Al-Bukhari: Biography and Works

Muhammad al-Bukhari is a well-known author of the collection of hadith. He was a fire worshiper and died without accepting Islam. His son named al-Mugirat did not follow his father's path and became a supporter of this religion. He never regretted it. In this article you will be presented with the biography of al-Bukhari. So, let's get started.

Childhood and study

Al-Bukhari was born in 1944 in the Hijri. In the early childhood, the future imam lost his sight. However, the mother's long and sincere prayers miraculously healed him. She learned about getting rid of the disease in a dream. Hazrat Ibrahim came to her and said: "Thanks to holy and profuse pleadings, Allah has restored sight to your son." In the morning it became clear that this dream was prophetic.

The father of the boy Ismail was a very educated man. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to teach his son, because he died early. Muhammad raised his mother. She was also perfectly educated, so she supervised the process of his training. At the age of 16, the young man, together with his brother and mother, made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The relatives of the future imam returned home, and he decided to stay in the holy city for two years. Medina - that's where I went to Al-Bukhari at the age of 18. The books compiled by the young man at the Prophet's grave were called "Tarih-ul-Kabir" and "Kadayas-Sahaba Uat-Tabiyin". He did not stop working even at night, since the 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 visited Kufu, Baghdad and Basra four times. Sometimes he could stay in a certain city for several years. Only one was unchanged - 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 some amount of knowledge from the alims of his native city, went on a trip. He had a lot of teachers. Muhammad himself said this: "1080 different people dictated me hadiths. Each of them was a scientist. " But the most valuable knowledge the imam received from two people - Ali ibn Madini and Iskhak ibn Rahvaya. Al-Bukhari also transmitted hadith from his disciples. He believed that legends should be spread from people of younger, middle and older generations. This is the only way to become a scholar of hadith.

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, the pilgrims flocked to the Imam lessons from all over the world.

Amazing memory

Al-Bukhari was distinguished by good memory, ingenuity and insight. By the age of 7, he had learned the entire Quran, and to ten knew more than a thousand hadiths. Hearing the tradition once, the boy memorized it and, if necessary, could easily reproduce it.

Once in Baghdad, there was a case in point. People who heard from others about the numerous qualities and achievements of the Imam decided to check it out. For this, one hundred different hadiths were chosen. In each of them, the text and chains of the transmitters were changed. Then ten people read them in this form to the Imam.

To get acquainted with the result of the experiment, a huge number of people gathered. After reading out every legend, Muhammad answered the same: "As far as I know, this is not true." As soon as all hadiths were announced, al-Bukhari repeated each of them correctly, observing the changed chain of transmitters. That such a phenomenal memory was possessed by the Imam.

Forbearance

Muhammad possessed an unshakable and incomparable asceticism. From his father he got a huge fortune, but, due to his generosity, the imam quickly squandered money. Remaining without funds, al-Bukhari ate just a couple of almonds a day.

The Imam had many times a chance to take advantage of the generosity of the rulers, but he never did. One day Muhammad fell ill. The doctor, having studied the analysis of his urine, found out that al-Bukhari did not eat curry for a long time. When talking with a patient, the doctor learned about the abstention of the imam from this product for the past forty years.

Special Features

Al-Bukhari (Imam's PDF-books on popular sites are popular) has always put contentment of the surrounding people above their own. This is confirmed by the case of the slave. Approaching the door of the room where the imam was sitting, she stumbled. Muhammad warned her: "Look where you are going." She replied: "How can I walk if there is no room?" After this, al-Bukhari threw up his hands and said: "Now you can walk where you like, I give you freedom."

The Imam always paid attention to the little things that would help him achieve greater contentment of Allah. A similar incident occurred with him in the mosque. Standing in the crowd, a man found a feather in his beard and threw it on the floor. This was noticed by al-Bukhari. After choosing a 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 helped to remain a place of worship in purity.

Another demonstrative incident occurred during the imam of the Zuhr-Namaz. After his 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 not the body of al-Bukhari. One of the comrades asked the imam why he did not interrupt the prayer. A connoisseur of hadith said that he experienced a certain pleasure from salah and did not want to be interrupted due to such a trifle.

