Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) was born during the reign of the Abbasid Khalifa
Mamoon al Rasheed. The Abbasid Caliphate, despite its brilliant
contributions to Islaam, brought along with it many thorny problems.
Greek Philosophy had a free flowinto the Islamic world. Thiswas fully
sanctioned by the government until eventually it declared the
Mu'tazila school of thoughtas the state religion. Anyone who opposed
the Mu'tazila school of thoughtwould be opposing the state. With the
influence ofGreek philosophy infiltrating within the people, many
Muslims began attempting to reconcile between reason and revelation.
As a result they deviated themselves and misled many innocent weak
Muslims away from Allah and His Rasul [sallallahu alyhi wasallam].Many
scholars of Islaam had come to the fore in order to defend the
Shariah. Forgeries and interpolations in Hadith byrulers who wished to
fulfil their personal motives wascommon. In the first century Umar bin
Abdul Aziz(R.A.) initiated a movement for the compilation of the
Mubarak Hadeeth of Nabi [sallallahu alayhi wasallam] as there was a
fear of it being lost. Eventually this gigantic task was undertaken by
six towering scholars of Islaam. One of them was…….. Imaam Abu Isa
Muhammed ibn Isa Tirmizi (R.A.)
Having grown up in an environment of learning, together with
possessing many great qualities naturally drove Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.)
to dedicate his life totally towards the field of Hadith. He obtained
his basic knowledge at home and later travelled to far off lands in
search of this great science. He studied Hadith under great
personalities such as Imaam Bukhari (R.A.), Imaam Muslim (R.A.) and
Imaam Abu Dawood (R.A.). In some narrations Imaam Bukhari and Imaam
Muslim (R.A.) are his students as well. Once Imaam Bukhari (R.A.)
mentioned to him "I have benefited more from you than you have
benefitted from me." Moosa ibn Alaq (R.A.) once said : "When Imaam
Bukhari passed away, he left no one in Khurasaan who compared with Abu
Isa Tirmizi (R.A.) in Ilm, memory, piety and abstinence." According to
Abdullah ibn Muhammed Al-Ansaari (R.A.), Imaam Tirmizi's Al-Jami is
more beneficial than the works of Bukhari and Muslim (R.A.) since
their compilations can only be understood by a very deepsighted
scholar whereas AlJami can be understood byboth the scholar and the
lay man. Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) said that he compiledthis book and
presented it to the learned of Hejaaz, Iraaq and Khuraasaan and they
were pleased with it. Who ever has this book in his home, it is as
though he has the Prophet [sallallahu alyhi wasallam] speaking to him
there.
His remarkable memory:
Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) had an exceptionally remarkable memory. If he
heard something once he never forgot it. Once on hisway to Makkah,
Imaam Tirmizi(R.A.) met a Muhadith from whom he had previously copied
two chapters of hadith. Thinking that he had the notes with him he
asked the Muhadith if he would allow him to read out these two
chapters so thathe may correct any errors. After realizing that he did
not have those notes with him he took a blank piece of paper and read
out the entire two parts from memory. When the Muhadith realized what
hewas doing he rebuked Imam Tirmizi (R.A.) saying: "Have you no shame,
Why are you wasting my time." Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) assured him that he
had committed all the ahadith to memory. The Muhadith was not
convinced, even though he recited all the Ahadith from memory. Imaam
Tirmizi (R.A.) requested him to recite to him some other Ahadith. The
Muhaddith recited 40 ahadith which Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) repeated
without making a single error, thus showing his remarkable power of
committing Ahadith to memory.
Another incident has been recorded by Hakeemul Ummat (R.A.) in his
Al-Misk-us-Zaki, depicting the profound memory of Imaam Tirmizi
(R.A.). He writes:"Imaam Tirmizi (R.A.) had lost his sight towards the
latter portion of his life. Once whilst on ajourney, at a certain
point he bowed his head. When asked as to why he did this, he replied:
"Is there not a tree here whose branches hang over in such a manner
that it harms those who are passing by." They answered in the
negative. He was quite shocked when he heard this as he distinctly
remembered there being a tree and wasworried as to whether his memory
was failing him ornot. He stopped the caravan immediately and asked
his companions to enquire from the locals whether a tree had
existedthere or not. "If it is established that no tree existed then I
will stop narrating the Hadith of Nabi [sallallahu alyhi wasallam] due
to my weakmemory." On inquiry it was shown to them that a tree had
previously existedover there but due to it being a hindrance to
travelers it was removed." :->
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