Short Biography of Imam al- Bukhari(rah)
IMAM Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismaeel bin al-Mughirah al-Bukhari was born
on 13th of Shawwal 194 AH in Bukhara. a town in the eastern part of
Turkestan.
His father died while he was still in his infancy and his upbringing was
left entirely to his mother, who looked after his health and education very
carefully and spared nothing in order to provide him with the best
education.
Quite early in life, Imam Bukhari's intellectual qualities became
noticeable. He had great piety and an extremely good memory and devotion to
learning. It is said that while he was still in his teens he knew by heart
seventy thousand Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
At the age of 16, he went to Macca with his mother and enjoyed his stay in
the Holy City so much that he decided to prolong his visit in order to
benefit from the company of the great Muslim scholars who were always to be
found there. At the age of eighteen, he wrote his first book on the subject
of the Prophet's Companions and their immediate successors, and later a book
on history called "Al-Tarikh-al-Kabir".
Imam Bukhari was very interested in history and the Ahadith (sayings of the
Prophet). He sought the company of great scholars in order to learn and
discuss the Ahadith of the Holy Prophet. He visited various countries,
travelling to Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, Basra. Mecca, Medina etc. During his
stay in Baghdad, he frequently held discussions with the Imam Ahmed Hanbal,
the founder of the Hanbali school of law.
During all these travels, Imam Bukhari had one aim: to gather as much
knowledge as possible and to make the greatest possible collection of the
Traditions of the Holy Prophet. He wrote profusely all the time. He once
said that, “l have written about 1800 persons, each of whom had a Saying of
the Prophet, and I have written only about those who have passed my test of
truthfulness."
The Imam possessed one of the most amazing memories, and his contribution to
the science of the Ahadith remains unequalled. He wrote several books on
Ahadith but in his book: "Al-Jami-al-Sahih': the Imam had recorded all the
Sayings of the Prophet which he found to be genuine after thorough
examination and scrutiny. He spent sixteen years in research and examined
more than sixty thousand Sayings from which he selected some 7,275 Sayings
whose genuineness and accuracy he established beyond the slightest doubt.
Deducting duplicates, the Imam's collection contain about four thousand
distinct Sayings.
Imam Bukhari was extremely charitable in his remarks and opinions about men
and scholars. Seldom did he brand the reporter of a false or inaccurate
Hadith as a liar or forger, but simply called him "untrustworthy".
His popularity inspired jealousy in the hearts of reactionary Ulema of his
time and he was banished from the land of his birth by the Governor of
Bukhara as a result of intrigues against him.
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