Al-Tirmidhi

Imam
Al-Tirmidhi
Grave of Isa al-Tirmidhi inside his Tomb, near Amu Darya River, Termez, Uzbekistan
Personal life
Born824 / 209 AH
Termez, Abbasid Caliphate
Died9 October 892/ 13 Rajab 279 AH (aged 70)
Termez, Abbasid Caliphate
EraIslamic golden age
RegionAbbasid Caliphate
Main interestHadith
Notable work(s)Jami at-Tirmidhi
Shama'il Muhammadiyah
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
LineageBanu Sulaym
CreedAthari
Muslim leader
Influenced by

Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (Arabic: محمد بن عيسى الترمذي, romanized: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī; 824 – 9 October 892 CE / 209–279 AH), commonly known as Imam al-Tirmidhi or Abū ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī, was a Muslim scholar and hadith collector from Termez in historical Greater Khorasan, in present-day Uzbekistan. He is principally known as the compiler of al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ, more commonly called Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, one of the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Islam.

Al-Tirmidhi's Jāmiʿ, sometimes also designated a Ṣaḥīḥ, contains traditions concerning Islamic law as well as substantial material on religion and theology. In compiling it, he paid particular attention both to the reliability of the isnād, or chain of transmission, and to the content of individual traditions. Consequently, the collection is shorter and less repetitive than the corresponding collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. He also wrote the Shamāʾil al-Muḥammadiyya, commonly known as Shamāʾil al-Tirmidhī, a collection of hadith concerning the person and character of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Al-Tirmidhi was also well versed in Arabic grammar and preferred the grammatical school of Kufa to that of Basra, in part because the Kufan tradition preserved Arabic poetry as a primary linguistic source. Very little is otherwise known about his life, except that he was either born blind or became blind later in life.

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.

At-Tirmidhi's grandfather was originally from Marw (Persian: Merv), but moved to Tirmidh. According to Britannica Online, he was an Arab. 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. 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). Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826), thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH. Some sources indicate that he was born in Mecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822)) while others say he was born in Tirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southern Uzbekistan. The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh. Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence the nisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").

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. 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.

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

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

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

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.

Accusation of heresy

It is argued that al-Tirmidhi was accused of being a Jahmi heretic and was harshly criticized by some 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", describing it as a historical example of fanaticism.

The verse is: "And from [part of] the night, pray with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur’ān] as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station."[Quran 17:79 -Sahih International]

The Hanbalites interpreted the Praiseworthy Station as the seating of Muhammad on the Throne next to Allah, despite the controversy between those who render it weak and those who render it reliable.

However, the context of the historical sources of the incident allow for the possibility that this was not the author of the Sunan al-Tirmidhi; rather, he was another person who lived in Baghdad, sharing the same nisba (as many others, like al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi), based on the distinct attributes mentioned, such as obscurity in name and scholarship history, his abuse of the teachers of the author of the Sunan al-Tirmidhi and the hadith narrators, and his different theology, which seem to contradict with his traits.

Death

Tomb of Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi, near Amu Darya River, Termez, Uzbekistan. (2006)

At-Tirmidhi became blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi. 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.

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

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").

