NOTABLE SUNNI SCHOLARS : Imam Bukhari

Abu Abd Allah Mu?ammad ibn Isma il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mughirah ibn Bardizbah al-Ju fi
al-Bukhari (Arabic: ??? ??? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ?? ?????
? ?????? ?????????; 19 July 810
September 870), or Bukhari (Persian: ??????), co
mmonly referred to as Imam al-Bukhari or Imam Bukhari, was a Persian Islamic sch
olar who authored the hadith collection known as Sahih al-Bukhari, regarded by S
unni Muslims as the most sahih (authentic) of all hadith compilations. He also w
rote the books Al-Adab al-Mufrad.
Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Bukhari al-Ju`fi was born after the Jumu'ah prayer on Fr
iday, 13 Shawwal 194 AH (19 July 810) in the city of Bukhara in Khorasan (in pre
sent-day Uzbekistan).
His father, Ismail ibn Ibrahim, a scholar of hadith, was a student and associate
of Malik ibn Anas. Some Iraqi scholars related hadith narrations from him.
Bukhari's great-grandfather, al-Mughirah, settled in Bukhara after accepting Isl
am at the hands of Bukhara's governor, Yaman al-Ju`fi. As was the custom, he bec
ame a mawla of Yaman, and his family continued to carry the nisbah of "al-Ju`fi"
.
Al-Mughirah's father, Bardizbah, is the earliest known ancestor of Bukhari accor
ding to most scholars and historians. He was a Magi (Zoroastrian and died as suc
h. As-Subki is the only scholar to name Bardizbah's father, who he says was name
d Bazzabah (Persian: ??????). Little is known of either Bardizbah or Bazzabah, e
xcept that they were Persian and followed the religion of their people. Historia
ns have also not come across any information on Bukhari's grandfather, Ibrahim i
bn al-Mughirah.
The historian al-Dhahabi described his early academic life:
He began studying hadith in the year 205 (A.H.). He memorized the works of [ Abdul
lah] ibn al-Mubaarak while still a child. He was raised by his mother because hi
s father died when he was an infant. He traveled with his mother and brother in
the year 210 after having heard the narrations of his region. He began authoring
books and narrating hadith while still an adolescent. He said, When I turned eig
hteen years old, I began writing about the Companions and the Followers and thei
r statements. This was during the time of Ubaid Allah ibn Musa (one of his teache
rs). At that time I also authored a book of history at the grave of the Prophet
at night during a full moon.
At age of sixteen, he, together with his brother and widowed mother, made the pi
lgrimage to Mecca. From there he made a series of travels in order to increase h
is knowledge of hadith. He went through all the important centres of Islamic lea
rning of his time, talked to scholars and exchanged information on hadith. It is
said that he heard from over 1,000 men, and learned over 600,000 traditions.
After sixteen years' absence he returned to Bukhara, and there drew up his al-Ja
mi' as-Sahih, a collection of 7,275 tested traditions, arranged in chapters so a
s to afford bases for a complete system of jurisprudence without the use of spec
ulative law.

His book is highly regarded among Sunni Muslims, and considered the most authent
ic collection of hadith, even ahead of the Muwatta Imam Malik and Sahih Muslim o
f Bukhari's student Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Most Sunni scholars consider it second
only to the Quran in terms of authenticity. He also composed other books, inclu
ding al-Adab al-Mufrad, which is a collection of hadiths on ethics and manners,
as well as two books containing biographies of hadith narrators
Last years
In the year 864/250, he settled in Nishapur. It was in Neyshabur that he met Mus
lim ibn al-Hajjaj. He would be considered his student, and eventually collector
and organiser of hadith collection Sahih Muslim which is considered second only
to that of al-Bukhari. Political problems led him to move to Khartank, a village
near Samarkand where he died in the year 870/256
Writings
Below is a summary of the discussion of Bukhari's available works in Fihrist Mu?
annafat al-Bukhari by Umm 'Abdullah bint Ma?rus, Mu?ammad ibn ?amza and Ma?mud i
bn Mu?ammad.
Bukhari wrote three works discussing narrators of hadith with respect to their a
bility in conveying their material: the "brief compendium of hadith narrators,"
"the medium compendium" and the "large compendium" (al-Tarikh al-Kabir, al-Tarik
h al-?aghir, and al-Tarikh al-Awsat). The large compendium is published and well
-identified. The medium compendium was thought to be the brief collection and wa
s published as such. The brief compendium has yet to be found.[10] Another work,
al-Kuna, is on patronymics: identifying people who are commonly known as "Fathe
r of so-and-so". Then there is a brief work on weak narrators: al-?u'afa al-?agh
ir.
Hadith works
Two of Bukhari's hadith
d to matters of respect
ar min umur Rasl Allah
reports with chains of
g matters pertaining to
Sahih al-Bukhari.
School of thought

works have survived: al-Adab al-mufrad ("the book devote

and propriety") and al-Jami al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhta?
wa sunnanihi wa ayyamihi (The abridged collection of sound
narration going back all the way to the Prophet regardin
the Prophet, his practices and his times.)
also known as

Bukhari was the follower of the Hanbali school of thought within Islamic jurispr
udence, [11] although members of both the Hanbali and Shafi'i schools levy this
claim as well.[12]
However, Al-Dhahabi mentioned that Imam Bukhari was a mujtahid, a scholar capabl
e of making his own ijtihad without following any Islamic school of jurisprudenc
e in particular.