IMAAM TIRMIDHI'S CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS HADITH
by Moulana Abdool Kader Hoosen

A Biography of Tirmidhi and a Brief Survey of His Works

Personal Information

Tirmidhi's Ism (proper name) was Muhammad. His Nasab (full name including his genealogical chain) was: Muhammad b. 'Isa b. Thawra b. Musa b. al-Dahhak. Tirmidhi's Kunya (honorific name) was Abu 'Isa. Certain scholars raised objections regarding his kunya, since there is a tradition in the Musannaf of ibn Abu Shaiba, (a particular type of Hadith book) where Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) reprimanded someone whose name was Abu 'Isa by saying that Isa had no father, implying that it was not becoming to keep the kunya Abu 'Isa. Hence the question arises regarding Tirmidhi's doing so. The permissibility for this practice is established in Sunan Abu Dawud, where it is narrated that Muqhira b. Sh'uba (d.50 A.H.) who was a companion of the Prophet (S.A.W.), had the kunya Abu 'Isa. Once, 'Umar b. Khattab (d.24 A.H.) the second Caliph of Oslam rebuked him by saying, "Does it not suffice you to be called Abu 'Abd AllAh". Mughira replied, "It was the Prophet (S.A.W.) of Allah who gave me this kunya". This incident proves that the prohibition was abrogated since the Hadith in which the Prophet (S.A.W.) prohibited the usage of the kunya was prior to the one in which he gave permission for its usage, hence the permission coming after the prohibition abrogates it.

Moulana Muhammad Yusuf Binnawri (d.1397 A.H.), a commentator, on the Jami', said that Tirmidhi was born in Bugh in the year 209 A.H. He belonged to the Banu Sulaym tribe, hence he was called Sulami. His native town Bugh is a few miles from Tirmidhi and is considered a suburb of Tirmidh. Therefore he was known as Tirmidhi and Bughi, both places being in Khurasan, which is presently a province in North Eastern Iran, and it is with the nisba (linking him to his place of origin) Tirmidhi, that he is well known. The aforementioned biographer of Tirmidhi does not mention any details of his parents. Tirmidhi is reported to have said that his grandfather belonged to Marw but he subsequently moved to Tirmidh. Likewise, no mention is made of Tirmidhi's early life or occupation.

Tirmidhi was a man of strong memory. James Robson mentions an interesting story which illustrates his power of committing traditions to memory. Once on the way to Makka, Tirmidhi met a traditionist from whose traditions he had previously copied out two parts. Thinking he had these notes with him, he questioned the traditionist about the traditions, which he had noted, but discovered that instead of his notes, he had brought some blank sheets of paper. Nonetheless he continued his questions with these sheets in his hand, and after a while the traditionist noticed that they were blank and rebuked him, whereupon Tirmidhi assured him that he knew the traditions by heart. The traditionist was not convinced of his genuineness, even though Tirmidhi recited the traditions to him, so Tirmidhi asked him to recite some other traditions. The traditionist recited forty traditions which Tirmidhi repeated without making a single error, thus showing his remarkable power of committing traditions to memory.

Moulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (d.1323 A.H.), a commentator on the Jami' said that Tirmidhi was born blind. This opinion is erroneous since al-Dhahabi (d.748 A.9) and the majority of the scholars agree that his blindness occurred during the latter portion of his life and he remained blind for two years. Hence he was commonly referred to as al-Darir (blind). His blindness is usually attributed to his weeping over Bukhari's death (d.256 A.H.) or his excessive weeping for the fear of Allah.

The Socio-Political Context of Tirmidhi's Work

Tirmidhi was born during the Abbasid Caliphate, when al-Ma'mun b. Harun al-Rashid (d.218 A.H.) was the ruler of the Muslim Empire. According to Suyutu (d.11 A.H.), Ma'mun himself was an eminent scholar having great skills in Arabic, History, Philosophy and Islamic Jurisprudence.