See also

Early Islam scholars

Early Islamic scholars
Muhammad, The final Messenger of God (570–632) the Constitution of Medina, taught the Quran, and advised his companions
Abdullah ibn Masud (died 653) taughtAli (607–661) fourth caliph taughtAisha, Muhammad's wife and Abu Bakr's daughter taughtAbd Allah ibn Abbas (618–687) taughtZayd ibn Thabit (610–660) taughtUmar (579–644) second caliph taughtAbu Hurairah (603–681) taught
Alqama ibn Qays (died 681) taughtHusayn ibn Ali (626–680) taughtQasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (657–725) taught and raised by AishaUrwah ibn Zubayr (died 713) taught by Aisha, he then taughtSaid ibn al-Musayyib (637–715) taughtAbdullah ibn Umar (614–693) taughtAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (624–692) taught by Aisha, he then taught
Ibrahim al-Nakha’i taughtAli ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (659–712) taughtHisham ibn Urwah (667–772) taughtIbn Shihab al-Zuhri (died 741) taughtSalim ibn Abd-Allah ibn Umar taughtUmar ibn Abdul Aziz (682–720) raised and taught by Abdullah ibn Umar
Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman taughtMuhammad al-Baqir (676–733) taughtFarwah bint al-Qasim Jafar's mother
Abu Hanifa (699–767) wrote Al Fiqh Al Akbar and Kitab Al-Athar, jurisprudence followed by Sunni, Sunni Sufi, Barelvi, Deobandi, Zaidiyyah and originally by the Fatimid and taughtZayd ibn Ali (695–740)Ja'far bin Muhammad Al-Baqir (702–765) Muhammad and Ali's great great grand son, jurisprudence followed by Shia, he taughtMalik ibn Anas (711–795) wrote Muwatta, jurisprudence from early Medina period now mostly followed by Maliki Sunnis in North Africa, and taughtAl-Waqidi (748–822) wrote history books like Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi, student of Malik ibn AnasAbu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Abdul Hakam (died 829) wrote biographies and history books, student of Malik ibn Anas
Abu Yusuf (729–798) wrote Usul al-fiqhMuhammad al-Shaybani (749–805)al-Shafi‘i (767–820) wrote Al-Risala, jurisprudence followed by Shafi'i Sunnis and Sufis, and taughtIsmail ibn IbrahimAli ibn al-Madini (778–849) wrote The Book of Knowledge of the CompanionsIbn Hisham (died 833) wrote early history and As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah, Muhammad's biography
Isma'il ibn Ja'far (719–775)Musa al-Kadhim (745–799)Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855) wrote Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal jurisprudence followed by Hanbali Sunnis and SufisMuhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) wrote Sahih al-Bukhari hadith booksMuslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875) wrote Sahih Muslim hadith booksDawud al-Zahiri (815–883/4) founded the Zahiri schoolMuhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi (824–892) wrote Jami` at-Tirmidhi hadith booksAl-Baladhuri (died 892) wrote early history Futuh al-Buldan, Genealogies of the Nobles
Ibn Majah (824–887) wrote Sunan ibn Majah hadith bookAbu Dawood (817–889) wrote Sunan Abu Dawood Hadith Book
Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (864- 941) wrote Kitab al-Kafi hadith book followed by Twelver ShiaMuhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838–923) wrote History of the Prophets and Kings, Tafsir al-TabariAbu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936) wrote Maqālāt al-islāmīyīn, Kitāb al-luma, Kitāb al-ibāna 'an usūl al-diyāna
Ibn Babawayh (923–991) wrote Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih jurisprudence followed by Twelver ShiaSharif Razi (930–977) wrote Nahj al-Balagha followed by Twelver ShiaNasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) wrote jurisprudence books followed by Ismaili and Twelver ShiaAl-Ghazali (1058–1111) wrote The Niche for Lights, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, The Alchemy of Happiness on SufismRumi (1207–1273) wrote Masnavi, Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi on Sufism
Key: Some of Muhammad's CompanionsKey: Taught in MedinaKey: Taught in IraqKey: Worked in SyriaKey: Travelled extensively collecting the sayings of Muhammad and compiled books of hadithKey: Worked in Persia

Notes

  1. ↑ Literally, "arise from sleep for prayer."
  2. ↑ This is a promise from Allāh to Muhammad.
  3. ↑ The position of intercession by permission of Allāh and the highest degree in Paradise.
  4. ↑ In the Islamic calendar, the weekday begins at sunset.

