The Biography of the eminent and distinguished Imam, crown of jurists,master of Experts in Hadith, Imam of the world in Hadith

Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him

1- His Name and Lineage:

He is Muhammad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Al-Mughirah bin Bardezbah Al-Bukhari, by birth and he belonged to al-Ju'fi by loyalty (accepting Islam at his hand) and lineage.

2- His Nickname:

He is Abu Abdullah, by agreement of the historians and biographers.

3- His Family:

Al-Bukhari's ancestors were Persians on the Magi religion.
History did not preserve for us the predecessors of al-Bukhari beyond his third grandfather, “Burdizbah,” as he is the head of his family.
There is no dispute that Bardizbah, the father of al-Mughirah, was not a Muslim (1), and that he lived and died on the Magi religion.
There has been an argue in the diacritics of his name, but the most famous saying is what Ibn Saadan Al-Bukhari said: (Bardizbah (2): fathah on the baa, then raa sakina, then kasrah on the dal, then za sakina, then fathah on the baa unified open, then fathah on the haa.
The Ameer Abu Nasr ibn Makula described him by saying: He is Farmer in the language of the people of Bukhara (3).
As for Al-Mughirah (4), he was the first to embrace Islam (5), and that was at the hands of Al-Yaman (6) Ibn Akhnas Al-Ju’fi, the governor of Bukhara, so Al-Bukhari was attributed to Ju’fi by loyalty.(accepting Islam at his hand).
As for Ibrahim ibn al-Mughirah, “Al-Bukhari's grandfather ” we do not know anything about him other than his affiliation with al-Mughirah.
As for his father, Abu al-Hasan Ismail bin Ibrahim, he was a Farmer (7), he sought knowledge and traveled in its pursuit.
Also, Abu Al-Hassan heard Malik bin Anas, and merged with the knowledgeable scholars and was keen to meet with their masters.
In addition, he saw Hammad bin Zaid shaking hands with Ibn Al-Mubarak with both hands.
And he, may Allah have mercy on him, was very pious.
Ahmad bin Hafs said: I entered upon him while he was dying, and he said: "There is not in all of my money a dirham of suspicion."
Ahmed bin Hafs said: At that moment, I was ashamed of myself.

4- His birth:

Imam al-Bukhari was born after Jumu'ah Prayer on Shawwal 13th,194H(8) in Bukhara.
Al-Bukhari’s father recorded that in his own handwriting, and Al-Bukhari was interested in this, so he kept his father’s handwriting and showed it to his student Al-Mustaneer bin Ateeq (9).

5- His Upbringing:

Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Balkhi said: Muhammad ibn Ismail had lost his childhood in his youth, and he had a devout mother, and she saw Ibrahim, peace be upon him, in a dream.
He said to her: Allah has restored your son’s sight to him because of your many prayers.
He continued: When she woke up, she found that Allah had restored the sight to her son.

6- His Era:

Al-Bukhari lived in the caliphate of ten of the Abbasid caliphs, four from the first Abbasid era, they are: The Abbasid Caliph Al-Amin, who assumed the caliphate between (193-198), Al-Ma’mun (198-218), Al-Mu’tasim Billah (218-227) and Al-Wathiq Billah (227-232).
And six from the second Abbasid era, they are: Al-Mutawakkil Billah (232-247), Al-Muntasir Billah (247-248), Al-Mutawakkil Billah (248-252), Al-Mu’tazz Billah (252-255), Al-MuhtadiBillah (255-256), and the first years in caliphate al-Moatamed Billah's era(256-279).
He lived, may Allah have mercy on him, (38) years in the first era, which was characterized by the strength of the Caliphs, the spread of their influence, and the completeness of their sovereignty over all the Islamic world except for the country of Andalusia, on one side.
On the other hand, the Abbasids who assumed the caliphate in that era were scholars, holding knowledge councils and participating in them.
Also, they honored scholars, revered them, brought them close to them, and relied on their opinions.
In addition, Muslims translated into their language what was known of natural sciences, medicine and mathematics from other civilized nations such as Greece, Persians and India.
Philosophy flourished and spread, and people lived the hell of the sedition of creating the Qur’an, in which many people were harmed, mainly Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Bukhari after him.
And he lived, may Allah have mercy on him, (24) years in the second Abbasid era, which witnessed divisions in the ranks due to the conflict between the new muslims from the Persians and other origions and the Arabs who were expelled from their positions, on one hand.