The Abbasid period, despite its brilliant contributions to the Islamic culture, its consolidation, Institutionalisation and centralisation, brought along thorny problems. The translations of the Greek scientific and philosophical works, which started from the second century continued until the fourth century A.H. From Caliph Mansur (d. 158 A.H.) down to al-Ma'mun (d. 218 A.H.), Greek philosophy had a free flow in the Islamic world for it enjoyed the royal patronage under the latter who declared the Mu'tazilite school as the state religion and regarded its opposition as treason against the state. The works of Plato, Hippocrates, Galen, Euclid, Ptolemy and others were sent to him at his request by the kings of Greece. Muslim scholars were instructed by Ma'mun to advocate and promote Greek philosophy in the kingdom. All the Greek works translated into Arabic were subsequently transmitted to Europe through Latin translations. Thus Greek philosophy by its total rejection of religious eschatology posed the greatest challenge to the Islamic Shari'a (law) and created scepticism and uncertainly in the existence of Allah, revelation, resurrection and in the institution of Prophethood, as a liaison between man and Divinity. Neither the scholars nor the laity remained unaffected by these sceptical ideas.

Some of the Muslim philosopher's started equating the Prophetic teachings with those of the metaphysical speculations of Greek philosophy. Ibn Sina equated the soul of the Prophets with common souls, granting it, although grudgingly, certain extra faculties. Farabi, unfortunately, considered Prophethood as a kind of dream and he was followed by other Muslim philosophers who also tried to reconcile reason and revelation. Some of the philosophers did not distinguish between the teachings of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and those of philosophers. Such duplicity and confusion can be discerned in the works of Ibn Sina and his followers. These ideas, consequently, misled many innocent believers and shook the faith of many others in Allah and His Prophet (S.A.W.)

Many sects which claimed to be Muslims, were in fact hypocrites and always remained on the borderline of faith. The most threatening and all pervasive was the Mu'tazilite (the separatists) sect, an offshoot of Greek philosophy formed by Wasil b. 'Ata (d.131 A.H.), which separated from the resurgent school of Hasan al-Basri (d.110 A.H.) in the first century of Islam. Wasil founded his own school in order to challenge the fundamentals of Islam. The Mu'tazilites did not merely deny the eternal attributes of Allah but regarded the Qur'an as being created and liable to perish.

The nonconformist movements gave rise to the resurgent movements which came to the fore to defend the Shari'a. The Shari'a is a combination of the teachings of the Qur'an, the traditions of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and a way of life chosen by Allah for mankind. The Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions, being the primary sources of Islamic Law, are guides for man. The major conformist sect in Islam was called the Ahl-al-Sunna-wa-al-Jama'a (people who follow the way of the Prophet S.A.W.).

The war between reason and revelation continued unceasingly. The legitimate fear of interpolations and distortions of the Islamic Shari'a by both the rationalists and heretics was quite prominent. Forgeries were already committed to the corpus of Prophetic Traditions by the heretics and corrupt politicians, including the caliphs and rulers, in order to further their personal aims and ambitions.

Scholars and fundamentalists came to the fore to safeguard Islamic learning and to make distinctions between the spurious and the genuine traditions. A movement was initiated in the first century by Caliph 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz (d.101 A.H.), who was known as 'Umar II for his justness, for the compilation of Prophetic Traditions. This gigantic task was further undertaken by six towering scholars of Islam, namely;

1. Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Bukhari (b. 194-d. 256 A.H.)
2. Muslim b. Hajjaj (b. 206-d. 261 A.H.)
3. Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad b. Maja (b.209-d. 273 A.H.)
4. Abu Dawud al-Sajastani (b. 202-d. 275 A.H.)
5. Abu 'Isa Muhammad al-Tirmidhi (b. 209 -d. 279 A.H.)
6. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Nasa'i (b. 21 5-d. 303 A.H.)

The aforementioned personalities compiled the six authentic collections of Ahadith which subsequently became the final and authentic version for general guidance.

Major Centres of Learning

Kufa was considered as a major centre for Hadith Sciences from the time Caliph 'Umar (d.24 A.H.) sent 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (d.32 A.H.), the sixth person to embrace Islam, as a tutor to the people of Kufa. The approximate number of students who attended ibn Mas'ud's discourses were 4,000. Besides ibn Mas'ud, there were other illustrious companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.) who resided in Kufa, prominent among them being Abu Musa al- Ash'ari (d.52 A.H.), Salman al-Farsi (d.35 A.H.), 'AmmAr b. Yasir (d.37 A.H.), Huzaifa b. Yaman (d.35 A.H.) and S'ad b. Abu Waqqas (d.55 A.H.). Therefore, on one occasion referring to Kufa, 'Ali b. Abu Talib (d.40 A.H.), the fourth Caliph of Islam remarked, "The companions of ibn Mas'ud are the lanterns of this Umma (Muslim community)". Since the famous traditionists were stationed in Kufa, Bukhari said that he cannot even count how often he accompanied the traditionists to Kufa and Baghdad. That Kufa was a major centre of learning and contained many scholars is evident from the fact that Tirmidhi reported traditions from forty-two Kufan teachers. In his compilation he used more reportings of Kufan teachers in comparison to the number of reportings used of teachers from any other town.

