ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

Diploma in Hadith Studies

A continuous reading of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī — the Arabic text, its interpretation by the ḥadīth scholars, the principles of the science, and the method by which Imām al-Bukhārī arranged his work.

In academic development — enrolment opens after the Institute’s official launch.

Ḥadīth is often taught as a collection of individual reports. This diploma treats Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī as what it is: a structured work, arranged by a scholar who made deliberate choices about which report to place under which chapter heading, and why.

Every ḥadīth is studied in full — the Arabic text, its interpretation by the recognised commentators, the principles of uṣūl al-ḥadīth as the text raises them, and what the report asks of a Muslim living now. This is unhurried reading. Seven reports in a session is the working pace, and the diploma proceeds book by book across successive semesters, giving each ḥadīth the time it deserves.

Page from an eleventh-century manuscript copy of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, showing chapter headings in red

Folio from a copy of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, dated 1017 CE, with chapter headings in red. National Library of Bulgaria, via the Library of Congress.

Duration

16 weeks per semester

Structure

32 lectures · up to 7 aḥādīth per lecture

Languages

English and Urdu

Level

Diploma · beginners welcome, Arabic an advantage

The programme so far

Three semesters have been taught to completion, each covering complete books of the Ṣaḥīḥ.

Semester One
كتاب بدء الوحي — Kitāb Badʾ al-Waḥy · كتاب الإيمان — Kitāb al-Īmān

Semester Two
كتاب الجهاد والسير — Kitāb al-Jihād wa’l-Siyar

Semester Three
كتاب بدء الخلق — Kitāb Badʾ al-Khalq · كتاب الرقاق — Kitāb al-Riqāq

The coming semester — Kitāb al-Ṭahārah

The fourth semester covers the four books of purification in their entirety, from the opening of Kitāb al-Wuḍūʾ to the close of Kitāb al-Tayammum. A student completing this semester will have read the whole of what Imām al-Bukhārī gathered on ṭahārah, without omission.

كتاب الوضوء — Kitāb al-Wuḍūʾ
Aḥādīth 135–247 · 113 reports

كتاب الغسل — Kitāb al-Ghusl
Aḥādīth 248–293 · 46 reports

كتاب الحيض — Kitāb al-Ḥayḍ
Aḥādīth 294–333 · 40 reports

كتاب التيمم — Kitāb al-Tayammum
Aḥādīth 334–348 · 15 reports

214 reports across 32 lectures. At seven aḥādīth per session the semester has capacity for 224, which leaves margin for the sessions that require more time. The scope is set so that it can be completed, not so that it sounds ambitious.

Kitāb al-Ṣalāh and the books of prayer follow in the semesters ahead. Our mission is to read Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī in full, book by book, across successive semesters — giving every ḥadīth the time it deserves rather than fixing the work to a set number of years.

What distinguishes this programme

  • Continuous reading, not selections. Students work through complete books of the Ṣaḥīḥ in order, with every ḥadīth numbered and accounted for.
  • Seven reports a session, studied fully. Text, commentary, the relevant principles of the science, and the bearing on the present. The pace is stated in advance and kept.
  • The compiler’s method as subject matter. Why a report appears under a particular heading is treated as a question worth answering.
  • Every semester scoped to complete books. A cohort begins and ends on a chapter boundary, never mid-book.

Teaching approach

Methodology. Each lecture covers a defined range of aḥādīth, specified by number — ordinarily seven. The Arabic text is read, the chapter heading examined, the report’s placement discussed, the commentators consulted, and the principal points recorded. Relevant principles of uṣūl al-ḥadīth are introduced as the text raises them rather than taught in the abstract. A short weekly assessment covers that week’s material.

Philosophy. A student who has read a book of the Ṣaḥīḥ from beginning to end understands something no anthology can convey: how a subject is built. The aim is not to accumulate reports but to acquire the habit of reading a classical work as its author arranged it, at a pace that allows each report to be understood rather than merely passed over.

