Imam Al Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him)

"The most authentic book after the Holy Qur'an." This is the conclusion that every learned religious Scholar came to. No matter how great these Scholars were, they were forced to unanimously agree that 'Sahih Al-Bukhari' is the most authentic work in Hadith literature ever compiled.   We seem to have heard a lot about the magnificence of this compilation, but how much do we really know about the person who actually compiled this book? How much do we know about the man who had spent endless years traveling to many lands in search of people who had picked up the gems that had fallen from the lips of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) so that he may gather these precious gems and present them to the world in the form of 'Sahih Al-Bukhari.'

Imam al-Bukhari is one of the most eminent of those pious people who have gave endless bliss upon the Muslim Nation of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). This is made manifest in the book of Ahadith an-Nabawi that Imam Al Bukhari has compiled, commonly known as Sahih al-Bukhari. It is universally acknowledged as the most authentic book after the Holy Qur'an. So long as there is one Muslim left on the Earth, the blessings of Imam Bukhari will have a place in his or her Iman and Islam. Let us briefly examine below a short survey of his life and works.

His Early Years

Imam al-muhaddithin Hadrat Imam Abu `Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari was born on the 13th of the Islamic month of Shawwal, 194AH, in the famous city of Bukhara, of the land "beyond the canal" - present day Uzbekistan -. The father of Imam Bukhari, Isma`il ibn Ibrahim ibn Mughirah al-Ja`fi, was a great muhaddith and ascetic from whom he inherited his characteristics of literary zeal and excellence. During his childhood his father died and his mother took on the entire responsibility of bringing him up.   Imam Bukhari 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 Allah the Almighty, for her child and begged for the restoration of his eyesight. At last, "the river of mercy flowed over her," and Almighty Allah accepted her invocation. One night, she visited Ibrahim `alayhis-salim in a dream and was told, "Allah has restored the sight of your son because of your intense and beautiful invocations." In the morning, as Imam Bukhari got up from his bed, glimmers of light reached out into his eyes.

Primary Education and Interest in Hadith

When Imam Bukhari reached the age of ten and after acquiring his elementary education, Almighty Allah inserted the interest in the science of Ahadith into his heart and he obtained admission in the Hadith 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 Ahadith, that sometimes teachers got their corrections from him. Imam Bukhari had been acquiring religious education with competence and swiftness and at the tender age of sixteen, he had completely learnt by heart the books of `Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, al-Waki` and other learned companions of al-Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him).

The Visit to the Haramayn and the Commencement of His Ahadith Compilation

At the age of eighteen, He visited Mekkah accompanied by his mother and elder brother, Ahmad ibn Isma`il. After performing the pilgrimage, his brother returned with the company of his mother, but Imam Bukhari stayed there for further education. Meanwhile, he wrote a book called, Qadaya as-Sahabah wat-Tabi`in. After this he went to Madinah al-munawwarah to compile the famous book of Asma` ar-rijal (Names of men of transmission) called, Tarikh al-kabir, while sitting by the tomb of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) during moonlight hours. Immediately after completing this, a series of imitations had begun. Mohammad ibn Yusaf al-Furyabi said that at the time he had copied Tarikh al-kabir, Imam Bukhara did not yet have any facial hair.

Imam Bukhari traveled to cities far and wide for the transmission of Ahadith and had gained immense knowledge while sitting far from his own country for several years. He stated himself, "To seek knowledge, I traveled to Egypt and Syria twice, Basra four times, spent six years at the Hijaz and left for Kufa and Baghdad on so many occasions accompanied by Muhaddithin."

His Remarkable Memory

Imam Bukhari 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 Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased) is rekindled in the hearts of Muslims. Hashid ibn Isma`il states that in his childhood: "Imam Bukhari used to go with us to the Scholars of Basra to listen to Ahadith. All of us used to write Ahadith down, except Imam Bukhari. After sixteen days, we thought about it and we condemned Imam Bukhari saying that, 'you had wasted so many days work by not writing down Ahadith.' Imam Bukhari asked us to bring our notes to him. So we all brought our notes, upon which Imam Bukhari began to read Ahadith one by one from the top of his head until he narrated to us more than fifteen thousand! Hearing these, it seemed that Imam Bukhari was reteaching us all of the Ahadith we had noted."

Muhammad ibn Azhar Sajistani says: "I used to go to Sulayman ibn Harab accompanied by Imam Bukhari for listening to Ahadith. I used to write the Ahadith, but Imam Bukhari wouldn't. Someone said to me, 'Why doesn't Imam Bukhari note the Ahadith down?' I told him, 'if you missed any Hadith in writing, you could obtain it from the memory of Imam Bukhari."

Imam Bukhari'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 memorized seventy thousand Ahadith and later in his life, this figure reached three hundred thousand. Of these, one hundred thousand were sahih (rigorously authenticated) and two hundred thousand were not sahih (hasan, da`if, etc). Once he went to Balkh and the inhabitants asked him to recite one Hadith from each of his sheikhs. Then he orated from one thousand Sheikhs one thousand Ahadith.

Sulayman ibn Mujahid says about Iman Bukhari: "One day I was present in the company of Muhammad ibn Salam Baykandi. Muhammad ibn Salam said, 'If you had come earlier, I would have shown you the child who has seventy thousand Ahadith in his memory.' Sulayman stood up from his company and started looking for Imam Bukhari. Shortly he found him and asked, 'Are you the one who has committed seventy thousand Ahadith to memory?' Imam Bukhari replied, 'I have learnt more Ahadith than this by heart. I even know the place of birth, death and residence of most of those companions from whom the Ahadith are narrated."                                          READ MORE