Al-Tirmidhi Explained

Al-Tirmidhi
Era:Islamic golden age
Religion:Islam
Birth Date:824/ 209 AH
Birth Place:Termez, now Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan
Death Date:9 October 892/ 13 Rajab 279 AH (aged 70)
Death Place:Termez, now Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan
Region:Abbasid Caliphate
Denomination:Sunni
Main Interests:Hadith
Notable Works:Jami at-Tirmidhi
Shama'il Muhammadiyah
Influences:Muhammad al-Bukhari
Creed:Athari[1] [2]

Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (Arabic: محمد بن عيسى الترمذي|translit=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]

Biography

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:

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.[4] [13]

At-Tirmidhi's grandfather was originally from Marw (Persian: Merv), but moved to Tirmidh.[4] According to Britannica Online, he was an Arab.[14] According to S.H. Nasr and M. Mutahhari in The Cambridge History of Iran, Al-Tirmidhi was of Persian ethnicity. His uncle was the famous Sufi Abu Bakr al-Warraq.[15] Al-Warraq was the teacher of Al-Hakim al-Samarqandi, a known associate of the famous theologian Abu Mansur Al-Matuiridi.

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] Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826),[4] thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH.[18] [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.[21] The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh.[4] Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").[16] [19] [22] [23]

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.[18] [8] [9] His teachers and those he narrated from included:

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.[13]

At-Tirmidhi was a pupil of al-Bukhari, who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, "His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari."[21] 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."[13] 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.[13] [21]

At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud, and one from Muslim.[13] Muslim also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his own Sahih.[21]

A.J. Wensinck mentions Ahmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi's teachers.[8] [13] 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`.[13]

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

Writings

He is also reported to have a work on Islamic history and an exegesis of the Qur’an, but these are extinct.[24]

Death

At-Tirmidhi was blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi.[9] 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.[18] [4] [9] [13] [21]

He died on Monday night, 13 Rajab 279 AH (Sunday night, 8 October 892) in Bugh.[6] [9] [13]

