The Biography of Imam Tirmidhi

Imam At-Tirmidhi (210H – 279H), may Allah have his mercy on his soul, was born during the caliphate of Abbasid khalifa Al-Ma’mmun Abdullah ibn Harun Ar-Rashid, who started the fitna that Quran was a creation of Allah and not His speech. During his lifetime 9 Muslim Khalifas ruled with some being pious and noble while some committing evil and innovations. Imam At-Tirmazi traveled a lot in quest for seeking knowledge which gave him the expertise needed to become a Faqih and muhadith of his time. Imam At-Tirmizi has related from likes of Imam Bukhari and Muslim. He was one of the outstanding students of Imam Bukhari and also studied under Imam Muslim. Imam Tirmidhi learned extensively from Imam Malik and became known as one of his staff due to his dedication in his learning the knowledge of ahadith. Many of the scholars of past have highly praised Imam At-Tirmadhi. His book Al-Jami’ At-Tirmidhiii is one of the most invaluable books of hadith available to date. Al-Hafiz ibn Al-Athir states in Jami al-Usul: “His sahih book is the best of books, the greatest of them in benefit, the best of them in organization, and the least of them in repetition.” Imam Tirmidhi also gained a high status in other sciences of knowledge including Tafsir, Fiqh, and history.