. As for Wahb Ibn Munabbih, Al-Bukhari transmitted one hadith from him, and Muslim one hadith. By examining the narrations transmitted by the two Sheikhs (Bukhari and Moslim) from them, we find they have corroborating narrations and supporting chains from other paths, and they do not contradict any of the principles of Islam.
2. Establishing specific principles in hadith terminology (Mustalah Al-Hadith) related to narrations from the People of the Book: The hadith scholars considered the issue of some Companions narrating from the People of the Book when establishing some hadith principles. For instance, in the discussion of a Companion's saying that carries the ruling of a hadith (Marfū', elevated to the Prophet), they stipulated that for a Companion's saying that does not allow for independent reasoning (Ijtihad) to be considered a Marfū' hadith, the Companion must not be known for taking narrations from the People of the Book. With this condition, they guarded against the possibility of narrations received by the Companions from the People of the Book being elevated to the status of Marfū' hadiths.
3. Not considering them as a source of legal evidence (Hujjiyyah): They narrated them only for the purpose of corroboration (Istishhad). No scholar has ever been recorded as relying on a legal ruling derived from the narrations of the Children of Israel. On the contrary, more than one scholar has explicitly stated that these are reports mentioned only for corroboration, and it is not obligatory to believe in their authenticity, nor are practical rulings built upon them.
In conclusion, the claim that the two Sahih collections are flawed due to their inclusion of some Isrā'īliyyāt is a flimsy argument. The hadith scholars were not oblivious to this issue; rather, they established a precise methodology for dealing with such narrations that guaranteed nothing alien to the Sharia would be introduced into it. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
