Imam Bukhari

Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

assalamu alaikum

Imam Bukhari (194 - 265)

By: Shaykh al-Had�th `All�ma Ghul�m Ras�l Sa`�d�
Translated by: `All�mah Ishfaq Alam Qadri and M. Iqtidar

After the Sah�bah al-kir�m, Im�m al-Bukh�r� ranks as the most eminent of those pious people who have conferred endless bliss upon the Ummah of the Holy Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam. The greatest evidence of this is the book of Ah�d�th an-Nabaw� he compiled, commonly known as Sah�h al-Bukh�r�. It is universally acknowledged as the most authentic book after the Holy Qur'�n. So long as their is one Muslim left on the Earth, the blessings of Im�m Bukh�r� will have a place in his or her �m�n and Isl�m. Let us briefly examine below a short survey of his life and works.

His Early Years

Im�m al-muhaddith�n Hadrat Im�m Ab� `Abdull�h Muhammad ibn Ism�`�l al-Bukh�r� was born on the 13th of the Isl�mic month of Shaww�l, 194AH, in the famous city of Bukhara, of the land "beyond the canal" - present day Uzbekistan -. The father of Im�m Bukh�r�, Ism�`�l ibn Ibr�h�m ibn Mugh�rah al-Ja`f�, was a great muhaddith and ascetic from whom he inherited his characteristics of literary zeal and excellence. During infancy his father passed away and his mother took on the entire responsibility of bringing him up. Im�m Bukh�r� became blind at a young age. He had recourse to many famous and skilled doctors of his time but their treatments made no difference. His mother was a pious worshipper and a righteous woman. She cried out for help in the court of All�h the Almighty, for her child and begged for the restoration of his eyesight. At last, "the river of mercy flowed over her," and Almighty All�h accepted her invocation. One night, she visited Ibr�h�m `alayhis-sal�m in a dream and was told, "All�h has restored the sight of your son because of your intense and beautiful invocations." In the morning, as Im�m Bukh�r� got up from his bed, glimmers of light reached out into his eyes.

Primary Education and  Interest in Had�th

When Im�m Bukh�r� reached the age of ten and after acquiring his elementary education, Almighty All�h inserted the interest in the science of Ahad�th into his heart and he obtained admission in the Had�th class of Bukhara. He obtained his educations after vigorous study. A year later, he had such a good retention of the text and chains of transmission of Ah�d�th, that sometimes teachers got their corrections from him. Im�m Bukh�r� had been acquiring religious education with competance and swiftness and at the tender age of sixteen, he had completely learnt by heart the books of `Abdull�h ibn al-Mub�rak, al-Wak�` and other learned companions of al-Im�m Ab� Han�fa radiyall�hu `anhum.

The Visit to the Haramayn and the Commencement of His Ah�d�th Compilation

At the age of eighteen, He visited Makkah accompanied by his mother and elder brother, Ahmad ibn Ism�`�l. After performing the pilgrimage, his brother returned with the company of his mother, but Im�m Bukh�r� stayed there for further education. Meanwhile, he wrote a book called, Qad�y� as-Sah�bah wat-T�bi`�n. After this he went to Mad�nah al-munawwarah to compile the famous book of Asm�` ar-rij�l (Names of men of   transmission) called, T�r�kh al-kab�r, while sitting by the tomb of the Holy Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam during moonlight hours. Immediately after completing this, a series of imitations had begun. Muhammad ibn Y�saf al-Fury�b� said that at the time he had copied T�r�kh al-kab�r, Im�m Bukh�r� did not yet have any facial hair.

Im�m Bukh�r� travelled to cities far and wide for the transmission of Ah�d�th and had gained immense knowledge while sitting far from his own country for several years. He stated himself, "To seek knowledge, I travelled to Egypt and Syria twice, Basra four times, spent six years at the Hij�z and left for Kufa and Baghdad on so many occasions accompanied by Muhaddith�n."

His Remarkable Memory

Im�m Bukh�r� was a man with a very strong memory. When we look at his memory, it is as if his body from head to toe stored it. Seeing his memory, the memory of Ab� Hurayrah radiyall�hu `anhu is rekindled in the hearts of Muslims. Hashid ibn Ism�`�l states that in his childhood: "Im�m Bukh�r� used to go with us to the Scholars of Basra to listen to Ah�d�th. All of us used to write Ah�d�th down, except Im�m Bukh�r�. After sixteen days, we thought about it and we condemned Im�m Bukh�r� saying that, 'you had wasted so many days work by not writing down Ah�d�th.' Im�m Bukh�r� asked us to bring our notes to him. So we all brought our notes, upon which Im�m Bukh�r� began to read Ah�d�th one by one from the top of his head until he narrated to us more than fifteen thousand! Hearing these, it seemed that Im�m Bukh�r� was reteaching us all of the Ah�d�th we had noted."

