Muhammad al-Bukhari
Encyclopedia
Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari (Persian
/Arabic: محمد بن اسماعيل بن ابراهيم بن مغيره بن بردزبه بخاری), popularly known as Bukhari or Imam
Bukhari, (196-256AH / 810-870AD), was a Sunni Islamic scholar of Persia
. He authored the hadith collection named Sahih Bukhari
, a collection which Sunni Muslims regard as the most authentic of all hadith
compilations.
in Khorasan
(now in Uzbekistan
). His father, Ismail Ibn Ibrahim
, was a known hadith scholar who died while he was young.
The historian al-Dhahabi
described his early academic life:
. From there he made a series of travels in order to increase his knowledge of hadith. He went through all the important centres of Islamic learning of his time, talked to scholars and exchanged information on hadith. It is said that he heard from over 1,000 men, and learned over 600,000 traditions.
After sixteen years' absence he returned to Bukhara, and there drew up his al-Jami' as-Sahih
, a collection of 7,275 tested traditions, arranged in chapters so as to afford bases for a complete system of jurisprudence
without the use of speculative law.
His book is highly regarded among Sunni Muslims, and considered the most authentic collection of hadith (a minority of Sunni scholars consider Sahih Muslim, compiled by Bukhari's student Imam Muslim, more authentic). Most Sunni scholars consider it second only to the Qur'an in terms of authenticity. He also composed other books, including al-Adab al-Mufrad, which is a collection of hadiths on ethics
and manners, as well as two books containing biographies of hadith narrators (see isnad). It is said that his collection of hadith became sort of an obsession of his. He used all of his money to travel, and never became wealthy.
. It was in Neyshābūr that he met Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
. He would be considered his student, and eventually collector and organiser of hadith collection Sahih Muslim
which is considered second only to that of al-Bukhari. Political problems led him to move to Khartank, a village near Samarkand
where he died in the year 870/256
He is recorded as being both anti-Mu'tazili
and anti-Rafidhi
. In one of his books on creed, he wrote: “I don’t see any difference between praying Salah behind a Jahmi or a Rafidhi
and a Christian or a Jew. They (Jahmiyyah/Rāfida) are not to be greeted,, nor are they to be visited, nor are they to be married, nor is their testimony to be accepted, nor are their sacrifices to be eaten abc.”.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
/Arabic: محمد بن اسماعيل بن ابراهيم بن مغيره بن بردزبه بخاری), popularly known as Bukhari or Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Bukhari, (196-256AH / 810-870AD), was a Sunni Islamic scholar of Persia
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
. He authored the hadith collection named Sahih Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
, a collection which Sunni Muslims regard as the most authentic of all 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....
compilations.
Early life
He was born in 810/194 in the city of BukharaBukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
in Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
(now in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
). His father, Ismail Ibn Ibrahim
Ismail ibn Ibrahim
Ismail Ibn Ibrahim is most notable for being the father of Imam Bukhari.-Ancestry:Ismail's ancestry can be traced to a farmer named Bardizbah who lived in the vicinity of Bukhara...
, was a known hadith scholar who died while he was young.
The historian al-Dhahabi
Al-Dhahabi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Uthman ibn Qaymaz ibn `Abd Allah, Shams al-Din Abu `Abd Allah al-Turkmani al-Diyarbakri al-Fariqi al-Dimashqi al-Dhahabi al-Shafi`i , known as Al-Dhahabi , a Shafi'i Muhaddith and historian of Islam.-Biography:...
described his early academic life:
Travels
At age of sixteen, he, together with his brother and widowed mother made the pilgrimage to MakkahHajj
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...
. From there he made a series of travels in order to increase his knowledge of hadith. He went through all the important centres of Islamic learning of his time, talked to scholars and exchanged information on hadith. It is said that he heard from over 1,000 men, and learned over 600,000 traditions.
After sixteen years' absence he returned to Bukhara, and there drew up his al-Jami' as-Sahih
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
, a collection of 7,275 tested traditions, arranged in chapters so as to afford bases for a complete system of jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
without the use of speculative law.
His book is highly regarded among Sunni Muslims, and considered the most authentic collection of hadith (a minority of Sunni scholars consider Sahih Muslim, compiled by Bukhari's student Imam Muslim, more authentic). Most Sunni scholars consider it second only to the Qur'an in terms of authenticity. He also composed other books, including al-Adab al-Mufrad, which is a collection of hadiths on ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
and manners, as well as two books containing biographies of hadith narrators (see isnad). It is said that his collection of hadith became sort of an obsession of his. He used all of his money to travel, and never became wealthy.
Last years
In the year 864/250, he settled in NishapurNishapur
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...
. It was in Neyshābūr that he met Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
Abul 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:...
. He would be considered his student, and eventually collector and organiser of hadith collection Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih Al-Bukhari, and is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims...
which is considered second only to that of al-Bukhari. Political problems led him to move to Khartank, a village near Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
where he died in the year 870/256
Writings
Below is a summary of the discussion of Bukhari's available works in Fihrist Muṣannafāt al-Bukhāri by Umm 'Abdullāh bint Maḥrūs, Muḥammad ibn Ḥamza and Maḥmūd ibn Muḥammad.Works describing narrators of hadith
Bukhari wrote three works discussing narrators of hadith with respect to their ability in conveying their material: the "brief compendium of hadith narrators," "the medium compendium" and the "large compendium" (al-Tarikh al-Kabīr, al-Tarīkh al-Ṣaghīr, and al-Tarīkh al-Awsaţ). The large compendium is published and well-identified. The medium compendium was thought to be the brief collection and was published as such. The brief compendium has yet to be found. Another work, al-Kunā, is on patronymics: identifying people who are commonly known as "Father of so-and-so". Then there is a brief work on weak narrators: al-Ḍu'afā al-Ṣaghīr.Hadith Works
Two of Bukhari's hadith works have reached us: al-Adab al-mufrad ("the book devoted to matters of respect and propriety") and al-Jāmi’ al-Musnad al-Sahīh al-Mukhtaṣar min umūr Rasûl Allāh wa sunnanihi wa ayyāmihi – The abridged collection of sound reports with chains of narration going back all the way to the Prophet regarding matters pertaining to the Prophet, his practices and his times. – also known as Sahih BukhariSahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
School of thought
Imam al-Bukhari was from the Shafi school of thought"He is recorded as being both anti-Mu'tazili
Mu'tazili
' is an Islamic school of speculative theology that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in present-day Iraq, during the 8th–10th centuries. The adherents of the Mu'tazili school are best known for their having asserted that, because of the perfect unity and eternal nature of God,...
and anti-Rafidhi
Rafida
Rāfiḍah is a collective noun which means "defectors" or "deserters". The word is derived from the Arabic consonantal root ر ف ض, which as a verb means "to desert". The non-collective singular form is rāfiḍī "a deserter"...
. In one of his books on creed, he wrote: “I don’t see any difference between praying Salah behind a Jahmi or a Rafidhi
Rafida
Rāfiḍah is a collective noun which means "defectors" or "deserters". The word is derived from the Arabic consonantal root ر ف ض, which as a verb means "to desert". The non-collective singular form is rāfiḍī "a deserter"...
and a Christian or a Jew. They (Jahmiyyah/Rāfida) are not to be greeted,, nor are they to be visited, nor are they to be married, nor is their testimony to be accepted, nor are their sacrifices to be eaten abc.”.
Further reading
- Abdul-Jabbar, Ghassan. Bukhari. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007.
External links
- Biography of Imam Bukhari
- http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1126&category=13
- Biography of Muhammad al-Bukhari