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").[23]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. El Shamsy . Ahmed . 2007 . The First Shāfiʿī: The Traditionalist Legal Thought of Abū Yaʿqūb al-buwayṭī (d. 231/846) . Islamic Law and Society . 14 . 3 . 324–325 . Brill Publishers . 40377944 . JSTOR . 2021-12-26 . 2021-12-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211226175841/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40377944 . live .
  2. Book: Bearman, Bianquis, Bosworth, Donzel, Heinrighs, PJ., TH., C. E., E. VAN AND W. P. . The Encyclopedia of Islam:New Edition Vol. X. Brill . 2000. 90-04-11211-1. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands . 544.
  3. "Sibawayh, His Kitab, and the Schools of Basra and Kufa." Taken from Changing Traditions: Al-Mubarrad's Refutation of Sībawayh and the Subsequent Reception of the Kitāb, p. 12. Volume 23 of Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Ed. Monique Bernards. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997.
  4. Book: Abdul Mawjood, Salahuddin ʻAli. The Biography of Imām at-Tirmidhī. Abu Bakr ibn Nasir. 2007. Darussalam. Riyadh. 978-9960983691. 1st.
  5. Book: تذهيب تهذيب الكمال في أسماء الرجال (Tadhhīb tahdhīb al-kamāl fī asmā' al-rijāl). 2004. al-Fārūq al-Hadīthah lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr. Cairo. 9773700100. Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Dhahabī (d. 1348). al-Dhahabi. ar. 248. 2015-10-19. 2016-06-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624005132/https://books.google.com/books?id=e2c6SUL5kn0C&pg=PT247. live.
  6. Book: Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary. 1843. Written 1274. Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Paris. 679–680. Ibn Khallikan. Ibn Khallikan. At-Tirmidi the traditionist. Translated from Wafayāt al-a‘yān wa-anbā’ abnā’ az-zamān by Baron Mac Guckin de Slane.
  7. Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) . Ibn Kathir . ar . ثم دخلت سنة تسع وسبعين ومائتين . Then entered year 279 . . البداية والنهاية/الجزء الحادي عشر . الترمذي . 11.
  8. Encyclopedia: Wensinck . A.J. . al-Tirmidhī . Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936) . E. J. Brill . Leiden . 1993 . 8 . 796–797 . 9004097961 . 2015-10-19 . 2016-05-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160512120852/https://books.google.com/books?id=ro--tXw_hxMC&pg=PA796 . live .
  9. Robson . James . June 1954 . The Transmission of Tirmidhī's Jāmi' . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London . 16 . 2 . 258–270 . . 10.1017/S0041977X0010597X . 609168 . 127754171 .
  10. Book: Lane, Andrew J.. A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144). 2006. Brill. Leiden. 9004147004. 385. 2015-10-19. 2016-05-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20160501223940/https://books.google.com/books?id=MNfFPLD9COcC&pg=PA385. live.
  11. Book: Sezgin, Fuat. تاريخ التراث العربي (Tārīkh al-turāth al-'arabī). 1991. Fuat Sezgin. ar. Translated by Mahmud Fahmi Hijazi. 1. Part 4. p.209. 2015-10-19. 2016-05-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160510012722/https://books.google.com/books?id=WyFAirl2ndQC&pg=PT208. live.
  12. Book: التضامن الدولي في النظام الإسلامي والنظم الوضعية : دراسة مقارنة (al-Taḍāmun al-dawlī fī al-niẓām al-Islāmī wa-al-nuẓum al-waḍʻīyah : dirāsah muqāranah). 2007. Dār al-Yaqīn. Mansoura, Egypt. 9789773362409. Rushdī Abū Shabānah ʻAlī al-Rashīdī. 1st.
  13. Book: Hoosen, Abdool Kader. Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith. 1990. A.K. Hoosen. Newcastle, South Africa. 9780620153140. 1st.
  14. Web site: Al-Tirmidhī | Muslim scholar | Britannica .
  15. Abū Bakr al-Warrāq . 2023-03-14 . Encyclopaedia Islamica. 10.1163/1875-9831_isla_com_0048 .
  16. Banuri . Muhammad Yusuf. Muhammad Yusuf Banuri. April 1957 . الترمذي صاحب الجامع في السنن (al-Tirmidhī ṣaḥib al-jāmi' fī al-sunan) . Majallat Al-Majmaʻ Al-ʻIlmī Al-ʻArabīyah . 32 . 308 . Damascus . ar. Cited by Book: Hoosen, Abdool Kader. Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith. 1990. A.K. Hoosen. Newcastle, South Africa. 9780620153140. 1st.
  17. Book: شرح علل الترمذي Sharḥ 'Ilal al-Tirmidhī. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali. Ibn Rajab. 1978. Nur al-Din Itr. 1st. Dār al-Mallāḥ. تصدير Taṣdīr. Preface. ar. 11. 2015-10-19. 2016-05-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20160511030746/https://books.google.com/books?id=SMHumJ9OopcC&pg=PT10. live.
  18. Encyclopedia: Juynboll . G.H.A. . al-Tirmidhī . Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition . 24 April 2012 . Brill Online . 2016-09-16 . 2016-09-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160921023453/http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/al-tirmidhi-SIM_7569 . live .
  19. Book: Wheeler. Brannon M.. Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis. 2002. Continuum. New York. 0826449565. https://books.google.com/books?id=Lo9jAavEHdIC&pg=PA358. 358. Glossary of Interpreters and Transmitters. 2015-10-19. 2016-07-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20160723035124/https://books.google.com/books?id=Lo9jAavEHdIC&pg=PA358. live.
  20. Book: Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr. Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features. 64.
  21. Book: Ali, Syed Bashir. Scholars of Hadith. 2003. IQRAʼ International Educational Foundation. Skokie, IL. 1563162040. 2015-10-19. 2016-04-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20160428135855/https://books.google.com/books?id=6HRKMXkxnkAC&pg=PA118. live.
  22. Book: Adamec, Ludwig W.. Historical Dictionary of Islam. 2009. Scarecrow Press. Lanham, MD. 9780810861619. 2nd. 307. 2015-10-19. 2016-05-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20160515090347/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtDFey6MXJkC&pg=PA307. live.
  23. Web site: Termez. www.uzbek-travel.com. 2013-01-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120924024627/http://www.uzbek-travel.com/uzbek-cities/city/12.html. 2012-09-24. dead.
  24. http://daruliftaa.com/node/7130

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