Muhammad ibn Azhar Sajist�n� says: "I used to go to Sulaym�n ibn Harab accompanied by Im�m Bukh�r� for listening to Ah�d�th. I used to write the Ah�d�th, but Im�m Bukh�r� wouldn't. Somone said to me, 'Why doesn't Im�m Bukh�r� note the Ah�d�th down?' I told him, 'if you missed any H�d�th in writing, you could obtain it from the memory of Im�m Bukh�r�.'"

Im�m Bukh�r�'s memory could be understood by knowing that if he glanced through a book, it would be committed to memory instantly. In his early period of acquiring knowledge, he memorised seventy thousand Ah�d�th and later in his life, this figure reached three hundred thousand. Of these, one hundred thousand were sah�h (rigorously authenticated) and two hundred thousand were not sah�h (hasan, da`�f, etc). Once he went to Balkh and the inhabitants desired that he should recite one Had�th from each of his shaykhs. Then he orated from one thousand Shaykhs one thousand Ah�d�th.

Sulaym�n ibn Muj�hid says: "One day I was present in the company of Muhammad ibn Sal�m Baykand�. Muhammad ibn Sal�m said, 'If you had come earlier, I would have shown you the child who has seventy thousand Ah�d�th in his memory.' Sulaym�n stood up from his company and started looking for Im�m Bukh�r�. Shortly he found him and asked, 'Are you the one who has committed seventy thousand Ah�d�th to memory?' Im�m Bukh�r� replied, 'I have learnt more Ah�d�th than this by heart. I even know the place of birth, death and residence of most of those companions from whom the Ah�d�th are narrated."

His Extraordinary Intellect

Along with his extraordinary memory, he also had a very sharp intellect. He did not depend on pen and paper as much as he relied on his mind and memory. People examined the capabilities of Im�m Bukh�ri in the science of Had�th repeatedly but he always remained successful as a result of All�h's gift of intellegence and superb memory.

H�fiz Ahmad ibn `Ad� describes: "When the people of Baghdad had learnt that Im�m Bukh�r� was due to arrive there, the Muhaddith�n of Baghdad decided to test him by changing the text and chains of transmission of one hundred Ah�d�th. They joined the chain of one Had�th with the text of another and attached the chain of this Had�th with the text of the prior. Like this, they mixed up the text and chains of transmission of one hundred Ah�d�th and gave these to people who would test Im�m Bukh�r� with these.

"When Im�m Bukh�ri arrived at Baghdad, the people held a gathering in his honour, in which most of the Ulam�, nobles and public were present. One person stood up according to the plan and asked a question regarding a Had�th with its altered chain of transmission. Upon this, a second person stood up and recited in similar manner. Like this, the people completed the hundred Ah�d�th and awaited Im�m Bukh�r�'s reply. He said that he had not apprehended those Ah�d�th. When he saw that everyone had finished asking questions, he stood up and described the chain of transmission of the first Had�th read and then gave its correct chain. Like this, he detailed the faulty chains on the Ah�d�th of all one hundred set up by the scholars. He had given the correct chains of transmission to every Had�th. When he finished, the entire audience was full of praise and recognition of the superiority and greatness of Im�m Bukh�r�."

H�fiz Abul-Azhar relates: "Once four hundred Muhaddith�n had gathered in the city of Samarqand to test Im�m Bukh�r�. They did this by mixing up the transmissions of Syria with the transmissions of Iraq and the transmissions of Iraq with the transmissions of Syria. Similarly, they inserted the transmissions of the Haram (Makkah) into the ones of Yemen and vice versa. They did this to Im�m Bukh�ri for seven days, but could not mislead him in text or transmission a single time. He had comprehensive knowledge in the science of Had�th - all of the routes of a Had�th were in his eyes if one with many chains was found. So Im�m Bukh�r� had a good view of all of them. In that age, no one had more command over the different ways of transmission than Im�m Bukh�r�."

Y�suf ibn M�s� Mar�z� states: "I was sitting in the central mosque of Basra when I heard a voice saying, 'O seeker of knowledge, Im�m Muhammad ibn Ism�`�l has arrived. Whoever wants to receive Ah�d�th from him should present himself in his company.'" Mar�z� says: "I saw a thin, weak young man near the pillar who was praying sal�t with extreme humbleness and humility and that was Im�m Bukh�r�. As soon as the announcement was made, curious people from all directions began to gather around."