References

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  2. ↑ Bearman, Bianquis, Bosworth, Donzel, Heinrighs, PJ., TH., C. E., E. Van and W. P. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Islam: New Edition Vol. X. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. p. 544. ISBN 90-04-11211-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 3 Bowker, John, ed. (1997). "al-Tirmidhī, Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad". The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-19-213965-7. OCLC 896422819.
  4. ↑ "Sibawayh, His Kitab, and the Schools of Basra and Kufa." In Changing Traditions: Al-Mubarrad's Refutation of Sībawayh and the Subsequent Reception of the Kitāb, p. 12. Vol. 23, Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Ed. Monique Bernards. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997. ISBN 9789004105959
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  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Abdul Mawjood, Salahuddin ʻAli (2007). The Biography of Imām at-Tirmidhī. Translated by Abu Bakr ibn Nasir (1st ed.). Riyadh: Darussalam. ISBN 978-9960983691.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Dhahabī (d. 1348) (2004). تذهيب تهذيب الكمال في أسماء الرجال (Tadhhīb tahdhīb al-kamāl fī asmā' al-rijāl) (in Arabic). Cairo: al-Fārūq al-Hadīthah lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr. p. 248. ISBN 9773700100. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2015-10-19.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ibn Khallikan (1843) [Written 1274]. "At-Tirmidi the traditionist". Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary. Translated from Wafayāt al-a‘yān wa-anbā’ abnā’ az-zamān by Baron Mac Guckin de Slane. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 679–680.
  9. 1 2 3 Ibn Kathir (d. 1373). "ثم دخلت سنة تسع وسبعين ومائتين"  [Then entered year 279]. البداية والنهاية (al-Bidāyah wa-al-nihāyah) (in Arabic). Vol. 11 – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Wensinck, A.J. (1993). "al-Tirmidhī". Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936). Vol. 8. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 796–797. ISBN 9004097961. Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Robson, James (June 1954). "The Transmission of Tirmidhī's Jāmi'". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 16 (2). Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies: 258–270. doi:10.1017/S0041977X0010597X. JSTOR 609168. S2CID 127754171.
  12. ↑ Lane, Andrew J. (2006). A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144). Leiden: Brill. p. 385. ISBN 9004147004. Archived from the original on 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  13. ↑ Sezgin, Fuat (1991). تاريخ التراث العربي (Tārīkh al-turāth al-'arabī) (in Arabic). Vol. 1. Translated by Mahmud Fahmi Hijazi. Part 4. p. 209. Archived from the original on 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  14. ↑ Rushdī Abū Shabānah ʻAlī al-Rashīdī (2007). 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) (1st ed.). Mansoura, Egypt: Dār al-Yaqīn. ISBN 9789773362409.
  15. ↑ Robson, James (1954). "The Transmission of Tirmidhī's "Jāmi'"". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 16 (2): 258–270. ISSN 0041-977X.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Hoosen, Abdool Kader (1990). Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith (1st ed.). Newcastle, South Africa: A.K. Hoosen. ISBN 9780620153140.
  17. ↑ "Al-Tirmidhī | Muslim scholar | Britannica".
  18. ↑ Nasr, S. H.; Mutahhari, M. (1975). "The Religious Sciences". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 471. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
  19. ↑ "Abū Bakr al-Warrāq". Encyclopaedia Islamica. doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_com_0048. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ali, Syed Bashir (2003). Scholars of Hadith. Skokie, IL: IQRAʼ International Educational Foundation. ISBN 1563162040. Archived from the original on 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  21. 1 2 Banuri, Muhammad Yusuf (April 1957). "الترمذي صاحب الجامع في السنن (al-Tirmidhī ṣaḥib al-jāmi' fī al-sunan)". Majallat Al-Majmaʻ Al-ʻIlmī Al-ʻArabīyah (in Arabic). 32. Damascus: 308. Cited by Hoosen, Abdool Kader (1990). Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith (1st ed.). Newcastle, South Africa: A.K. Hoosen. ISBN 9780620153140.
  22. ↑ Nur al-Din Itr (1978). "تصدير Taṣdīr" [Preface]. In Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (ed.). شرح علل الترمذي Sharḥ 'Ilal al-Tirmidhī (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Dār al-Mallāḥ. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  23. 1 2 Wheeler, Brannon M., ed. (2002). "Glossary of Interpreters and Transmitters". Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis. New York: Continuum. p. 358. ISBN 0826449565. Archived from the original on 2016-07-23. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr. Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features. p. 64.
  25. ↑ Adamec, Ludwig W. (2009). Historical Dictionary of Islam (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 307. ISBN 9780810861619. Archived from the original on 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  26. 1 2 "Termez". www.uzbek-travel.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  27. ↑ "Imam Tirmidhi and his Al-Jami' al-Sunan (الجامع السنن للإمام الترمذي رضي الله عنه)". 26 March 2005.
  28. ↑ Abu Bakr al-Khallal. "Kitab al-Sunna (The Book of the Sunna)". Archived from the original on 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2020-09-25. فقد كان أحدث هذا الترمذي المبتدع ببلدنا ما اتصل بنا أنه حدث ببلدكم، وهذا أمر قد كان اضمحل وأخمله الله، وأخمل أهله وقائله، وليس بموجود في الناس، قد سلب عقله، أخزاه الله وأخزى أشياعه، وقد كان الشيوخ سئلوا عنه في حياة أبي بكر رحمه الله ومحدثي بغداد والكوفة وغير ذلك، فلم يكن منهم أحد إلا أنكره، وكره من أمره ما كتبنا به إليكم لتقفوا عليه، فأما ما قال العباس بن محمد الدوري عند سؤالهم إياه عنه ورده حديث مجاهد: ذكر أن هذا الترمذي الذي رد حديث مجاهد ما رآه قط عند محدث، ولا يعرفه بالطلب، وإن هذا الحديث لا ينكره إلا مبتدع جهمي، فنحن نسأل الله العافية من بدعته وضلالته، فما أعظم ما جاء به هذا من الضلالة والبدع، عمد إلى حديث فيه فضيلة للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فأراد أن يزيله ويتكلم في من رواه، وقد قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: « لا تزال طائفة من أمتي على الحق، لا يضرهم من ناوأهم » ونحن نحذر عن هذا الرجل أن تستمعوا منه، وممن قال بقوله، أو تصدقوهم في شيء، فإن السنة عندنا إحياء ذكر هذا الحديث، وما أشبهه مما ترده الجهمية
  29. ↑ Yusuf Aba al-Khail (17 May 2017). "محنة الإمام الترمذي مع التكفير". www.alarabiya.net. Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
  30. ↑ Yusuf Aba al-Khail. "محنة الإمام الترمذي مع التكفير". www.alriyadh.com. Al Riyadh. Archived from the original on 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  31. ↑ Gibril Fouad Haddad. "The Prophet's (s) Seating on the Throne". www.naqshbandi.ca. Naqshbandi Order in Montreal. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  32. 1 2 Abu Bakr al-Khallal. Atiyyah al-Zahrani (ed.). Kitab al-Sunna (in Arabic). Vol. 1. Dar al-Rayah. p. 250.
  33. ↑ Abu Bakr al-Khallal. Kitab al-Sunna (in Arabic). Vol. 1. p. 231.
  34. ↑ Abu Bakr al-Khallal. Kitab al-Sunna (in Arabic). Vol. 1. p. 237.
  35. ↑ Ibn al-Qayyim. Ijtma' al-Joyoush al-Islamiyah (in Arabic). p. 369.
  36. ↑ Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi. Sunan al-Tirmidhi (in Arabic).
  37. ↑ Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (in Arabic). Vol. 9. p. 389.