Imam Bukhari Biography

Imam Bukhari Biography:The land of Bukhara, located at the estuary of Jihun river at the north of Afghanistan and the south of Ukraine, is the land of many imams in the discipline of hadith and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). It enshrines the histories of struggle of the imam of the muslims in various branches of Qur’an and hadith sciences. Among them who were born and raised in the land of Bukhara are: Al-Imam Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Abu Ja’far Al-Musnadi Al-Bukhari, who passed away also in it, on Thursday, month of Dzulqa’dah, year 220 H. Also born in Bukhara, Abu Abdillah Muhammad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim Al-Bukhari, in 194 H, and died in year 256 H, in a village named Khartanak, in the direction of Samarqand. Also born and raised in it, Al-Imam Abi Naser Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Al-Husain Al-Kalabadzi Al-Bukhari who was born in year 323 H and died in year 398 H. There are many other great imams in hadith who were born in it, that adorned the beauty of the history of the land of Bukhara.

Imam Bukhari Career

He travelled across the Abbasid Caliphate and learned under several influential contemporary scholars. Bukhari memorized thousands of hadith narrations, compiling the Sahih al-Bukhari in 846. He spent the rest of his life teaching the hadith he had collected.

Imam Bukhari Early Life

The complete pedigree of this biography is as follows: Muhammad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Al-Mughirah bin Bardizbah. His grandfather was a Zoroastrian, an indigenous religion of the Persians that worshipped fire. His grandfather died still a Zoroastrian. The son of Bardizbah, Al-Mughirah, then became a muslim under the guidance of the governor of Bukhara, Yamam Al-Ju’fi, thus he (Al-Mughirah) and all his children and grandchildren is related to the tribe of Al-Ju’fi. And in fact, one of his grandchildren of Al-Mughirah later carved his name in the history as a great Imam among the scholar of hadith.

Al-Imam Al-Bukhari was born on Friday, 13th of Syawwal, 194 H in the land of Bukhara, in the middle of a family who loves the science of sunnah of the Prophet, Muhammad -peace and prayer of Allaah be upon him-, because his father, Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Al-Mughirah, was a scholar of hadith who narrated the hadith of the Prophet from Imam Malik Ibn Anas, Hammad Ibn Zaid, and once also learned from Abdullah Ibn Mubarak. The hadith that are narrated by Ismail bin Ibrahim are widely known among the people of Iraq.

Imam Bukhari Family

Al-Bukhari’s father passed away when he was still a kid. Near his death, Ismail bin Ibrahim cheered his son up who was still very young at that time, while saying, “I do not obtain even one dirham (silver) from my wealth that comes from unlawful source, nor one dirham from dubious source.” A child who is raised with wealth that is pure from any unlawful or dubious sources will be better and easier to educate and guide to the right path. After the passing of his father, Al-Bukhari lived as an orphan, nurtured by the love of his mother.He travelled across the Abbasid Caliphate and learned under several influential contemporary scholars. Bukhari memorized thousands of hadith narrations, compiling the Sahih al-Bukhari in 846. He spent the rest of his life teaching the hadith he had collected.

Muhammad Ibn Ismail received full attention from his mother. He had completed his Qur’an memorization ever since he was young, as well as his ability to read and write. In the age of ten, little Muhammad earnestly began to attend lectures about hadith science, which were dispersed throughout the land of Bukhara. On the age of eleven, he was already able to reprove a teacher of hadith science who was wrong in recounting the order of narration of certain hadith (also called ‘sanad’).

His childhood was spent in memorizing and understanding various knowledges, thus when he grew into teenager of sixteen years old, he had fully memorized the books written by some imams of hadith science, from the third generation of Islam (the tabi’ut tabi’in), such as the book written by Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak, and Waqi’ Ibn Al-Jarrah, and had thoroughly discerned it.

Muhammad Ibn Ismail went through his childhood occupied by a very hectic learning schedule. His diligence during his childhood in memorizing and understanding sciences had come into fruition, as he became a very bright and awe inducing teenager. He became a teenager who was highly regarded by the pupils of any lecture he attended, since at that young age, he had perfectly memorized seventy thousands hadith, complete with its ‘sanad’, beside the thirty chapters of the Qur’an.

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Imam Bukhari Education

Imam Bukhari began studying Hadiths while he was still young. He completed his initial studies, especially of Hadith, in Bukhara (his birth place). At the age of 16, he had memorized many books of famous scholars including Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak’s book ‘Al-Waki’. Besides memorizing the Hadith and the book of early scholars, he also started studying biography of all the narrators (Ravi) who take part in a transmission of Hadith, the date of their birth and death, their place of birth and etc.

At the age of eighteen, Imam Bukhari visited Makkah accompanied by his mother and brother. After performing the Hajj (pilgrimage), his brother and mother returned to Bukhara but Imam Bukhari stayed there for further education. He spent two years in Makkah and learned Hadith and other religious studies from Islamic Scholars of Makkah. After that, he went to Madinah and get further education in the field of Hadith, Fiqh and Islamic jurisprudence for four years. After spending six years in Makkah and Madinah, he left for Basra, Kufa and Bahdad and visited Egypt and Sham (Syria). He himself said:To seek knowledge, I traveled to Egypt and Syria twice, Basra four times, spent six years at the Hijaz (Makkah & Madinah) and left for Kufa and Baghdad on so many occasions accompanied by Muhaddithin (Hadith collectors or Hadith Experts).”

Imam Bukhari Death

He died on the night of `Eid Al-Fitr, the first night of Shawwal, in the year AH 256. In 12 more days he would have been 62 years old. On that night, the sun of great knowledge, virtue, and blessings set, one whose knowledge and actions had enlightened the hearts and minds of the great intellects and people of Samarqand, Bukhara, Baghdad, and Nishapur. May Allah accept his tireless effort and shower his soul with mercy