Grammatical Evidence for the Present Tense in Sahih Al-Bukhari (a descriptive and analytical study)

Abstract

The research focused on evidence in Sahih al-Bukhari that deviates from the well-known rule in the grammar of the present tense verb. After identifying these texts that contain grammatical problems, the research explained the grammatical issue and then compared the problematic wording in the hadith to the wording of other hadiths that share the same meaning and the same chain of narration. The research concluded that this evidence is not the words of the Prophet Muhammad or his companions, as the narrators of the hadiths were more concerned with the meaning than the wording. However, the research supported Ibn Malik's approach of relying on these hadiths that deviate from the well-known grammatical rule, based on the views of contemporary linguists on the philosophy of language and its flexible nature. This is what Ibn Malik was pointing to when he went beyond normative grammar to descriptive grammar. The research also discussed some of the ideas of contemporary scholars on the subject of fundamentals of audio grammar and the use of the present tense verb rules. It recommended reconsidering its traditional rules, especially for verbs that include a vowel letter and verbs that are followed by the “Noon” letter, known as the five examples.