Baghdad was also considered as a major centre of learning. A.J. Wensinck has mentioned that Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.241 A.H.) was Tirmidhi's teacher. According to the most reliable sources, Tirmidhi never went to Baghdad and did not attend any lectures of Ahmad b. Hanbal. Furthermore, Tirmidhi, whenever narrating a sanad wherein the name of Ahmad b. Hanbal is mentioned, always names a transmitter between himself and Ahmad b. Hanbal, that is, Tirmidhi never directly narrated from Ahmad b. Hanbal anywhere in the Jami'. Hence, a meeting between the two was highly improbable.

Another great centre of learning was Basra. The companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.) who resided here, were Anas b. Malik (d.91 A.H.), 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas (d.68 A.H.) and 'Imran b., Husain (d.52 A.H.). During the time of Tirmidhi, Zayd b. Akhzarn (d.257 A.H.) was the famous traditionist of Basra. He was the teacher of Bukhari, Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and ibn Maja. Other famous traditionists of Basra were 'Abbas 'Anbari (d.246 A.H.), Muhammad b. Bashshar Bundar (d.252 A.H.), Muhammad b. al-Muthanna (d.252 A.H.) and Muhammad b. M'amar (d.250 A.H.). Each of the six canonical traditionists attended the discourses of the above mentioned traditionists.

Tirmidhi's native land Khurasan was also considered as an intellectual capital. It was known as Madina al-Rijal - "The City of Men", referring to the large number of traditionists who resided there.

The Academic Career of Tirmidhi

Tirmidhi began the study of Hadith at the age of twenty, and from the year 235 A.H. he travelled widely, in pursuit of learning Hadith, to Hijaz, Kufa and Basra. Tirmidhi heard Hadith from the following most eminent traditionists, Qutaiba b. Sa'id (d.240 A.H.), Bukhari (d.256 A.H.), Muslim (d.261 A.H.) and Abu Dawud (d.275 A.H.).

Bukhari's extreme regard for Tirmidhi is evidenced in his statement, "I have benefitted more from you than you have benefitted from Me". The high respect in which Tirmidhi was held, is evident by the fact that Bukhari received a few traditions from him. Tirmidhi narrated one tradition from Muslim in the "Chapter of Fasting" in his Jami'. Tirmidhi also received traditions from Abu Dawud, one of which is in the "Chapter on Hagiology" in his Jami'.

Bukhari's influence on Tirmidhi is apparent in the field of jurisprudence. In that he (Tirmidhi), generally abstained from mentioning Abu Hanifa's (d.150 A.H.) name. This procedure was used by Bukhari in his Sahih. Furthermore, Tirmidhi used Bukhari's Kitab al-Tarikh as a source and standard for mentioning the discrepancies in the text of the traditions or the transmitters. Tirmidhi in a personal statement lavished great praise upon Bukhari by declaring him as being the most learned person in Iraq or Khurasan in the science of discrepancies of Hadith.

Tirmidhi's debt to Bukhari is evidenced by his mentioning Bukhari's name 114 times in his Jami', specifically:

Once in the Chapter on 'id (Festival)
Once in the Chapter on Drinking
Once in the Chapter on Piety
Once in the Chapter on Calamities
Once in the Chapter on Hell
Twice in the Chapter on International Law
Twice in the Chapter on Hagiology
Twice in the Chapter on Eating
Thrice in the Chapter on Business
Thrice in the Chapter on Oaths and Vows
Thrice in the Chapter on Paradise
Thrice in the Chapter on Virtues of the Qur'An
Thrice in the Chapter on Supplications
4 Times in the Chapter on Zakat (Poor-due)
4 Times in the Chapter on Penal Law
5 Times in the Chapter on Pilgrimage
5 Times in the Chapter on Clothes
5 Times in the Chapter on Seeking Permission for Entering
5 times in the Chapter on Exegesis of the Qur'an
6 Times in the Chapter on Fasting
6 Times in the Chapter on Virtues of Holy War
7 Times in the Chapter on Prayer for the Deceased
7 Times in the Chapter on Marriage
13 Times in the Chapter on Cleanliness
21 Times in the Chapter on Prayer

