Al-Tirmidhi's given name (ism) was "Muhammad" while hiskunya was "Abu `Isa" ("father of `Isa"). His genealogy is uncertain; hisnasab (patronymic) has variously been given as:
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة)[4]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsá ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن موسى بن الضحاك)[5][6][7][8]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد)[9]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن الضحاك)[10]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sawrah ibn Shaddād ibn ‛Īsá (محمد بن عيسى بن سورة بن شداد بن عيسى)[8]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Yazīd ibn Sawrah ibn as-Sakan (محمد بن عيسى بن يزيد بن سورة بن السكن)[5][6][8]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل)[11][12]
Muḥammad ibn ‛Īsá ibn Sahl ibn Sawrah (محمد بن عيسى بن سهل بن سورة)[13]
He was also known by thelaqab "ad-Darir" ("the Blind"). It has been said that he was born blind, but the majority of scholars agree that he became blind later in his life.[5][14]
At-Tirmidhi's grandfather was originally fromMarw (Persian: Merv), but moved to Tirmidh.[5] According toBritannica Online, he was an Arab.[15] According to S.H. Nasr and M. Mutahhari inThe Cambridge History of Iran, Al-Tirmidhi was ofPersian ethnicity.[16] His uncle was the famous Sufi Abu Bakr al-Warraq.[17] Al-Warraq was the teacher of Al-Hakim al-Samarqandi, a known associate of the famous theologian Abu MansurAl-Maturidi.[citation needed]
Muhammad ibn `Isa at-Tirmidhi was born during the reign of theAbbasid caliphal-Ma'mun. His year of birth has been reported as 209AH (824/825).[18][19][20]Adh-Dhahabi only states that at-Tirmidhi was born near the year 210 AH (825/826),[5] thus some sources give his year of birth as 210 AH.[4][21] Some sources indicate that he was born inMecca (Siddiqi says he was born in Mecca in 206 AH (821/822))[22] while others say he was born inTirmidh (Persian: Termez), in what is now southernUzbekistan.[18] The stronger opinion is that he was born in Tirmidh.[5] Specifically, he was born in one of its suburbs, the village of Bugh (hence thenisbats "at-Tirmidhi" and "al-Bughi").[19][21][23][24]
At-Tirmidhi began the study of hadith at the age of 20. From the year 235 AH (849/850) he traveled widely inKhurasan,Iraq, and theHijaz in order to collect hadith.[4][9][10] His teachers and those he narrated from included:
At the time, Khurasan, at-Tirmidhi's native land, was a major center of learning, being home to a large number ofmuhaddiths. Other major centers of learning visited by at-Tirmidhi were the Iraqi cities ofKufa andBasra. At-Tirmidhi reported hadith from 42 Kufan teachers. In hisJami`, he used more reports from Kufan teachers than from teachers of any other town.[14]
At-Tirmidhi was a pupil ofal-Bukhari, who was based in Khurasan. Adh-Dhahabi wrote, "His knowledge of hadith came from al-Bukhari."[18] At-Tirmidhi mentioned al-Bukhari's name 114 times in hisJami`. He used al-Bukhari'sKitab at-Tarikh as a source when mentioning discrepancies in the text of a hadith or its transmitters, and praised al-Bukhari as being the most knowledgeable person in Iraq or Khurasan in the science of discrepancies of hadith. When mentioning the rulings of jurists, he followed al-Bukhari's practice of not mentioning the name ofAbu Hanifah. Because he never received a reliable chain of narrators to mention Abu Hanifa's decrees, he would instead attribute them to "some people of Kufa."[14] Al-Bukhari held at-Tirmidhi in high regard as well. He is reported to have told at-Tirmidhi, "I have profited more from you than you have from me," and in hisSahih he narrated two hadith from at-Tirmidhi.[14][18]
At-Tirmidhi also narrated some hadiths from Abu Dawud, and one from Muslim.[14] Muslim also narrated one hadith from at-Tirmidhi in his ownSahih.[18]
A.J. Wensinck mentionsAhmad ibn Hanbal as among at-Tirmidhi's teachers.[9][14] However, Hoosen states that according to the most reliable sources, at-Tirmidhi never went to Baghdad, nor did he attend any lectures of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Furthermore, at-Tirmidhi never directly narrates from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in hisJami`.[14]
Several of at-Tirmidhi's teachers also taught al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud,Ibn Majah, andan-Nasa'i.
Tomb of Abu Isa al-Tirmidhi, nearOxus River,Termez, Uzbekistan. (2006)
At-Tirmidhi became blind in the last two years of his life, according to adh-Dhahabi.[10] His blindness is said to have been the consequence of excessive weeping, either due to fear of God or over the death ofal-Bukhari.[4][5][10][14][18]
He died on Monday night, 13 Rajab 279 AH (Sunday night, 8 October 892)[a] in Bugh.[7][10][14]
At-Tirmidhi is buried on the outskirts ofSherobod, 60 kilometers north ofTermez inUzbekistan. In Termez he is locally known as Abu Isa at-Termezi or "Termez Ota" ("Father of Termez").[24]
^Bearman, Bianquis, Bosworth, Donzel, Heinrighs, PJ. , TH. , C. E. , E. Van and W. P. (2000).The Encyclopedia of Islam: New Edition Vol. X. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. p. 544.ISBN90-04-11211-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Sibawayh, His Kitab, and the Schools of Basra and Kufa." Taken fromChanging Traditions: Al-Mubarrad's Refutation of Sībawayh and the Subsequent Reception of the Kitāb, p. 12. Vol. 23, Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Ed. Monique Bernards.Leiden:Brill Publishers, 1997.ISBN9789004105959
^abcdeJuynboll, G.H.A. (24 April 2012)."al-Tirmidhī".Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online.Archived from the original on 2016-09-21. Retrieved2016-09-16.
^abcdefgAbdul Mawjood, Salahuddin ʻAli (2007).The Biography of Imām at-Tirmidhī. Translated by Abu Bakr ibn Nasir (1st ed.). Riyadh: Darussalam.ISBN978-9960983691.
^abcdeWensinck, A.J. (1993)."al-Tirmidhī".Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936). Vol. 8. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 796–797.ISBN9004097961.Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved2015-10-19.
^Rushdī Abū Shabānah ʻAlī al-Rashīdī (2007).التضامن الدولي في النظام الإسلامي والنظم الوضعية : دراسة مقارنة (al-Taḍāmun al-dawlī fī al-niẓām al-Islāmī wa-al-nuẓum al-waḍʻīyah : dirāsah muqāranah) (1st ed.). Mansoura, Egypt: Dār al-Yaqīn.ISBN9789773362409.
^abcdefghijklmnopHoosen, Abdool Kader (1990).Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith (1st ed.). Newcastle, South Africa: A.K. Hoosen.ISBN9780620153140.
^abBanuri, Muhammad Yusuf (April 1957). "الترمذي صاحب الجامع في السنن (al-Tirmidhī ṣaḥib al-jāmi' fī al-sunan)".Majallat Al-Majmaʻ Al-ʻIlmī Al-ʻArabīyah (in Arabic).32. Damascus: 308. Cited byHoosen, Abdool Kader (1990).Imam Tirmidhi's contribution towards Hadith (1st ed.). Newcastle, South Africa: A.K. Hoosen.ISBN9780620153140.
