Al Khakim At Termizi
Encyclopedia
Tirmidhī also transliterated as Tirmizi, was a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
scholar. His full name is: Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ali bin Hasan bin Bashir (in some sources it is 'Bishr') Al Khakim At-Termizi. He is locally known as At-Termizi or Termiz Ota ("Father of Termiz city").
Information about his life and scientific and creative activities can be found in the works by Taj ad-Din Subki (Tabakat Ash-Shafii'yya Al-kubro), Hatiba Baghdad (Tarih Baghdad), Ibn Hajara AskAlani (Lisan Al-Miyzan), Sulami (Tabakat As-Sufiyya) and in a number of other treatises.
Al Khakim At-Termizi speaks about his life in his book Bad'u Shaani Abu Abdullah ("The Beginning of Abu Abdullah's Pursuit"), published in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
in 1965 by Yakh'ya Ismail Usman, together with the work of the scientist in Hatm Al-Avliya ("Seal of the Saints").
Early years
Different dates are used in written sources and present literature to indicate Al Khakim At-Termizi's date of birth and death. Some authors, Khwaja Khalif in particular, in his Kashf as-Zunun, give the year 255 in Hijra / 869 AD as Al Khakim At-Termizi's date of death. The same date was written on Al Khakim At-Termizi's tomb. If we proceed from the fact that Al Khakim At-Termizi lived more than one hundred years, some sources say 112, 116 or 120 years, he was born approximately between 750–760 AD. At the same time, Abdulfattah Abdullah Baraka who wrote his great "Al Khakim At-Termizi and Nazariyyatukhu fil" ("Al Khakim At-Termizi and his theory") thirty years ago, said that Al Khakim At-Termizi, was born in 205 in Hijri / 820 and died in 320 in Hijri / 932 and lived 112 years.Detailed information about Al Khakim At-Termizi's childhood and youth is not available in the sources. According to his "autobiography", he started learning religious sciences when he was eight, and he made a Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
when he was twenty-eight.
Later life
Returning from Mecca, Al Khakim At-Termizi became a Sufi follower; he withdrew from people and learned treaties.His father Ali bin Hassan was a leading scholar, a Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
specialist, who, looking for knowledge, went to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and took an active part in scientific discussions with prominent scholars of the time on various problems of Hadith. His mother and uncle were considered to be experts of Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
. Consequently Al Khakim At-Termizi grew up in the circle of educated and scientific people, which influenced greatly on his ideology.
Some written sources contain reliable information about Al Khakim At-Termizi's teachers. His teacher was his father Ali bin Al-Hassan At Termizi "History of Baghdad" by Khatib Al-Bagdhadi contains some information. Among his other teachers were Kutaiba bin Sayid as-Sakafi Al- Balkhi (798-888 AD), Salih bin Abdullah At-Termizi of much interesting facts had been written in the book "Books about Famous People" by Ibn Khibbana; Salih bin Muhammad At-Termizi who was former qazi of Termiz for some time, Sufyan bin Vaki (died in 860), Hassan bin Umar bin Shafiq Al- Balkhi (died in 840 AD), Ahmad bin Khadravayh (died in 854 AD), Abu Turab An-Nakhshabi (link), and Yahya bin Maaz Ar-Razi (died in 875 AD).
Based on data given in the written sources characterize Al Khakim At-Termizi's life and his long life can be divided into the following periods:
- The first period includes Al Khakim At-Termizi's childhood up to seven. Unfortunately we do not have exact information about this part of his life. But nevertheless, one can say that unlike the children of his age he displayed ability at this age to various games, as if he prepared himself to the future scientific life, he worked hard with his teachers, obtained knowledge on various sciences (particularly on theology) and got ready to mystic spiritual life.
- The second period embraces Al Khakim At-Termizi's life from eight to twenty eight, when he received knowledge from different teachers (sheikhs). For knowledge he visited other oriental cities, was in Mecca and made a pilgrimage. Some sources pointed to the fact that he paid much attention to learning HadithHadithThe term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and problems of fiqhFiqhFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
in this period of his life.
- The third period of his life is related to learning the Qur'anQur'anThe Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
thoroughly. He assimilated by deep God's words, their essence, fasting, praying and pious deeds and so on. The philosophic mysticMysticismMysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
work by Al-Antahi "Healing of Hearts" had a great influence on him.