Glimpses of his private life

1. Self sufficiency:

The father of Im�m Bukh�r�, Muhaddith Ism�`�l ibn Ibr�h�m was enormously rich and Im�m Bukh�r� had inherited a huge share of his wealth. He used to give his wealth on the basis of silent partnership (e.g. if a person is in possession of a shop, the profits are shared equally, but only one partner does all the work). Ab� Sa`�d Bakr ibn Mun�r states: "Once Ab� Hafs sent some goods to Im�m Bukh�r� and when traders learnt of this, they came and offered five thousand dirhams. He told them, 'Come in the evening.' A second group of traders came and offered ten thousand dirhams, but he told them, 'I have already made an agreement with someone else. Ido not want to change my intention for the sake of ten thousand dirhams.'"

2. Simplicity and humbleness:

From the point of view of his character, Im�m Bukh�r� was a simple and hard working person. He would fulfill his own needs by himself. Despite having a lot of wealth and status, he always kept the minimum number of servants required and never indulged himself in this matter. Muhammad ibn H�tim Warr�q, who was one of his main disciples, says: "Im�m Bukh�r� was establishing an inn near the city of Bukhara and was placing the bricks with his own hands. I came forward and said 'Leave the laying of the bricks for this building to me.' But he replied, 'On the day of judgement, this act will be of benefit to me.'"

Warr�q goes on to say: "When we accompanied Im�m Bukh�r� on a journey, he would gather us in one room and would stay by himself in a separate room. Once I saw Im�m Bukh�r� get up between fifteen and twenty times during the night and every time, he lit the lamp with his own hands. He took some Ah�d�th out, marked them and then placed his head on his pillow and laid on his couch. I said to him, 'Why did you go through all this trouble during the night, when you could have woken me up [so that I could help you].' He replied, 'You are young and are in need of sound sleep and I did not want to disturb your sleep.'"

3. Generosity

Just as he was generous with this wealth, he was also greatly generous with his heart. Sometimes, he would give three thousand dirhams as a donation in one day. Warr�q says that Im�m Bukh�r�'s earnings were five hundred dirhams per month and he would spend all of it on his students.

4. Abstention (Zuhd)

Im�m Bukh�r� kept himself away from all worldly desires and temptations. Sometimes, in his quest for knowledge, he passed his time eating dried grass (hay). Usually he would eat only two or three almonds in a whole day. Once he became ill and the doctors told him, "Your intestines have become dry because you have been eating dried leaves." It was at that moment that Im�m Bukh�r� told the doctor that he had been eating dried leaves for forty years and during this span of time he never even touched any kind of curry.

5. Fear of All�h

He was bestowed with the highest rank of piety and righteousness. He feared All�h very much inwardly and outwardly. He prevented himself from backbiting and suspicion and always respected the rights of others. Bakr ibn Mun�r relates that Im�m Bukh�r� said, "I am hopeful that when I meet my Lord, He will not take account of me because I never backbited."

Im�m Bukh�r� was so vigilant in his worship, that he would pray Naw�fil and keep fasts in abundance. He would complete the recitation of the whole Qur'�n daily in the month of Ramad�n and also recited ten chapters of the Holy Qur'�n deep in the night. He would complete the Holy Qur'�n in the Tar�w�h prayers and always reciting twenty verses in each rak`at. He was very courteous, tolerant and gentle. He never became angry if mistreated by other persons and prayed forgiveness for those who attributed evil to him. If he needed to correct any person, he would never embarrass him in public.

His Arrival in N�sh�p�r and the issue of the creation of the Qur'�n

In 250 AH, Im�m Bukh�r� decided to go to N�sh�p�r. After hearing this news, a wave of happiness spread among its people. In those times, Muhammad ibn Yahya adh-Dhuhl� was the head of the literary kingdom of N�sh�p�r. He advised and led the inhabitants of the city to gather together for the welcoming of Im�m Bukh�r�. A huge crowd went to the outskirts of the city to receive Im�m Bukh�r�, with extreme magnificence and honour. Im�m Muslim ibn Hajj�j says that in all his life, he had never seen such a reception ever given to a scholar or even a ruler.