Tirmidhi had a large number of disciples. The famous among them were: Al-Haytham b. Kulayb al-Shashi (d.335 A.H.), Abu al'Abbas al-Mahbubi Muhammad b. Ahmad (d.346 A.H.) and Nasa'i (d.303 A.H.).

Al-Haytham is the transmitter of Tirmidhi's Shams'il. Abu al-'Abbas al-Mahbubi is the most famous and reliable transmitter of the Jami' as will be explained in chapter two. Nasa'i, is the only one amongst the six canonical traditionists who attended the lectures of Tirmidhi.

There is a dispute over the school of jurisprudence to which Tirmidhi belonged. Moulana Anwar Kashmiri (d. 1353 A.H.), a commentator on the Jami', considers him a Shafi'i jurist, for he concurred with Shafi'i on a number of issues. Shah Wali Allah (d.1180 A.H.), Moulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanwi (d.1362 A.H.) and Mubarakfuri (d.1353 A.H.) are of the opinion that he was an independent jurist. This second opinion is preferred as Tirmidhi states in several places, "the practice on this is according to Shafi'i and our companions" (the chapter on whoever performs a rak'ah (unit) of 'Asr (late afternoon prayer) before sun set). He also criticized Shafi'i in the chapter on cooling the noon prayer". This proves that he was an independent jurist.

The Writings of Tirmidhi

The biographers have mentioned the following works that were written by Tirmidhi; Al-Jami', Tawarikh, Al-'Ilal, Al-'Ilal al-Kabir, Shama'il, Al-Asma wa-al-Kuna, Al-Athar Al-Mauqufa, Tasmiya Ashab Rasul Allah and Al-Zuhd. According to 'Uthmani and other authorities, only the Shama'il, Al-'Ilal, Al-Jami' and Tasmiya Ashab Rasul Allah are extant, the other works having perished.

A discussion on the works that are available follows:

Shamaail (Character)
It consists of 400 AhAdith and has fifty-six sub-books. This is a collection of Ahaadith concerning the person and character of the Prophet (S.A.W.). The Shama'il is generally printed as an appendix to the Jami' of Tirmidhi in India and Pakistan. In 1985 an abridgement of the Shama'il was undertaken by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani and published in Jordan, in which he omitted the chains of transmission by only mentioning the final transmitter. Professor M.H.F. Quraishi translated the Shama'il of Tirmidhi into English, which was published in 1980 in India.

Al-'Ilal (defects)
This book is a discussion of complicated discrepancies and weaknesses of Ahaadith. Tirmidhi was one of the few scholars who was an expert in this branch of Hadith Sciences. The 'Ilal is added as an appendix to the Jami' in India, Pakistan and the Arab States. Recently, in 1985 a commentary on the 'Ilal of Tirmidhi by ibn Rajab Hanbali (d.795 A.H.) was published in Beirut

Tasmiya Ashaab Rasul Allah (names of the Prophet's companions)
In his Tasmiya, Tirmidhi arranged those names of the Prophet's companions he was familiar with in an alphabetical order. It was published in 1986 by the Institute for Cultural Books in Beirut.

Al-Jami (consisting of eight topics)
The Jami' is Tirmidhi's magnum opus. Occasionally it is called Al-Jami' al-Kabir or Sunan al-Tirmidhi. He began compiling it after the year 250 A.H. and completed it on the 10 Dhu-al-Hijjah 270 A.H. It contains 3,956 Ahadith, and has been divided into fifty chapters. It is also classified as a Sunan, which implies that the book has been chapterised according to legal chapters, such as Purification, Prayer, Poor-due and Fasting, narrated on the authority of the Prophet (S.A.W.), while the opinions of the companions are usually not mentioned.