Who this programme is for

  • Students who wish to read the Ṣaḥīḥ itself rather than accounts of it, in Arabic or in translation
  • Students of Islamic studies seeking sustained engagement with a primary ḥadīth collection
  • Teachers who wish to teach ḥadīth from the text rather than from summaries
  • Researchers requiring familiarity with the structure of the Ṣaḥīḥ
  • Serious independent students prepared for weekly assessment

Learning outcomes

  • Read a complete book of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī with comprehension and locate any report within it
  • Explain the significance of a chapter heading and its relation to the reports beneath it
  • Identify the principal legal and doctrinal points arising from a given book
  • Recognise Imām al-Bukhārī’s method in arranging and selecting reports
  • Trace a topic across the several books in which it appears
  • Use the standard commentaries to resolve a difficulty in the text

Primary references

صحيح البخاري — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. The text itself, the primary source throughout

فتح الباري — Fatḥ al-Bārī, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

عمدة القاري — ʿUmdat al-Qārī, Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī

إرشاد الساري — Irshād al-Sārī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Qasṭallānī

الكواكب الدراري — Al-Kawākib al-Darārī, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Yūsuf al-Kirmānī

الكوثر الجاري إلى رياض أحاديث البخاري — Al-Kawthar al-Jārī, Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl al-Kūrānī

فيض الباري — Fayḍ al-Bārī, ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī

لامع الدراري — Lāmiʿ al-Darārī, Mawlānā Rashīd Aḥmad Gangohī

كشف الباري — Kashf al-Bārī, Mawlānā Salīm Allāh Khān (Urdu)

إنعام الباري — Inʿām al-Bārī, from the lectures of Mufti Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī (Urdu)

Urdu and English translations are used alongside the original throughout. Students may find Islamic Urdu Books and Sunnah.com useful for following the text between sessions.

Responsible use of AI

Artificial intelligence assists with reference and navigation: locating a report, cross-referencing a topic across books, and producing tables and diagrams for teaching.

No ḥadīth is quoted from AI, and no grading of a report is accepted from it. Text and authentication come from the printed sources and the recognised commentaries. This limit is stated to students in the first session.

Frequently asked questions

Students without Arabic are welcome. The text is studied in translation alongside the original, so the reading is accessible from the outset. A working knowledge of Arabic grammar deepens what a student takes from the sessions, and those wishing to build it may find the Diploma in Qur’anic Arabic a useful companion.

Yes. Each semester covers complete books of the Ṣaḥīḥ and is taught as a self-contained unit, so students are welcome to begin with the coming semester on purification. Joining partway through a semester in progress is not recommended, since the reading is continuous within the term.

Not within one semester, and any programme claiming otherwise is not reading the text properly. The Ṣaḥīḥ contains over 7,500 reports; at seven studied in full per session, it is the work of many years. Each semester covers complete books, and our mission is to read the collection in full across successive semesters.

Ordinarily seven, studied in full — text, commentary, principles, and application. The semester’s total is published in advance, book by book, with the ḥadīth numbers.

Both are distinct sub-disciplines within the principles of ḥadīth, and each is introduced as the text calls for it. Where a report raises a question of authentication or of narrator assessment, the concept is explained and applied to the passage in hand. The study is analytical throughout — the Arabic syntax and grammar of each report, its meaning, and the relevant principles — treated in a way that illuminates the ḥadīth rather than displacing its practical message.

A short weekly assessment covers that week’s material; there is no single final examination. A certificate of completion is issued by the Institute for each semester completed, recording the books studied and the range of aḥādīth covered.

Yes. Cohorts are taught live, with materials provided.

After this programme

  • Continued study of the Ṣaḥīḥ — Kitāb al-Ṣalāh and the books that follow, in subsequent semesters
  • Research supervision — for those undertaking academic work in ḥadīth
  • Diploma in Comprehensive Seerah Studies — the historical setting of the reports

Programme Status

This academic programme has been officially announced as part of the Dr. Seema Tahir Institute’s educational vision.

The curriculum is currently in its final stage of academic development.

Student enrolment will open following the Institute’s official launch and the completion of all necessary legal and administrative requirements.

Detailed schedules, admission procedures and the academic calendar will be announced through the Institute’s official website.

Register your interest

If you would like to be informed when this programme opens, leave your details below. We will write to you once the academic calendar is published. No other correspondence will be sent.

Programme Interest

Coming soon

Course Outline

A detailed academic outline of this programme will be available to download following the official launch.
Available after launch.

Student Portal

Enrolled students will access course materials, schedules and assessments through the Institute’s student portal.
Opening with the first cohort.