Im�m Bukh�r� began to deliver lectures on Had�th in N�sh�p�r. At every session, a huge crowd always packed the area to listen and many included people who had arrived specifically to learn the science of Had�th. However, some unpleasant people were envious about the reputation and popularity of Im�m Bukh�r�. These people set up Muhammad ibn Yahya adh-Dhuhl� to become his opponent. In this incident, Muhammad ibn Yahya considered the pronunciation of the Qur'�n as eternal and was firmly rooted with this concept.

Once, a man approached Im�m Bukh�r� and asked him whether the Qur'�n was created (makhl�q) or not created (ghayr makhl�q). Im�m Bukh�r� paused for a while. The man insisted on a reply, upon which he was told, "The Qur'�n are the words of All�h and they are not created (ghayr makhl�q)." The man posed some more questions about the words of the Qur'�n, upon which Im�m Bukh�r� said, "Our actions are created and the pronunciation is one our actions."

[Comment by G.F. Haddad: The above is inaccurately translated. It should read: "Muhammad ibn
Yahya considered the *pronunciation* of the Qur'�n as eternal..." and "Im�m Bukh�r� said, 'Our actions are created and the pronunciation is one our actions.'" 

The disagreement was only over the pronunciation (lafz) of the Qur'an, not the words of the Qur'an, although lafz also means "wording." Al-Dhuhli and other people close to the Hanbali madhhab considered that the pronunciation is uncreated just like the Qur'an itself. Others, like Bukhari and Muslim, also al-Karabisi the companion of al-Shafi`i and others considered the pronunciation created since it is part of one's acts and acts are certainly created. There was no disagreement that the words of the Qur'an are not created since they are what is meant when we say that the Qur'an is Allah's Speech.

What possibly reconciles the different views on this subject is that lafz is used by some to mean the revealed, uncreated words and contents of recitation, while others mean thereby the mere act of pronunciation, which is created; hence the extreme caution shown by some, such as Imam al-Bukhari, who fell short of saying: "Lafz is created" even though he used it in the second sense, since he said: "Lafz is an act of human beings, and our acts are created." This lexical ambiguity is a proof of sorts that the differences on this particular question were largely in terminology rather than essence. Added to this is a fundamental difference in method around the appropriateness of such dialectic (kalam), which poisoned the air with unnecessary condemnations on the part of Imam Ahmad's followers - and Allah knows best.]

After this, mass propaganda started against Im�m Bukh�r�, which led to accusations that he believed the words of the Qur'�n to be created. When Dhuhl� heard these rumours, he disconnected his ties with Im�m Bukh�r� and became his foe. He started warning people by announcing that they should not attend the lectures of Im�m Bukh�r�. As a result, people refrained from sitting in his lectures, except Muslim ibn Hajj�j. At last, due to his disappointment, Im�m Bukh�r� left the city of N�sh�p�r and returned to Bukhara.¹

Banishment from his homeland

When the people of Bukhara learnt that Im�m Bukh�r� was coming back to his homeland, they became extremely overjoyed and erected tents many miles outside the city to welcome him. They greeted him with splendour for his return. He established a school there where he spent a great deal of time teaching with satisfaction.

Even here, there were envious people who did not leave him alone. They met the governor of Bukhara, who was a representative of the Khil�fat `Abasiyya, Kh�lid ibn Ahmad. They told him to call Im�m Bukh�r� to his house and busy him with teaching his son. When the governor put this suggestion to Im�m Bukh�r�, he was told, "I do not want to abuse knowledge and carry it to the footstep of the rulers. If anybody wants to learn, they should come to my school." The governor replied, by stating, "If my son was to attend your school, he should not sit with ordinary people. You would have to teach him separately." Im�m Bukh�r� answered, "I cannot stop any person from hearing Ah�d�th." Upon hearing this, the governer of Bukhara became angry with him and got a fatwa (verdict) from the time wasting opportunist (ibn al-waqt) `Ulam� against Im�m Bukh�r� to banish him from the city.

Im�m Bukh�r� was distressed at the thought of being banished from his homeland. Not even a month passed, before the Khal�f of Baghdad dismissed the governor of Bukhara, Kh�lid ibn Ahmad adh-Dhuhl�. The governor was expelled from his palace in extreme disgrace and dishonour, being mounted on a she-ass and then thrown into prison, where he died in a space of a few days. Similarly, all the supporters of the governor also died in disgraceful ways.

