Sahi Muslim

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj

Abul Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Qushayri al-Nishapuri (lived c. 206-261 AH/c.821-875 CE),Muslim Author of the second most widely recognized collection of Hadith in Sunni Islam, Sahih Muslim..

Biography

He was born in the town of Nishapur located in present day northeastern Iran. He is the son of Hajjaj son of Muslim son of Ward of the Arab tribe of Qushair.

Among the author's teachers were included Harmala ibn Yahya, Sa'id ibn Mansur, Abd-Allah ibn Maslamah al-Qa'nabi, al-Dhuhali, al-Bukhari, Ibn Ma'in, Yahya ibn Yahya al-Nishaburi al-Tamimi, and others. Among his students were al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, and Ibn Khuzaymah, each of which wrote works on hadith as well. After many studies throughout theArabian Peninsula, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, he settled down in his hometown of Nishapur where he first met Bukhari, with whom he would have a friendship until his death.

He died in 875 CE in Nishapur, where he was also buried.

Legacy

His book is considered among Sunni Muslims the most authentic collections of hadith, second only to Sahih Bukhari.

Estimates on how many hadiths are in his books vary widely from 12,000 to 3,033 depending on whether they remove the duplicates, and consider only the text or the isnad as well. The book is said to share about 1900 hadiths with Bukhari's Sahih.^[4]

Works

§ Sahih Muslim: his collection of authentic hadith

Biography of Imam Muslim
Compiler of Sahih Muslim

The full name of Imam Muslim is Abul-Hussain `Asakiruddin Muslim bin Hajjaj AlQushairi An-Naisaburi. He belonged to the Qushair tribe of the Arab clan Rabi'ah. He was born in 202 or 206 H (819 or 821 CE) in Nishapur, a town of Iran. His parents were religious people and so he was brought up in a pious environment. Because of this he spent all of his life as a pious and righteous person. A distinguishing attribute of his excellent character is that he never indulged in backbiting, which is a common human shortcoming.

Imam Muslim travelled far and wide to collect the Ahadith (traditions) in the countries of Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, and benefited from the prominent Hadith scholars of that time by attending the lectures and classes of those learned persons. His teachers included Ishaq bin Rawaih, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ubaidullah Al-Qawariri, Qutaibah bin Said, Abdullah bin Maslamah, Harmalah bin Yahya and others.

Afterwards he settled down at Nishapur, where he came into contact with Imam Bukhari. Seeing the vast knowledge and deep insight of him in the Ahadith of the Prophet , Imam Muslim remained attached with him until the end of his life. He also attended the lectures of another scholar of Hadith, Muhammad bin Yahya AdhDhuhli, but when the difference of opinion arose between Imam Bukhari and Muhammad bin Yahya on the issue of the creation of the Noble Qur'an, Imam Muslim favored Imam Bukhari and left the company of Muhammad bin Yahya.

Imam Muslim compiled many books and treatises on Hadith, the most important of his works is the compilation of the Hadith collection Al-Jami `As-Sahih, which is famous by the name of Sahih Muslim. Some scholars of Hadith opine that in some respects it is the best and most authentic collection of Ahadith. Imam Muslim laboriously collected 3,00,000 Ahadith, but after a critical study, he selected only 4,000 Ahadith for this collection. Other contributions of Imam Muslim on the subject of Hadith are: Al-Kitab Al-Musnad Al-Kabir Alar-Rijkl, Al-Jami'Al-Kabir, Kitab-ul-Asma' wal-Kuna, Kitab-ul'Ilal, Kitab-ul-Wahdan, etc.

Many students learned the Science of Hadith from Imam Muslim. Those who became famous and occupied a prominent position are: Abu Hatim Razi, Musa bin Harun, Ahmad bin Salamah, Abu `Isa Tirmidhi, Abu Bakr bin Khuzaimah, Abu `Awanah and Hafiz Dhahbi.

Imam Muslim died at the age of fifty-seven years in 261 H (875 CE) and was buried in the suburbs of Nishapur.

Mohammed Al- Bukhari

Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari , popularly known as Al-Bukhari or Imam Bukhari (194/810-256/870), was a famous Sunni Islamic scholar of Tajik ancestry. He was, perhaps, best known for authoring the hadith collection named Sahih Bukhari, a collection which Sunni Muslims regard as the mostauthentic of all hadith compilations and the most authoritative book after the Qur'an.

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Biography

Early life

He was born in 810/194 in the city of Bukhara, in what is today Uzbekistan. His father, Ismail Ibn Ibrahim, was a known hadith scholar who died while he was young.

The historian, al-Dhahabi described his early academic life:

"He began studying hadith in the year 205. He memorized the works of [‘Abdullah] ibn al-Mubaarak while still a child. He was raised an orphan. 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 eighteen years old, I began writing about the Companions and the Followers and their statements. This was during the time of ‘Ubaid Allah ibn Musa (one of his teachers). At that time I also authored a book of history at the grave of the Prophet at night during a full moon.”^[2]

Travels

At age of sixteen, he, together with his brother and widowed mother made the pilgrimage to Makkah. From there he made a series of travels in order to increase his knowledge of hadith. He went through all the important centres of Islamic learning 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, both authentic and rejected ones.

After sixteen years' absence he returned to Bukhara, and there drew up his al-Jami' al-Sahih, a collection of 7,275 tested traditions, arranged in chapters so as to afford bases for a complete system of jurisprudence without the use of speculative law.

His book is highly regarded among Sunni Muslims, and considered the most authentic collection of hadith (a minority of Sunni scholars consider Sahih Muslim, compiled by Bukhari's student Imam Muslim, more authentic). Most Sunni scholars consider it second only to the Qur'an in terms of authenticity. He also composed other books, including al-Adab al-Mufrad, which is a collection of hadiths on ethics and manners, as well as two books containing biographies of hadith narrators (see isnad). It is said that his collection of hadith became sort of an obsession of his. He used all of his money to travel, and never became wealthy.

Last years

In the year 864/250, he settled in Nishapur. It was in Neyshabour that he met Muslim 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 toKhartank, a village near Bukhara where he died in the year 870/256

School of thought

Ibn Taymiyyah was asked whether Bukhari was qualified to deduce his own conditions in jurisprudence, not blindly following any of the Imams, or was he a blind follower. He responded that Bukhari was "an imam in jurisprudence, from those capable of deducing his own rulings, min ahl al-ijtihad."^[3]

His theological position was conservative. He is recorded as being both anti-Mu'tazili and anti-Shi'ite. One source says that Bukhari once stated:

“I don’t see any difference between praying Salah behind a Jahmi or a Rafidhi and a Christian or a Jew. They (Mu'tazili/Shia's) are not to be greeted, nor are they to be visited, nor are they to be married, nor is their testimony to be accepted, nor are their sacrifices to be eaten.”^[4]

[Works

§ Al-Jami' al-Sahih (الجامع الصحيح), also known as Sahih Bukhari

§ Al Adab Al Mufrad الأدب المفرد- Guidance in Good Manners and Etiquette for Muslims

§ al-Tarikh al-Kabir, The Great History, containing biographies of narrators, with a rating of each

§ al-Tarikh al-Awsat - The Middle History

§ Khalq Af'aal Al-'Ibaad