BIOGRAPHY OF IMAM Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi

IMAM Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi

Abū ‘Īsá Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá as-Sulamī aḍ-Ḍarīr al-Būghī at-Tirmidhī (Arabic: أبو عيسى محمد بن عيسى السلمي الضرير البوغي الترمذي‎; Persian: ترمذی‎, Termezī; 824 – 8 October 892), often referred to as Imam at-Tirmidhi, was a Persian[2][3] Islamic scholar and collector of hadith who 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.[4]

Name and lineage:

At-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)‎[5]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsá ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن موسى بن الضحاك)‎[6][7][8][9]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد)‎[10]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن الضحاك)‎[11]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn ‛Īsá (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن عيسى)‎[9]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Yazīd ibn Sawrah ibn as-Sakan (محمد بن عيسى بن يزيد بن سورة بن السكن)‎[6][7][9]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل)‎[12][13]

Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl ibn Sawrah (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل بن سورة)‎[14]

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.[6][15]

At-Tirmidhi's family belonged to the Arab tribe of Banu Sulaym (hence the nisbat "as-Sulami").[16] His grandfather was originally from Marw (Persian: Merv), but moved to Tirmidh.[6]

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).[16][17][18] Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826),[6] thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH.[5][19] Some sources indicate that he was born in Mecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822))[20] while others say he was born in Tirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southern Uzbekistan.[16] The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh.[6] Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").[17][19][21][22]

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.[5][10][11] His teachers and those he narrated from included:

al-Bukhari[5][7][8][10][11][15][16][20]

Abū Rajā’ Qutaybah ibn Sa‘īd al-Balkhī al-Baghlāni[7][8][11][16]

‘Alī ibn Ḥujr ibn Iyās as-Sa‘dī al-Marwazī[7][8][11][16]

Muḥammad ibn Bashshār al-Baṣrī[8][11][16]

‘Abd Allāh ibn Mu‘āwiyah al-Jumaḥī al-Baṣrī[7]

Abū Muṣ‘ab az-Zuhrī al-Madanī[7]

Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Mālik ibn Abī ash-Shawārib al-Umawī al-Baṣrī[7]

Ismā‘īl ibn Mūsá al-Fazārī al-Kūfi[7]

Muḥammad ibn Abī Ma‘shar as-Sindī al-Madanī[7]

Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-‘Alā’ al-Kūfī[7][11]

Hanād ibn al-Sarī al-Kūfī[7][11]

Ibrāhīm ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Harawī[7]

Suwayd ibn Naṣr ibn Suwayd al-Marwazī[7]

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Baṣrī[11]

Zayd ibn Akhzam al-Baṣrī[15]

al-‘Abbās al-‘Anbarī al-Baṣrī[15]

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná al-Baṣrī[15]

Muḥammad ibn Ma‘mar al-Baṣrī[15]

ad-Darimi[11][16]

Muslim[15][16][20]

Abu Dawud[10][15][20]

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.[15]

At-Tirmidhi was a pupil of al-Bukhari, who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, "His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari."[16] 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 reliabe chain of narrators to mention Abu Hanifa's decrees, he would instead attribute them to "some people of Kufa."[15] 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.[15][16]

At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud, and one from Muslim.[15] Muslim also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his own Sahih.[16]

A.J. Wensinck mentions Ahmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi's teachers.[10][15] 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`.[15]

Several of at-Tirmidhi's teachers also taught al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and an-Nasa'i.

Death:

At-Tirmidhi was blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi.[11] 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.[5][6][11][15][16]

He died on Monday night, 13 Rajab 279 AH (Sunday night, 8 October 892)[note 1] in Bugh.[8][11][15]

At-Tirmidhi is buried on the outskirts of Sherobod, a 60 kilometers north of Termez in Uzbekistan. In Termez he is locally known as Abu Isa at-Termezi or "Termez Ota" ("Father of Termez").[22]