Tirmidhi's method was that of placing the heading first, then mentioning one or two Ahadith which were related to the heading. These Ahadith are followed by his opinion as to the status of the Hadith. Subsequently, he mentions the opinions of the different jurists. He also indicates if there were other narrations transmitted by other companions on the same subject. His principal aim was to discuss the legal opinions of early jurists. Tirmidhi mostly mentioned those Ahadith which the jurists used as the basis for their legal decisions and he mentioned which school used which tradition/s. Hence this book became an important source for the different view-points of the various legal schools. The Jami' thus bears the distinction of being one of the oldest texts dealing with the difference of opinion amongst the various jurisprudential schools. Although Shafi'i (b. 150-d.204 A.H.) wrote his Kitab al-Umm before Tirmidhi's Jami', the Kitab al-Umm is less comprehensive in comparison to the Jami' of Tirmidhi.

The Relationship of the Jami' to the Other Five Canonical Works of Hadith

It is an accepted fact that certain Hadith books were already in existence when Tirmidhi decided to compile his Jaami such as, the compilations of Abu Dawud Tayalsi (d. 204 A.H.) and Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.241 A.H.). These compilations consisted of authentic and weak Ahaadith. Thereafter, Bukhari (d.256 A.H.) compiled his Sahih and omitted the traditions, that were weak or doubtful in his opinion. His main aim was to derive laws from the Ahadith whereas Muslim's (d.261 A.H.) main aim was to mention the different chains of narrators on a particular subject. By comparison, the aim of Nasai (d.303 A.H.) was to mention the discrepancies of a Hadith and Abu Dawud (d.275 A.H.) compiled a work which subsequently became the basis for the jurists. Ibn Maja (d.273 A.H.) compiled a work that dealt almost entirely with legal traditions and was lenient in the criticism of the doubtful traditions. Tirmidhi (d.279 A.H.) combined the styles of Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Nasai, by mentioning the discrepancies regarding the transmitters or the text of the Hadith, the various narrators, and making his collection a basis for the jurists.

The Special Characteristics of the Jami'

1. It is a Sunan and a Jami'.
2. Only eighty-three traditions are repeated, whilst two of the chapters are particularly extensive, namely, Hagiology and Exegesis of the Qur'an; which are lacking in the other Sunan, namely, Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja and Nasai.
3. Usually Tirmidhi omits the major portion of the Hadith and mentions only that part which is relevant to the heading. Tirmidhi's abridgement of Hadith to agree with the heading does not remove it from its context, since he mentions the jurisprudential ruling which is contained in the Hadith.
4. The format and headings are simple and can be easily memorized. This is important as memorizing is a traditional form of learning among Muslims.
5. Tirmidhi, after mentioning a Hadith, classifies it, that is, whether it is a sound, good or weak tradition.
6. He specifies the narrator's names, for example, if the narrator's kunya was mentioned, he would then mention the proper name or vice-versa.
7. Generally the number of transmitters between Tirmidhi and the Prophet (S.A.W.) range from four to ten, however there is one such Hadith where the number of transmitters are only three (Thulathi). This tradition will be mentioned in chapter five.

Conclusion

Tirmidhi died in Bugh on the 13 Rajab 279 A.H. at the age of seventy. That Tirmidhi was considered by the scholars to be Bukhari's successor is distinct in the words of the traditionist 'Umar b. 'Alaq, "When Bukhari died he left no one in Khurasan who compared with Tirmidhi in knowledge, memory, piety and asceticism".

Tirmidhi's Jami' is an important collection of Hadith. A few statements of eminent scholars of Hadith regarding the worth of his collection are mentioned. Tirmidhi said that he compiled this book and presented it to the learned of Hijaz, Iraq and Khurasan, and they were pleased with it, and whosoever has this book in his home, it is as though he has the Prophet (S.A.W.) speaking to him there. 'Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Ansari (d.481 A.H.), the Shaikh-al-Islam (teacher) of Herat, is reported to have said that, in his opinion Tirmidhi's Jami' is more beneficial than Bukhari and Muslim's collections, since their compilations are for the scholars, whereas Tirmidhi's Jami' is for both the scholars and the laity.

From the biography of Tirmidhi, which has been discussed, the spotlight falls on his magnum opus, the Jami', and chapter two is devoted to Tirmidhi's great work.

Source:  Jamiatul Ulama (Kwazulu-Natal)