Al Khakim At-Termizi had many of students, including: Abu Muhammad Yahya bin Mansur Al-Kadi (died in 960 AD), Abu Ali Mansur bin Abdullah bin Khalid Al-Zuhli Al Hiravi; Abu Ali Al-Hassan bin Ali Al-Jurjani. He also taught Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Isa, Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Umar Al-Al Khakim Al-Varrak, Muhammad bin Jaafar bin Muhammad bin Al-Haisam bin Umran bin Buraida, and others.
Al Khakim At-Termizi's scientific and creative activity is closely connected with his travels to other countries and cities. He visited Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
, Nishapur
Nishapur
Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...
, and Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, where science and culture reached its zenith, and he met famous scholars and took part in discussions. Nevertheless Termiz, his native city played an important role in his scientific and creative activity, and there he created his basic works. His sermons and as well as some works, first of all, Hatam Al-Avliya (Seal of Saints), Hal Ash-Shari'a (Arguments of the Islamic Law) in which are discussed Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
rituals, about "love for God" and about various categories of mystics, about "the Seals of Saints", along with existing "Seals of Prophets", had dissatisfied some parts of the falikh and rich. Escaping from his enemies' chase, Al Khakim At-Termizi had to move to Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
and then to Nishapur
Nishapur
Nishapur or Nishabur , is a city in the Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran, situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Binalud Mountains, near the regional capital of Mashhad...
, where he was very well accepted and where he obtained a large number of followers later.
Works
Different figures on the number of Al Khakim At-Termizi's works are mentioned in the written sources. Some authors say that the number of his work reaches four hundred. But the majority of authors tend to think that about eighty works belong to him. The famous Egyptian scholar Abdelfattah Abdulla Baraka writes that out of four hundred works by Al Khakim At-Termizi only about sixty had reached us. Though many works were lost, the most important ones that contain the great scholar's basic teachings, which comprise his scientific and spiritual legacy have been preserved (2).The first work that must be mentioned is Navodir Al-Usul fi Ma'rifat Akhbor Ar-Rasul ("Unique Principles of Learning about RasulAllah - the Messenger of God"). It consists of 291 Hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
, and that to some extent it reflects the author's points of view, his outlook, his understanding the world. One copy of Navadir Al-Usul is kept in Tashkent, in the library of Muslim Board of Uzbekistan.
Other works of the scholar are: Khaqiyqat Al-Odamiyya ("Book about the Nature of a Man"), Adab an-Nafs ("Bringing up the Soul"). The majority of the works of Al Khakim At-Termizi reached us in the form of manuscripts and they are kept in different manuscript funds of the world. Conditionally they may be divided into five groups: manuscripts that are kept in Paris, Cairo, Damascus, Alexandria, Istanbul and London. The following works by Al Khakim At-Termizi are kept in the National Library of Paris (under ISBN 5018 in the Arab department):
- Kitab as-Salat va Makasidiha (A Book about Prayer and its Aims)
- Kitab Al-HajjHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
va Asrarihi (A Book about Pilgrimage and its Secrets) - Kitab Al-Ihtiyatot (A Book about Precautions)
- Kitab Al-Jumal Al-Lazim Ma'rifitiha (A Book about Sentences that Should be Known)
See also
- Islamic scholars
- Imam Al Bukhari
- Muslim ibn al-HajjajMuslim ibn al-HajjajAbul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj ibn Muslim ibn Warat al-Qushayri al-Nisaburi was the author of the second authentic sahih collection of hadith in Sunni Islam, Sahih Muslim.-Biography:...
- Al-Nasa'iAl-Nasa'iAl-Nasā'ī , full name Aḥmad ibn Shu`ayb ibn Alī ibn Sīnān Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān al-Nasā'ī, was a noted collector of hadith , and wrote one of the six canonical hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims, Sunan al-Sughra, or "Al-Mujtaba", which he selected from his "As-Sunan al-Kubra"...
- Abi Da'ud
- Imam Al TirmidhiAl-TirmidhiTirmidhī , also transliterated as Tirmizi, full name Abū ‛Īsá Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsá ibn al Ḍaḥḥāk al-Sulamī al-Sulamī al-Tirmidhī Tirmidhī , also transliterated as Tirmizi, full name Abū ‛Īsá Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsá ibn al Ḍaḥḥāk al-Sulamī al-Sulamī al-Tirmidhī...
- Imam Malik
External links
- Termex, Muzatravel.com.