Imam Bukhari
The Ameer Al-Mumineen of Hadith
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari most commonly known as Imam Bukhari like many of the other Imams was a Persian as well. He is well known throughout the Muslim world for compiling his book Sahih Bukhari which is the most authentic book after the Quran.
As a Child
According to some sources Imam Bukhari was born on Jumah on the 13th of Shawwal 194 A.H in the city of Bukhara (modern day Uzbekistan). His father Ismail had passed away before he was born and he had dabbled in Hadiths and even had the opportunity to sit with Imam Malik. Imam Bukhari was of Persian origins and his native language was Farsi (Persian), but he learned Arabic and became fluent in it.
Imam Bukhari first started learning Hadiths in his own home town Bukhara from Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak when he was 11. |
In those days teachers wouldn't keep notes in front of them and would recite hadiths from memory. So one day his teacher was narrating a hadith and Imam Bukhari told him he made a mistake. His teacher got mad, but Imam Bukhari insisted he refer back to his notes, so the teacher went home checked his notes and realized he in fact did make a mistake. This event shows that Imam Bukhari was a gifted child.
By the time he had become 14-15 he had studied with all the scholars of his hometown in Bukhara.
One day Imam Bukhari was on Hajj with his elder brother and mother. Hajj was the time when Islamic scholars from all over the world. After Hajj was over Imam Bukhari decided to stay in Makkah and take the opportunity to study with the Ulema (scholars) there for nearly two years. After he was 18 he decided to go to Medina and compile "Qadhayas-Sahabah wa at-Tabeen" and "Tarikh Al-Kabir".
By the time he had become 14-15 he had studied with all the scholars of his hometown in Bukhara.
One day Imam Bukhari was on Hajj with his elder brother and mother. Hajj was the time when Islamic scholars from all over the world. After Hajj was over Imam Bukhari decided to stay in Makkah and take the opportunity to study with the Ulema (scholars) there for nearly two years. After he was 18 he decided to go to Medina and compile "Qadhayas-Sahabah wa at-Tabeen" and "Tarikh Al-Kabir".
When he turned 16 he went on Hajj with his elder brother and mother. Hajj was the time when Islamic scholars from all over the world would come to Makkah and teach. This Islamic environment amazed him and he asked his mother if he could stay. After Hajj was over Imam Bukhari decided to stay in Makkah and take the opportunity to study with the Ulema (scholars) there for nearly two years. After he was 18 he decided to go to Medina and compile "Qadhayas-Sahabah wa at-Tabeen" and "Tarikh Al-Kabir". These books deal with one of the hardest subjects in hadith which is "ilm-ul-rejal" (knowledge of men). In these books he documents all the biographies of the narrators all the way to the sahabas and later narrators, and it is still used by Hadith scholars to this day.
Travel to Baghdad
What really helped Bukhari excel in Hadith was his photographic memory, he only needed to see a hadith once and never needed the notes for it again. Plus Ibn Kaseer writes that Imam Bukhari would read a page once and that page would be preserved in his mind till the end of his life.
So some scholars actually put his memory to the test in public by challenging him. The most famous of these challenges is when Bukhari revisted Baghdad in his 30's, by this time Imam Hanbal had passed away and everyone knew who Bukhari was, he was like a celebrity in Baghdad due to his amazing memory. So some scholars in Baghdad thought his memory was nothing more than rumors and untrue. So they came up with a plan to expose them. One day they went to Bukhari and told him to meet up at the Grand Masjid in Baghdad and each of them will narrate 10 hadith for the students to benefit. There plan was to mix up the hadith by putting an incorrect isnad (chain of narrators) with the wrong Matan (text of hadith). When they had there Halaqa (gathering) there the first scholar goes and quotes a famous hadith and then asks Bukhari if he's heard of these Hadith. So Bukhari replies no. The guy continues to narrate a second hadith and again Bukhari says he's never heard of it. And then all of them narrate 100 hadith and each time Bukhari says he's never heard of them. Bukhari then asks of there finished and they reply yes. So he goes back to the first person who narrate the first hadith and corrects him with the correct isnad and Matan and he continues to correct all of scholars who narrated the 100 hadith. When the scholars and students in that Halaqa saw this they realized all that hype about Bukhari was true. And Ibn Hajar (famous commentator on Sahih Bukhari) said "What is amazing is not that Imam Bukhari knew the right Hadith, but what is amazing is that he memorized the incorrect versions of the hadith by only listening to them once."
