Dr. AlMalik Announces Initiative to Establish International Imam Al-Bukhari Association to Promote the Imam’s Status and His Contributions to Scholarly and Humanistic Awareness

On Thursday, 9 July 2026, the proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, “Imam Al-Bukhari’s Al-Jami’ As-Sahih: The Book of the Ummah,” held under the patronage of His Excellency President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of the Republic of Uzbekistan, concluded with the issuance of the Samarkand Declaration and a set of recommendations. The Declaration affirmed that the Prophet’s Sunnah is the second source of legislation after the Holy Quran and that the two are inseparable. It called for the establishment of the science of hadith history and encouraged researchers to study the various types of hadith and refute the claims made by some regarding the Prophet’s hadiths.

The Declaration of the Conference, organized by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) in partnership with the Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent and the Imam Bukhari International Scientific Research Center, also emphasized the importance of renewing the methodology of hadith studies and adopting the historical approach to counter arguments with evidence. It further pointed out that the study of the noble hadith goes beyond merely examining its legislative aspects to highlight the civilizational values embodied in the religious text.

The Conference’s outcomes and operational recommendations, presented by Ambassador Khalid Fathalrahman, Director of ICESCO’s Center for Civilizational Dialogue, during the closing session, included the launch of the “Al-Bukhari Route” under the patronage of the President of Uzbekistan. The initiative aims to highlight the cultural and scholarly exchanges resulting from the circulation of Sahih Al-Bukhari across the major centers of the Islamic world. The recommendations also proposed holding a biennial international conference dedicated to a leading figure of Islamic civilization, with the next conference devoted to Imam Muslim and his Sahih.

The recommendations included launching the International Al-Bukhari Award; publishing a scholarly encyclopedia on Imam Al-Bukhari, his teachers, his students, and his book; establishing a network of universities, institutions, and scholarly institutes dedicated to teaching Sahih Al-Bukhari; producing a documentary film on the life of Imam Al-Bukhari; publishing a book chronicling his journey in pursuit of knowledge and the collection of hadith; as well as a booklet containing the Prophet’s hadiths in the Sahih that address noble moral values.

The recommendations further called for the creation of a digital platform to monitor and track both positive and negative publications regarding Sahih Al-Bukhari and to provide scholarly responses to them, as well as the establishment of a scientific institute within the Imam Al-Bukhari Complex in Samarkand, in coordination with the ICESCO Office at the Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent, dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of the Prophet’s Hadith and Sunnah.

At the close of the Conference, Dr. Salim AlMalik, Director-General of ICESCO, expressed his deepest gratitude to His Excellency President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his patronage of the Conference and for his efforts to preserve and promote the heritage of the Islamic world and its prominent figures. In addition, Dr. AlMalik announced an initiative to establish the International Imam Al-Bukhari Association, in cooperation with the Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent, to serve as a global scholarly platform dedicated to preserving Imam Al-Bukhari’s legacy, cementing his standing in scholarly and humanistic awareness, and advancing specialized studies on his life, methodology, and civilizational contributions in service of the noble Sunnah of the Prophet.