Inflexibility

This quality of the imam is perfectly demonstrated by the situation with the ruler of Bukhara. Somehow 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 receive them, and not vice versa.

The head of the city did not like the answer. The ruler again asked the imam to separately work out with his children. But Muhammad was adamant. The second refusal strongly angered the head of Bukhara. He ordered the imam out of town. Upon learning of this, the people of Samarkand immediately sent al-Bukhari an invitation to stay with them. But even in this city Muhammad had enemies. As a result, a connoisseur of hadith traveled to Hartang.

The main work

On the Imam's account there are many books written. But only one collection of the hadith of al-Bukhari 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 date of the beginning of its compilation. But it is reliably known that after completing work on the collection, the Imam introduced it to three of his teachers: Ibn Maeen (died in 233), Ibn-ul-Madini (died in 234) and Ahmad ibn Khaldal (died in 241). There is also evidence that al-Bukhari was engaged in compiling the collection for 16 years. This indicates an approximate start date for the work on the book - 217. Imam was then only 23 years old.

Long before the collection of al-Bukhari was published, there were many books with hadiths. Muhammad carefully studied them and found out that there are traditions with both strong and weak chains of transmitters. This led the Imam to the idea of creating a collection, which would include only Hadith exclusively with a strong isnad. This idea was supported by his teacher Iskhak ibn Rahvai, which strengthened al-Bukhari in his decision. In addition, this desire intensified the dream that had dreamed the imam. Muhammad stood with a fan beside the Prophet and waved away Simuliidae from him. Having woken up in the morning, a connoisseur of hadith went to several interpreters to get an interpretation of the night vision. All of them answered him in the same way: in the future, Muhammad will purify the Prophet from the lies of people transmitting misunderstood legends. This calmed the imam and gave strength to write a collection of "Sahih al-Bukhari". It includes texts of legends about the actions, utterances 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 legends 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 began to write a collection in Bukhara, others told about Mecca, some said about Basra, and the 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 hadeeth in the collection, al-Bukhari performed ghusl and indulged in prayers. He asked Allah for guidance, performing two rak'aatas of nafl-Namaz. Then the Imam thoroughly studied and analyzed the existing legends, and only if the result satisfied him, the hadeeth came into the collection. Because of such a careful and careful attitude to the texts, people had a feeling that Muhammad had heard them personally from the Prophet.

The title of the collection indicates that it includes only 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 for the sake of convenience a lot of its meanings. In the "Sahih al-Bukhari" one can observe the masterful possession of Muhammad by the transmission of the hadith collected in eight chapters. The latter were divided into topics, subdivided, in turn, into sub-headings and known by the original way of their formulation.

Reasons for popularity

Why is the collection of the hadith "Sahih al-Bukhari" especially distinguished against the others? Why is he particularly respected? The reasons are as follows:

1. If there was a need to stop work on the collection, al-Bukhari resumed it only after writing "Bismillah". Therefore, this expression is often mentioned in the pages of his book.
2. At the end of each chapter, the imam deliberately used a sentence 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 that suggests the short life and death.
3. The imam attached great importance to incorporating a suitable hadith in the beginning and end of the collection. He considered this extremely important. The very first hadeeth of "Sahih al-Bukhari" is dedicated to the 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, in the opinion of the Imam, will be the salvation of people on the Day of Judgment, when they will be compelled to report to him in their own sins.

According to Allaw Navawi, Islamic scholars recognized "Sahih al-Bukhari" as the most authentic book after the Holy Quran. This collection includes 7275 hadith, including recurring legends. If you exclude them, you will get exactly 4000.

Hafiz Ibn Hajjar recounted the traditions and came to the conclusion that 7,397 hadiths were transferred directly from the Prophet. Taking into account the narrations from the tabeins, the Sahabs, etc., this figure increased to 9407. If to exclude repetitions, then, according to Ibn Hajjar, there will remain 160 messages from the Sahaba and 2353 narrations from the Prophet. In total, this gives 2513 legends.