His passing

After returning from Bukhara, Im�m Bukh�r� decided to travel to Samarqand. He was still many miles from the city, when he heard that the people there had two veiws about him. So he decided to stay at a village along the way called "Kharteng". Here, he made the following invocation one night after the late-night prayer: "O All�h, the Earth despite its grandeur is becoming narrow and is troubling me greatly. So take me back to You." After this invocation, he became ill. Meanwhile, the people of Samarqand sent a messenger to bring him there. Bukh�r� got up and was ready to travel, but his strength gave way. He began to invoke All�h at length, then he took to his bed and his soul passed away to his Lord - may All�h have mercy on him. An indescribable amount of perspiration came out of him even after he consigned his life to the Creator of life. When this abated, he was shrouded. He died on the night of `�d al-Fitr, the first night of Shaww�l in the year 256 AH. He had reached the age of 62 years, less twelve days. On this night, the sun of great knowledge, virtue and blessings had set, whose knowledge and actions had enlightened the hearts and minds of the great intellects and people of Samarqand, Bukhara, Baghdad and N�sh�p�r.

His acceptance by Allah's Messenger sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam

Im�m Bukh�r� devoted his entire life, in the search for the way of life given by the Holy Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam, in acting upon his sayings and researching into this science. His each and every action was a fragment of the way of the Messenger. Warr�q stated: "In a dream, I once saw Im�m Bukh�r� walking behind the Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam and his feet would fall exactly where the feet of the blessed Prophet had fallen."

Farbar� stated: "Once in a dream, I met the Holy Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam and he asked me, 'Where are you going?' I replied, 'To Muhammad ibn Ism�`�l [al-Bukh�r�].' He then said, 'Go, and give him my sal�m.'"

The Jan�zah prayer was performed over Im�m Bukh�r� and his body was covered with soil. A beautiful musk smell exuded from the earth of his grave which lasted for several days. People from far and wide began to visit it in astonishment and also took handfuls of earth from his grave for blessings (tabarruk).

Abul-Fath as-Samarqand� relates: "two hundred years after the death of Im�m Bukh�r�, a drought struck Samarqand. The people made the istisq�' prayer and invocations but rain did not fall. A saintly man came to the judge (Q�d�) of the city and gave him some advice. He said: 'With the people of the city, go to the grave of Im�m Bukh�r� and invoke All�h the Exalted there to give you rain. Perhaps All�h will accept our invocations and give us rain.' The judge of the city accepted this advice with delight and proceeded to go to the grave. The people followed him and upon arrival, he prayed for rain in front of them at the grave. People wept and also sought the intercession of the one who was in the grave. At that moment, clouds gathered and All�h sent such heavy rain that those who were in Kharteng could not reach Samarqand for seven days because of the rain's abundance.

Conclusion

Im�m Bukh�r� was not only a scholar, worshipper, a devotee and a prosperous man, but he always feared All�h and shone with the love of the Messenger sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam. The virtuous outpourings he gave to the world during his life are still being given today and as the Muslim Ummah goes about its daily acts of worship, they realise how important the role played by Im�m Bukh�r� was. He compiled and circulated the Ah�d�th of the Prophet wherever possible and All�h spread his status to every corner of the world. It is a fact that as long as the traditions of the Holy Prophet sallall�hu `alayhi wa sallam (q�la and q�la) are mentioned in gatherings, lights and blessings will shower onto the grave of Im�m al-Bukh�r� from the skies of the Most Merciful.

� Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Monthly Magazine, March 1995, pp. 30-37

Commentary

¹The disagreement was only over the pronunciation (lafz) of the Qur'an, not the words of the Qur'an, although lafz also means "wording." Al-Dhuhli and other people close to the Hanbali madhhab considered that the pronunciation is uncreated just like the Qur'an itself. Others, like Bukhari and Muslim, also al-Karabisi the companion of al-Shafi`i and others considered the pronunciation created since it is part of one's acts and acts are certainly created. There was no disagreement that the words of the Qur'an are not created since they are what is meant when we say that the Qur'an is Allah's Speech.

What possibly reconciles the different views on this subject is that lafz is used by some to mean the revealed, uncreated words and contents of recitation, while others mean thereby the mere act of pronunciation, which is created; hence the extreme caution shown by some, such as Imam al-Bukhari, who fell short of saying: �Lafz is created� even though he used it in the second sense, since he said: �Lafz is an act of human beings, and our acts are created.� This lexical ambiguity is a proof of sorts that the differences on this particular question were largely in terminology rather than essence. Added to this is a fundamental difference in method around the appropriateness of such dialectic (kalam), which poisoned the air with unnecessary condemnations on the part of Imam Ahmad�s followers � and Allah knows best.

Dr. G.F. Haddad