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]
Al-Tirmidhi | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 824/ 209 AH |
| Died | 9 October 892/ 13 Rajab 279 AH (aged 70) Termez, Abbasid Caliphate |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Region | Abbasid Caliphate |
| Main interest(s) | Hadith |
| Notable work(s) | Jami at-Tirmidhi Shama'il Muhammadiyah |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Creed | Athari[1][2] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by | |
Biography
Summarize
Perspective
Name and lineage
Al-Tirmidhi's given name (ism) was "Muhammad" while his kunya was "Abu `Isa" ("father of `Isa"). His genealogy is uncertain; his nasab (patronymic) has variously been given as:
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة)[4]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsá ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن موسى بن الضحاك)[5][6][7][8]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد)[9]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن الضحاك)[10]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn ‛Īsá (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن عيسى)[8]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Yazīd ibn Sawrah ibn as-Sakan (محمد بن عيسى بن يزيد بن سورة بن السكن)[5][6][8]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل)[11][12]
- Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl ibn Sawrah (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل بن سورة)[13]
He was also known by the laqab "ad-Darir" ("the Blind"). It has been said that he was born blind, but the majority of scholars agree that he became blind later in his life.[5][14]
At-Tirmidhi's grandfather was originally from Marw (Persian: Merv), but moved to Tirmidh.[5] According to Britannica Online, he was an Arab.[15] According to S.H. Nasr and M. Mutahhari in The Cambridge History of Iran, Al-Tirmidhi was of Persian ethnicity.[16] His uncle was the famous Sufi Abu Bakr al-Warraq.[17] Al-Warraq was the teacher of Al-Hakim al-Samarqandi, a known associate of the famous theologian Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi.[citation needed]
Birth
Muhammad ibn `Isa at-Tirmidhi was born during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun. His year of birth has been reported as 209 AH (824/825).[18][19][20] Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826),[5] thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH.[4][21] Some sources indicate that he was born in Mecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822))[22] while others say he was born in Tirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southern Uzbekistan.[18] The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh.[5] Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").[19][21][23][24]
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.[4][9][10] His teachers and those he narrated from included:
- al-Bukhari[4][6][7][9][10][14][18][22]
- Abū Rajā’ Qutaybah ibn Sa‘īd al-Balkhī al-Baghlāni[6][7][10][18]
- ‘Alī ibn Ḥujr ibn Iyās as-Sa‘dī al-Marwazī[6][7][10][18]
- Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Baṣrī[7][10][18]
- ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mu‘āwiyah al-Jumaḥī al-Baṣrī[6]
- Abū Muṣ‘ab az-Zuhrī al-Madanī[6]
- Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mālik ibn Abī ash-Shawārib al-Umawī al-Baṣrī[6]
- Ismā‘īl ibn Mūsá al-Fazārī al-Kūfi[6]
- Muḥammad ibn Abī Ma‘shar as-Sindī al-Madanī[6]
- Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-‘Alā’ al-Kūfī[6][10]
- Hanād ibn al-Sarī al-Kūfī[6][10]
- Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Harawī[6]
- Suwayd ibn Naṣr ibn Suwayd al-Marwazī[6]
- Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Baṣrī[10]
- Zayd ibn Akhzam al-Baṣrī[14]
- al-‘Abbās al-‘Anbarī al-Baṣrī[14]
- Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná al-Baṣrī[14]
- Muḥammad ibn Ma‘mar al-Baṣrī[14]
- ad-Darimi[10][18]
- Muslim[14][18][22]
- Abu Dawud[9][14][22]
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.[14]
At-Tirmidhi was a pupil of al-Bukhari, who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, "His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari."[18] 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."[14] 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.[14][18]
At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud, and one from Muslim.[14] Muslim also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his own Sahih.[18]
A.J. Wensinck mentions Ahmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi's teachers.[9][14] 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`.[14]
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.[25]
Death
At-Tirmidhi was blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi.[10] 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.[4][5][10][14][18]
He died on Monday night, 13 Rajab 279 AH (Sunday night, 8 October 892)[a] in Bugh.[7][10][14]
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").[24]
See also
Early Islam scholars
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Notes
References
External links
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