Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Al-Tirmidhi
Islamic hadith scholar (824–892) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (Arabic: محمد بن عيسى الترمذي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā at-Tirmidhī; 824 – 9 October 892 CE / 209–279 AH), often referred to as Imām at-Termezī/Tirmidhī, was an Islamic scholar, and collector of hadith from Termez (early Khorasan and in present-day Uzbekistan). He wrote al-Jami` as-Sahih (known as Jami` at-Tirmidhi), one of the six canonical hadith compilations in Sunni Islam. He also wrote Shama'il Muhammadiyah (popularly known as Shama'il at-Tirmidhi), a compilation of hadiths concerning the person and character of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. At-Tirmidhi was also well versed in Arabic grammar, favoring the school of Kufa over Basra due to the former's preservation of Arabic poetry as a primary source.[3]
Remove ads
Biography
Summarize
Perspective
Muhammad ibn `Isa at-Tirmidhi was born during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun into the Banu Sulaym tribe, an Arab tribe that had settled widely in Central Asia. His recent lineage is given as; Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Sawrah ibn al-Dahhak al-Sulaymi.[4] His year of birth has been reported as 209 AH (824/825).[5][6][7] Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826),[8] thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH.[9][10] Some sources indicate that he was born in Mecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822))[11] while others say he was born in Tirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southern Uzbekistan.[5] The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh.[8] Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").[6][10][12][13]
Hadith studies
At-Tirmidhi began the study of hadith at the age of 20. From the year 235 AH (849/850) he traveled widely in Khurasan, Iraq, and the Hijaz in order to collect hadith.[9][14][15] His teachers and those he narrated from included:
- al-Bukhari[9][16][17][14][15][18][5][11]
- Abū Rajā’ Qutaybah ibn Sa‘īd al-Balkhī al-Baghlāni[16][17][15][5]
- ‘Alī ibn Ḥujr ibn Iyās as-Sa‘dī al-Marwazī[16][17][15][5]
- Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Baṣrī[17][15][5]
- ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mu‘āwiyah al-Jumaḥī al-Baṣrī[16]
- Abū Muṣ‘ab az-Zuhrī al-Madanī[16]
- Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mālik ibn Abī ash-Shawārib al-Umawī al-Baṣrī[16]
- Ismā‘īl ibn Mūsá al-Fazārī al-Kūfi[16]
- Muḥammad ibn Abī Ma‘shar as-Sindī al-Madanī[16]
- Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-‘Alā’ al-Kūfī[16][15]
- Hanād ibn al-Sarī al-Kūfī[16][15]
- Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Harawī[16]
- Suwayd ibn Naṣr ibn Suwayd al-Marwazī[16]
- Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Baṣrī[15]
- Zayd ibn Akhzam al-Baṣrī[18]
- al-‘Abbās al-‘Anbarī al-Baṣrī[18]
- Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná al-Baṣrī[18]
- Muḥammad ibn Ma‘mar al-Baṣrī[18]
- ad-Darimi[15][5]
- Muslim[18][5][11]
- Abu Dawud[14][18][11]
At the time, Khurasan, at-Tirmidhi's native land, was a major center of learning, being home to a large number of muhaddiths. Other major centers of learning visited by at-Tirmidhi were the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Basra. At-Tirmidhi reported hadith from 42 Kufan teachers. In his Jami`, he used more reports from Kufan teachers than from teachers of any other town.[18]
At-Tirmidhi was a pupil of al-Bukhari, who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, "His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari."[5] At-Tirmidhi mentioned al-Bukhari's name 114 times in his Jami`. He used al-Bukhari's Kitab at-Tarikh as a source when mentioning discrepancies in the text of a hadith or its transmitters, and praised al-Bukhari as being the most knowledgeable person in Iraq or Khurasan in the science of discrepancies of hadith. When mentioning the rulings of jurists, he followed al-Bukhari's practice of not mentioning the name of Abu Hanifah. Because he never received a reliable chain of narrators to mention Abu Hanifa's decrees, he would instead attribute them to "some people of Kufa."[18] Al-Bukhari held at-Tirmidhi in high regard as well. He is reported to have told at-Tirmidhi, "I have profited more from you than you have from me," and in his Sahih he narrated two hadith from at-Tirmidhi.[18][5]
At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud, and one from Muslim.[18] Muslim also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his own Sahih.[5]
A.J. Wensinck mentions Ahmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi's teachers.[14][18] However, Hoosen states that according to the most reliable sources, at-Tirmidhi never went to Baghdad, nor did he attend any lectures of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Furthermore, at-Tirmidhi never directly narrates from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Jami`.[18]
Several of at-Tirmidhi's teachers also taught al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and an-Nasa'i.
Writings
- Al-Jami' al-Mukhtasar min as-Sunan 'an Rasul Allah, known as Jami' at-Tirmidhi
- Al-'Ilal as-Sughra
- Az-Zuhd
- Al-'Ilal al-Kubra
- Ash-Shama'il an-Nabawiyya wa'l-Fada'il al-Mustafawiyya
- Al-Asma' wa'l-Kuna
- Kitab at-Tarikh
He is also reported to have a work on Islamic history and an exegesis of the Qur’an, but these are extinct.[19]
Remove ads
Accusation of heresy
Al-Tirmidhi was accused of being a Jahmi heretic and was harshly criticized by some fanatic Hanbali followers, including Abu Bakr al-Khallal (d. 311/923) in his Kitab al-Sunna (Book of the Prophetic Tradition), because he rejected a narration attributed to Mujahid ibn Jabr concerning the explanation of the verse 79 from Surat al-Isra' in the Qur'an about the praiseworthy station of Muhammad known as "al-Maqam al-Mahmud".[20][21][22]
The verse is: "And from [part of] the night, pray[a] with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur’ān] as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that[b] your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station."[c][Quran 17:79 -Sahih International]
The Hanbalites interpreted the Praiseworthy Station as the seating of Muhammad on the Throne next to God, despite the overall weakness of the narrations supporting it.[23]
Remove ads
Death
At-Tirmidhi was blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi.[15] His blindness is said to have been the consequence of excessive weeping, either due to fear of God or over the death of al-Bukhari.[9][8][15][18][5]
He died on Monday night, 13 Rajab 279 AH (Sunday night, 8 October 892)[d] in Bugh.[17][15][18]
At-Tirmidhi is buried on the outskirts of Sherobod, 60 kilometers north of Termez in Uzbekistan. In Termez he is locally known as Abu Isa at-Termezi or "Termez Ota" ("Father of Termez").[13]
See also
Early Islam scholars
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Remove ads
Notes
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads