Muhammad al-Bukhari is a famous author of a collection of hadiths. He was a fire worshiper and passed away without having accepted Islam. His son named al-Mughirat did not follow the path of his father and became a supporter of this religion. He never regretted it. In this article, you will be presented with a biography of al-Bukhari. So let's get started.
Childhood and study
Al-Bukhari was born in 194 according to the Hijra. In early childhood, the future imam lost his sight. However, the prolonged and sincere prayers of his mother miraculously healed him. She learned about getting rid of the disease in a dream. Hazrat Ibrahim came to her and said: "Thanks to the holy and abundant supplications, Allah returned the sight to your son." In the morning it became clear that this dream was prophetic.
Ismail's father was a very educated person. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to teach his son, since he died early. The upbringing of Muhammad was taken by the mother. She, too, was well educated, therefore, controlled the process of his training. At the age of 16, a young man, along with his brother and mother, made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Relatives of the future imam returned home, and he decided to stay in the holy city for two years. Medina - this is where Al-Bukhari went to 18 years old. Books compiled by a young man at the grave of the Prophet were called Tarih-ul-Kabir and Kadayas-Sahaba uat-Tabiin. He did not stop working even at night, since moonlight served as an excellent source of illumination.
To gain new knowledge, Imam Al-Bukhari was forced to travel a lot. He traveled to Egypt, Syria and lived in Arabia for six years. The hero of this article has visited Kufu, Baghdad and Basra four times. Sometimes he could remain in a certain city for several years. Only one thing was invariable - during the Hajj period, the imam always returned to Mecca.
Teachers
Hadith al-Bukhari began to study and listen in 205. And after 5 years, having received a certain amount of knowledge from the alims of his native city, he went on a trip. He had a lot of teachers. Muhammad himself spoke of it this way: “1080 different people dictated hadiths to me. Each of them was a scientist. ” But the imam received the most valuable knowledge from two people - Ali ibn Madini and Ishaq ibn Rahvay. Al-Bukhari also transmitted hadith from his disciples. He believed that traditions should be distributed from people of the younger, middle and older generation. This is the only way to become a Hadith scholar.
Followers
The imam had a great many of them. About 9,000 people attended his classes based on the work of Sahih al-Bukhari. To get unique knowledge from this book, wanderers flocked to imam's lessons from all over the world.
Amazing memory
Al-Bukhari was distinguished by a good memory, ingenuity and insight. By the age of 7, he had learned the entire Qur'an, and by 10 he knew more than a thousand hadiths. Having heard the legend once, the boy remembered it and, if necessary, could easily reproduce it.
Once in Baghdad, a significant incident happened to him. People who heard from others about the many qualities and achievements of the imam decided to test him. A hundred different hadiths were chosen for this. In each of them, the text and the chain of transmitters were changed. Then ten people read them in this form to the imam.
A huge number of people gathered to get acquainted with the result of the experiment. After reading each legend, Muhammad answered the same way: "As far as I know, this is not true." As soon as all the hadiths were announced, al-Bukhari repeated each of them correctly, observing the changed chain of transmitters. This is such a phenomenal memory that the imam possessed.
Temperance
Muhammad was unshakable and incomparable asceticism. He inherited a huge fortune from his father, but, because of his generosity, the imam quickly squandered money. Left without funds, al-Bukhari ate only a couple of almonds per day.
The Imam had many times the chance to take advantage of the generosity of the rulers, but he never did. Muhammad fell ill once. The doctor, having studied the analysis of his urine, found that al-Bukhari had not consumed curry for a very long time. In a conversation with the patient, the doctor learned about the imam’s abstinence from this product over the past forty years.
Special qualities
Al-Bukhari (imam's PDF books on thematic sites are popular) has always put the satisfaction of those around him above his own. This confirms the case of a slave. Going to the door of the room where the imam was sitting, she stumbled. Muhammad warned her: "Look where you are going." She replied: “How to walk if there is no place?” After that, al-Bukhari threw up his hands and said: “Now you can walk, wherever you want, I give you freedom.”
The Imam always paid attention to the little things that would help him to achieve greater contentment of Allah. A similar incident happened to him in a mosque. A man standing in the crowd found a feather in his beard and threw it on the floor. This was noticed by al-Bukhari. Having chosen the moment when no one was watching him, the imam raised his pen and put it in his pocket. After leaving the mosque, Muhammad threw it away, realizing that he had helped to keep the place of worship clean.
Another significant case occurred during the imam's performance of zuhr-namaz. After graduation, al-Bukhari performed nafl. Then he turned to his comrades, raised his shirt and asked if there was anyone there. Suddenly a wasp flew out from under the clothes. She left seventeen bites on the body of al-Bukhari. One of the comrades asked the imam why he did not interrupt the prayer. A connoisseur of hadiths said that he experienced a certain pleasure from namaz and did not want to interrupt because of such a trifle.