Conditions for inclusion

This or that 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 an excellent memory. Also among the requirements were certain limitations:

1. In the chain of storytellers, there should be no links of transmitters.
2. All authoritative Muhadess are obliged to unanimously agree on the candidacy of the narrator of the legends. They need to find out if the narrator is able to memorize, memorize and reliably transmit the hadeeth.
3. If the tradition has two different transmitters (while it has reached them from the Sahaba), then it needs to assign a high rank. If there is only one transmitter, but with strong testimony, the hadeeth must also be accepted without question.

Death

On the way to Samarkand al-Bukhari, whose biography is presented in the article, wrote a will, prayed and departed to another world. Imam was buried in the village of Khartank. Eyewitnesses said that during this event, the fragrance spread from the grave, and around it appeared the image of a wall rising to the skies. The smell hung for several days, and people came to look at this miracle. Attended the grave and envious al-Bukhari. Realizing his level, they repented.

Once Samarkand overtook a severe drought. Despite the people praying, rain did not go. Then one righteous advised the Imam, along with people, to go to the grave of al-Bukhari and pray to Allah there. They heeded his advice. As a result, all the inhabitants of Samarkand had to stay in Khartak, as heavy rains went on for several days.

Reviews

Many scholars (contemporaries of al-Bukhari) very well evaluated the work of Muhammad. Suffice it to say that in the field of the science of hadith, 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 teachers, let me kiss your feet." After that he asked al-Bukhari a question about the hadeeth about the atonement for the meeting. The Imam pointed out to him the shortcomings of this tradition. When Muhammad finished speaking, Muslim declared: "Only envious people can hate al-Bukhari! I testify that there is simply no one like you in the world! "Another scientist named Bindar said:" I know only the four best muhaddis. This is ad-Darimi from Samarkand, Muslim from Nishapur, Abu Zura from Rey and al-Bukhari from Bukhara. " According to Ishak bin Rahaviyya, even if Muhammad lived in the time of al-Hasan, people would still need his traditions and knowledge of fiqh. Abu Hatim al-Razi considered al-Bukhari the most knowledgeable scientist among those who visited Baghdad. According to At-Tirmizi, neither Khurasan nor Iraq had a man who knew history so well and understood the shortcomings of the hadeeth, like Muhammad. Ibn Khuzayma said: "Under the firmament, I have not yet met any more informed in the traditions of the Messenger of Allah, nor one who has memorized as many narratives as Muhammad." Abu-al-Abbas ad-Dalyavi gave the descendants a couple of lines from the message of the residents of Baghdad to Muhammad: "As long as you are with the Muslims, the good will not leave them. You will be missed and there will be no one better than al-Bukhari. " Imam Ahmad stated: "He was not like him in Khorasan yet."

Interesting Facts

• The life and activity of al-Bukhari was aimed at finding the hadith. He traveled a lot. Those who accompanied the Imam on the road told of his unexpected ascents at night by 15-20 times for the repetition of the written hadith. Although to remember the page it was enough to look at it only once. Why did he read and repeat the hadith? It's simple - al-Bukhari loved the speech of the Prophet. Also, the imam performed for the night up to thirteen rak'aats of prayer. And this despite the difficulties that arise in the way.
• Al-Nawawi wrote that all the merits of the Imam are simply impossible to enumerate. Each of its qualities can be written a separate treatise. This is God-fearing, asceticism, magnificent memory, diligence in acquiring the hadith, performed miracles, etc.
• Al-Bukhari was enduring and well developed in physical terms. He excelled at shooting arrows and rarely missed. Also the Imam was riding beautifully on a horse. If the road was to cross a dangerous terrain, then he went to bed early. So the Imam reserved his forces in case of an attack of robbers.
• At that time, it was a real miracle that al-Bukhari had time to read the entire Qur'an in the daytime, and at night mastered one third of this book. For ordinary people, it was physically impossible, but Allah gave grace to his beloved Imam in time.
• To criticize a person, al-Bukhari used moderate expressions. When someone told false false ones around, the imam did not blame him for lying. He only said: "These hadiths are not taken into account" or "Not accepted."
• Al-Bukhari stated that he wanted to meet with Allah without a hubbath (sin blaspheme behind him). That is, never in the life of the imam did people say things that they might not like behind their backs.