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His Extraordinary
Intellect
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Along with
his extraordinary memory, he also had an outstanding
fascinating intellect. He did not depend on pen and
paper as much as he relied on his sharp memory. People
examined the extraordinary capabilities of Imam Bukhari
in the science of Hadith repeatedly but he always
remained successful as a result of Allah's gift of
intelligence and superb memory.
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Hafiz
Ahmad ibn `Adi said about Imam Bukhari: "When the people
of Baghdad had learnt that Imam Bukhari was due to
arrive there, the Muhaddithin of Baghdad decided to test
him by changing the text and chains of transmission of
one hundred Ahadith. They joined the chain of one Hadith
with the text of another and attached the chain of this
Hadith with the text of the prior. Like this, they mixed
up the text and chains of transmission of one hundred
Ahadith and gave these to people who would test Imam
Bukhari with these.
"When
Imam Bukhari arrived at Baghdad, the people held a
gathering in his honour, in which most of the scholars,
nobles and public were present. One person stood up
according to the plan and asked a question regarding a
Hadith 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
Ahadith and awaited Imam Bukhari's reply. He said that
he had not apprehended those Ahadith. When he saw that
everyone had asked the questions he need, he stood up
and started describing the chain of transmission of the
first Hadith that was read and then gave its correct
chain. Like this, he traced the faulty chains on the
Ahadith of all one hundred set up by the scholars. He
had given the correct chains of transmission to every
Hadith. When he finished, the entire audience was full
of praise and recognition of the superiority and
greatness of Imam Bukhari."
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Glimpses of his private
life
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1. Self sufficiency:
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Imam
Bukhari's father, Muhaddith Isma`il ibn Ibrahim was very
rich and Imam Bukhari 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). Abu Sa`id Bakr ibn Munir
narrated: "Once Abu Hafs sent some goods to Imam Bukhari
and when traders learnt of this, they came to him and
offered five thousand dirhams. He asked them to 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. I do not want to
change my intention for the sake of ten thousand
dirhams."
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2. Simplicity and
humbleness:
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Imam
Bukhari was a simple and hard working person. He used to
look after his own needs. Despite being a wealthy and
honorable man, he always kept a little number of
servants and never indulged himself in this matter.
Muhammad ibn Hatim Warraq, who was one of his main
disciples, narrated: "Imam Bukhari was establishing an
inn near the city of Bukhara and as he was placing the
bricks with his own hands, I came forward and asked him
to leave laying the bricks for this building to me.' But
he refused; saying: 'On the day of judgement, this act
will be of benefit to me."
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Warraq
goes on to say: "When we accompanied Imam Bukhari on a
journey, he would gather us in one room and stay in
another room alone. Once I saw Imam Bukhari get up
between fifteen and twenty times during the night and
every time, he lit the lamp. He took some Ahadith 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, you could
have woke me up to help you.' He said: 'You are young
and in need to get sufficient amount of sleep and I did
not want to disturb your sleep."
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3. Generosity
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Just as he
was generous with this wealth, he was also generous with
his heart and emotions. Sometimes, he would give three
thousand dirhams as a donation in one day. Warraq says
that Imam Bukhari's earnings were five hundred dirhams
per month and he would spend all of it on his students.
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4. His abstention (Zuhd)
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Imam
Bukhari used to stay away from all worldly desires and
temptations. In his quest for knowledge, he used to
spend 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 Imam Bukhari 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.
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5. Fear of Allah
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He was
blessed with the highest rank of piety and
righteousness. He feared Allah in everything he did. He
kept himself away from backbiting and suspicion and
always respected people's rights.
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Imam
Bukhari was so vigilant in his worship, that he would
pray Sunnah and keep fasts in abundance. He would read
the whole Qur'an on each day in the month of Ramadan and
also recited ten chapters of the Holy Qur'an late at the
night. He would complete the Holy Qur'an in the Tarawih
prayers and always reciting twenty verses in each rak`a.
He was very polite, tolerant and gentle. He never got
angry when mistreated by others and prayed forgiveness
for those who attributed evil to him. If he needed to
correct any person, he would never embarrass him in
public.
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His Arrival in Nishapur
and the issue of the creation of the Qur'an
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In 250 AH,
Imam Bukhari went to Nishapur. After hearing this news,
joy and happiness spread among its people. In those
times, Muhammad ibn Yahya adh-Dhuhli was the head of the
literary kingdom of Nishapur. He advised and led the
inhabitants of the city to gather together to welcome
Imam Bukhari. A large amount of people went to the
outskirts of the city to welcome Imam Bukhari, with
extreme magnificence and honour. Imam Muslim ibn Hajjaj
says that in all his life, he had never seen such a
reception ever given to a scholar or even a ruler.
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Imam
Bukhari started giving lectures on Hadith in Nishapur.
In each session, a huge crowd always packed the area to
listen and many included people who had arrived
specifically to learn about Hadith. However, some
unpleasant people were envious about the reputation and
popularity of Imam Bukhari. These people set up Muhammad
ibn Yahya adh-Dhuhli to become his opponent. In this
incident, Muhammad ibn Yahya considered the
*pronunciation* of the Qur'an as eternal..." and "Imam
Bukhari said, 'Our actions are created and the
pronunciation is one our actions.'".
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Once, a
man came to Imam Bukhari and asked him whether the
Qur'an was created (makhluq) or not created (ghayr
makhluq). Imam Bukhari paused for a while. The man
insisted on getting a reply, so Imam Bukhari told him:
"The Qur'an are the words of Allah and they are not
created (ghayr makhluq)." The asked some more questions
about the words of the Qur'an, upon which Imam Bukhari
said, "Our actions are created and the pronunciation is
one our actions."
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After
this, mass propaganda was stirred against Imam Bukhari,
which led to accusations that he believed the words of
the Qur'an to be created. When Dhuhli heard these
rumours, he disconnected his ties with Imam Bukhari and
became his enemy. He started warning people by
announcing that they should not attend the lectures of
Imam Bukhari. As a result, people refrained from
attending the Imam's lectures, except Muslim ibn Hajjaj.
At last, due to his disappointment, Imam Bukhari left
the city of Nishapur and returned to Bukhara.
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Banishment from his
homeland
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When the
people of Bukhara heard that Imam Bukhari was coming
back to his homeland, they were extremely happy 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.
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Even here,
there were envious people who never stopped disturbing
him. They met the governor of Bukhara, who was a
representative of the Khilafat `Abasiyya, Khalid ibn
Ahmad. They told him to call Imam Bukhari to his house
and make him as busy as possible with teaching his son.
When told Imam Bukhari about this suggestion, 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 join my school." The governor said:" If my
son was to attend your school, he should not sit with
ordinary people. You would have to teach him
separately." Imam Bukhari answered: "I cannot stop any
person from hearing Ahadith." Upon hearing this, the
governor of Bukhara got mad at him and got a fatwa
(verdict) from the time wasting opportunist (ibn al-waqt)
`Ulama against Imam Bukhari to banish him from the city.
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Imam
Bukhari was majorly upset at the thought of being
banished from his homeland. Not even a month passed,
before the Khalaf of Baghdad dismissed the governor of
Bukhara, Khalid ibn Ahmad adh-Dhuhli. 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 after few days.
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