So some scholars actually put his memory to the test in public by challenging him. The most famous of these challenges is when Bukhari revisted Baghdad in his 30's, by this time Imam Hanbal had passed away and everyone knew who Bukhari was, he was like a celebrity in Baghdad due to his amazing memory. So some scholars in Baghdad thought his memory was nothing more than rumors and untrue. So they came up with a plan to expose them. One day they went to Bukhari and told him to meet up at the Grand Masjid in Baghdad and each of them will narrate 10 hadith for the students to benefit. There plan was to mix up the hadith by putting an incorrect isnad (chain of narrators) with the wrong Matan (text of hadith). When they had there Halaqa (gathering) there the first scholar goes and quotes a famous hadith and then asks Bukhari if he's heard of these Hadith. So Bukhari replies no. The guy continues to narrate a second hadith and again Bukhari says he's never heard of it. And then all of them narrate 100 hadith and each time Bukhari says he's never heard of them. Bukhari then asks of there finished and they reply yes. So he goes back to the first person who narrate the first hadith and corrects him with the correct isnad and Matan and he continues to correct all of scholars who narrated the 100 hadith. When the scholars and students in that Halaqa saw this they realized all that hype about Bukhari was true. And Ibn Hajar (famous commentator on Sahih Bukhari) said "What is amazing is not that Imam Bukhari knew the right Hadith, but what is amazing is that he memorized the incorrect versions of the hadith by only listening to them once."
Imam Bukhari continued the tradition of the Salaf-us-Saliheen (pious predecessors) and that is he would never use notes in front of him. He never quoted his Sahih Bukhari from a manuscript or book in front of him. He always did it by memory. He would sit in front of his students and start dictating the correct order of the Hadith from his Sahih Bukhari, with the correct heading and even his small commentary if he had one, and is students would write it all down.
After Medina he traveled to Baghdad in his 20's and studied with Imam Hanbal when he was in his 70's. Imam Hanbal was so impressed that he said:
"I have never seen anyone in the entire province of Khourasan, someone like Bukhari"
--------Imam Hanbal
Back to Bukhara
Due to his fame many of his contemporaries got really jealous of him. So he decided to move back to his hometown Bukhara. The Sheikh of Bukhara actually welcomed him and was delighted that Imam
In Hadith
Besides Hadith
Imam Bukhari was not only a master of hadith as he is known, but even of Fiqh (jurisprudence) and Aqeedah (creed) even though most scholars of Islam were masters of one field, it is very rare int the history of this Ummah (Muslim community) that you will find a scholar of who is truly a master of multiple fileds and Imam Bukhari was one of them. He wrote multiple big books on Aqeedah and as well as in Fiqh.
In Fiqh
Many scholars of the Madhab (schools of thought) wanted to acquire Bukhari in there school, so the Hanbalis would say he was a Hanbali, the Shafis would say he's a Shafi, etc.... but the reality is that he was independant because he had reached a level of Ijtihad (independent reasoning). He was not a Muqalid (blind follower) of the 4 imams even though he studied under Imam Hanbal, the students of Imam Shafi, Maliki, but he wasn't a muqalid. He had studied Fiqh with over a 1000 students.
Legacy
None of the other scholars in Hadith such as Imam Muslim, Abu Dawud, Nasa'i, etc.... really rivaled Imam Bukhari in the comprehensiveness of Hadith. And if you look at the roster of his students you see great scholars such as Imam Muslim, Imam Tirmidhi, and Imam Nasa'i. Also if you look at the 6 famous hadith book 4 of them were by him and his students.
Bibliography
- "About - Sahih Al-Bukhari." Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Web. 1 Aug. 2015.
- "Life of Imam Bukhari - An Explanation of "Kitab Al Dua" from Sahih Bukhari Pt.1 - Yasir Qadhi." YouTube. Memphis Center. Web. 3 Oct. 2015.