Adherence
This quality of the imam is perfectly demonstrated by the situation with the ruler of Bukhara. Once he asked Muhammad to study his children. Al-Bukhari rejected the request, saying that he showed more respect for knowledge than for people. They should strive to obtain them, and not vice versa.
The head of the city did not like the answer. The ruler again asked the imam to work separately with his children. But Muhammad was adamant. Secondary refusal greatly angered the head of Bukhara. He ordered the imam to be driven out of the city. Having learned about this, the residents of Samarkand immediately sent al-Bukhari an invitation to stay with them. But in this city, Muhammad had enemies. As a result, a hadith scholar went to Hartang.
Main labor
The imam has many written books. But only one collection of al-Bukhari hadiths enjoys special respect and honor. In the field of the study of traditions, he has the highest status. And this work is called "Sahih al-Bukhari."
No one knows the exact start date for its compilation. But it is reliably known that after completing work on the collection, the imam presented it to his three teachers: Ibn Mainu (died in 233), Ibn-ul-Madini (died in 234) and Ahmad ibn Khaldal (died in 241). There is also evidence that al-Bukhari has been compiling the compilation for 16 years. This indicates an approximate start date for work on the book - 217. The imam was then only 23 years old.
Long before the collection of al-Bukhari saw the light, there were many books with hadiths. Muhammad carefully studied them and found out that there are legends with both strong and weak chains of transmitters. This led the imam to the idea of creating a collection, which would include only hadiths exclusively with a strong isnad. This idea was supported by his teacher Ishaq ibn Rahwai, which strengthened al-Bukhari in his decision. In addition, this desire was strengthened by the dream of the imam. Muhammad stood with a fan next to the Prophet and waved off midges from him. Having woken up in the morning, the expert on hadith went to several interpreters to get an interpretation of night vision. They all answered him the same way: in the future, Muhammad will cleanse the Prophet from the lies of people who transmit misunderstood traditions. This reassured the imam and gave strength to write the collection of Sahih al-Bukhari. It included the texts of traditions, telling about the actions, statements and life of the Prophet.
It is important to note that these were exclusively authentic hadiths of al-Bukhari. That is, the imam chose only those traditions that corresponded to the established conditions and standards. The main criterion was a strong chain of transmitters. For all the years of work on the book, Muhammad edited it three times. Some said that the imam was beginning to write a collection in Bukhara, others talked about Mecca, others said about Basra, and fourth saw him compiling a collection in Medina. However, the imam himself indicated the true place of writing the book. It was the Al-Haram Mosque. We go further.
Before including the hadith in the collection, al-Bukhari performed the ghusl and indulged in prayers. He asked Allah for guidance, performing two rak'ahs of nafl-namaz. Then the imam thoroughly examined and analyzed the existing traditions, and only if the outcome satisfied him, hadiths fell into the collection. Because of such a careful and careful attitude to the texts, people had the feeling that Muhammad heard them personally from the Prophet.
The title of the collection indicates that it only includes hadiths with a strong chain of transmitters. On the other hand, al-Bukhari tried to explain to readers all the difficult moments for perception. Therefore, if a difficult word was present in the sentence, the imam immediately published a lot of its meanings for convenience. In Sahih al-Bukhari, one can observe the mastery of Muhammad by transmitting the hadith collected in eight chapters. The latter were divided into topics, subdivided, in turn, into subheadings and known for the original way of formulating them.
Reasons for popularity
Why is the collection of hadiths “Sahih al-Bukhari” especially distinguished from the rest? Why is he particularly respected? The reasons are as follows:
- If there was a need to suspend work on the collection, then al-Bukhari resumed it only after writing "Bismillah". Therefore, this expression was often mentioned in the pages of his book.
- At the end of each chapter, the imam deliberately used a word in the sentence that would make the reader think and more consciously approach his main life goal. For example, immediately after the first part of Sahih al-Bukhari, he included a word suggesting a short life and death.
- The imam attached great importance to including a suitable hadith at the beginning and end of the collection. He considered this extremely important. The very first hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari is dedicated to intention. This gives the reader the opportunity not to lie to himself about what he wants to receive by studying the words of the Prophet presented in the book. In the last chapter, entitled “Kitab-ut-Tawhid,” Muhammad praised the uniqueness of Allah many times. This, according to the imam, will be the salvation of people on the Day of Judgment, when they will be forced to report to them in their own sins.
According to Allam Navawi, Islamic scholars have recognized Sahih al-Bukhari as the most reliable book after the Holy Quran. This collection includes 7275 hadiths, including recurring traditions. If you exclude them, you get exactly 4000.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar recounted the traditions and came to the conclusion that 7397 hadiths were transmitted directly from the Prophet. Taking into account the narratives from Tabiins, Sahaba, etc., this figure increased to 9407. If we exclude repetitions, then, according to Ibn Hajar, 160 messages from the Sahaba and 2353 narratives from the Prophet will remain. In total, this gives 2513 traditions.
Inclusion conditions
One or another hadith could get into the collection only if its narrator met the requirements established by al-Bukhari. One of the conditions was the presence of excellent memory. Also among the requirements were certain restrictions:
- The chain of storytellers should not be missing links of transmitters.
- All authoritative muhadisas must unanimously agree on the candidacy of a narrator of legends. They need to find out if the narrator is able to memorize, memorize and reliably transmit hadiths.
- If the tradition has two different transmitters (at the same time it came to them from the Sahab), then it must be assigned a high rank. If there is only one transmitter, but with strong evidence, the hadith should also be accepted without any doubt.
Death
On the way to Samarkand al-Bukhari, whose biography is presented in the article, wrote a will, prayed and departed to another world. The imam was buried in the village of Hartank. Eyewitnesses said that during this event, aroma spread from the grave, and around it appeared the image of a wall ascending to heaven. The smell hovered for several days, and people came to see this miracle. Envious al-Bukhari also visited the grave. Realizing his level, they repented.
Once Samarkand overtook a severe drought. Despite the people performing the namaz, the rain did not begin to rain. Then one righteous man advised the imam, together with people, to go to the grave of al-Bukhari and pray to Allah there. They heeded his advice. As a result, all residents of Samarkand had to stay in Hartak, as heavy rains lasted several days.
Reviews
Many scholars (contemporaries of al-Bukhari) praised the work of Muhammad very well. It is enough to note that in the field of hadith science he was called the “ruler of the faithful.” There is a story that confirms this nickname Al-Bukhari. Muslim (another imam), kissing Muhammad on the forehead, said to him: "Oh, teacher of the teachers, let me kiss your legs too." After that, he asked al-Bukhari a question about the hadith about the atonement for the meeting. The imam pointed out to him the shortcomings of this tradition. When Muhammad finished speaking, Muslim said: “Only envious people can hate al-Bukhari! I testify that there simply isn’t anything like you in the world! ”Another scholar named Bindar said:“ I know only the four best muhaddis. These are ad-Darimi from Samarkand, Muslim from Nishapur, Abu Zur from Ray and al-Bukhari from Bukhara. ” According to Ishaq bin Rahaviyah, even if Muhammad lived during the time of al-Hassan, people would still need his traditions and knowledge of fiqh. Abu Hatim al-Razi considered al-Bukhari to be the most knowledgeable scholar of those who visited Baghdad. According to At-Tirmizi, neither in Khorasan, nor in Iraq there was a person who knew history so well and knew the flaws of hadiths like Muhammad. Ibn Husayma said: "Under the firmament, I have not yet met any Messenger of Allah more knowledgeable in the traditions, nor one who would remember as many narrations as Muhammad." Abu-l-Abbas ad-Dalyavi handed down to the descendants a couple of lines from the message of the inhabitants of Baghdad to Muhammad: “As long as you are with the Muslims, it will not leave them. You will be missed and no one will be better than al-Bukhari. " Imam Ahmad said: "There has never been anything like him in Khorasan."
Interesting Facts
- The life and work of al-Bukhari was aimed at searching for hadiths. He traveled a lot. Those who accompanied the imam on the road told about his unexpected ascents at night 15-20 times to repeat the written hadith. Although to memorize a page, it was enough for him to look at it only once. Why did he re-read and repeat the hadith? It's simple - al-Bukhari loved the Prophet's speech. The imam also performed the night of up to thirteen rak'ahs of prayer. And this despite the difficulties encountered along the way.
- Al-Navawi wrote that all the virtues of an imam are simply impossible to list. A separate treatise can be written about each of its qualities. This is God-fearing, asceticism, an excellent memory, zeal in acquiring hadiths, miracles performed, etc.
- Al-Bukhari was hardy and well developed physically. He shot excellently from a bow and rarely missed. The imam also rode a horse perfectly. If on the way it was to cross a dangerous area, then he went to bed early. So the imam stockpiled forces in case of an attack by robbers.
- At that time, the real miracle was that al-Bukhari managed to finish the whole Quran during the day, and at night mastered one third of this book. For ordinary people, this was physically impossible, but Allah gave his beloved imam grace in time.
- Al-Bukhari used moderate expressions to criticize a person. When someone told false hadiths to others, the imam did not accuse him of lying. He only said: "These hadiths are not taken into account" or "are not accepted."
- Al-Bukhari stated that he wanted to meet with Allah without gibat (sin of blasphemy behind his back). That is, never in my life did the imam say what they might not like behind people’s backs.