7- His Scientific Upbringing:

Ahmed bin Yusuf As-Sulami said: I saw Muhammad bin Ismail in Malik bin Ismail's Councilwhile he was crying, so I said to him: What makes you cry? He said: I can neither write nor organize ideas.
He said: Then Allah made Muhammad bin Ismail as you have seen(10).
Warraq Al-Bukhari said: I heard Al-Bukhari say: I used to differ with the jurists in Marv when I was young, and when I reached them, I was shy to greet them, and one of them said to me: How much did you write today? So I said: Two Verses (11) and by that I meant two Hadiths, so those who attended the gathering laughed, and one of them said: Do not laugh, perhaps he will laugh at you one day, and that was true as this Sheikh said.
Abu Jaafar Muhammad bin Abi Hatim Warraq Al-Bukhari said: I said to Abu Abdullah: How did you begin to seek Hadith? He said: I was inspired to memorize hadith while I was in Al-kuttab, so I said: How old were you then? He said: Ten years or less, then I left Al-kuttab after ten, then I began to attend the class of Ad-Dakhili (12) and others.
One day, while he was reading to people, he said: Sufyan narrating Abu az-Zubayr, narrating Ibrahim, and I said to him: Abu az-Zubayr did not narrate Ibrahim, so he reprimanded me, so I said to him: Go back to the original edition if you have it.
So, he did, then he said to me: Tell me, how is it? So I said: it is Az-Zubayr bin Uday who narrated Ibrahim, so he took the pen from me and amended his book, and said: You have said the right thing.
Some of his companions said to him: How old were you when you differed with him? He said: I was eleven years old.
He said: When I was at the age of sixteen, I memorized the books of Ibn al-Mubarak and Waki’, and knew their sayings, then I went out with my mother and my brother Ahmad to Makkah.
After performing Hajj, my brother returned with my mother, and I left them and went to seek Hadith.
When I was at theage of eighteen, I began to classify the judgments and sayings of the Companions and the followers.
This was during the days of Ubaid Allah Bin Musa, and I compiled the book of (Al-Tarikh) ....(13)
Hafs Bin Omar Al-Ashqar said: We were writing Hadiths with Muhammad Bin Ismail al-Bukhari in Basra, and we lost him for days, so we searched for him and we found him naked in a house.
He ran out of garments, and there was nothing left with him, so we gathered and collected Dirhams for him.
We bought him a garment, then he dressed up and continued to write Hadiths with us.
Abu al-Fadl Muhammad Ibn Tahir said: In 210, Al-Bukhari came to Baghdad, and intended to go to Abd ar-Razzaq in Yemen, so he met Yahya Ibn Ja`far al-Baykandi, and asked him about Abd ar-Razzaq, but he said: Abd ar-Razzaq died.
Then it turned out that he did not die, so Al-Bukhari heard the Hadith of Abdul Razzaq from Yahya bin Jaafar (14).
Abu Bakr Al-Ayin said: We narrated Muhammad Bin Ismail at Muhammad Bin Yusuf Al-Firyabi's door, and he did not have a hair on his face at that time, so we said: How old are you? He said: I am seventeen years old.
Abu Jaafar al-Warraq said: I heard Muhammad Bin Ismail saying: Muhammad Bin Salam al-Baykandi said to me: Look at my books of Hadith, and if you find any error, highlight it so that I do not narrate it.
He said: So I did, then Muhammad Bin Salam wrote a note on authentic Hadiths judged by Muhammad Bin Ismail: "The boy was satisfied", and a note on weak Hadiths: "The boy was not satisfied." Some of his companions said to him: Who is this boy? He said: He who is unparalleled, Muhammad Bin Ismail.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Nasir Ad-Deen al-Dimashqi said: We have been informed that al-Bukhari did this in the writings of Al-Baykandi when he was seventeen years old or less, and he was still diligent, may Allah have mercy on him, from his childhood to the end of his life.

8- His Method of Scientific Formation:

Al-Bukhari once said to his bookman: My writing of Hadith was not similar to others.
When I wrote about a man, I would ask him about his name, his nickname, his lineage, and his knowledge of Hadith in case the man was sharp-witted, and if not, I asked him to bring out the origin and copy of Hadith for me.
As for the others, they do not care what they write or how they write.
Muhammad Ibn Abi Hatim said: I heard Hani Ibn an-Nadr say: We were with Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Al-Firyabi in Ash-Sham, and we used to go for a walk as young men do and eat berries.
Muhammad bin Ismail was with us, but he did not do as we do, rather he was stubbornly seeking knowledge.
He said, may Allah have mercy on him: When I was at the age of eighteen, I began to classify the cases and sayings of the companions and the followers.
This was during the days of Ubaid Allah Bin Musa, and I compiled the book of (At-Tarikh) at that time at the tomb of the Prophet, peace be upon him, on moonlit nights.
There was no name in (History) that did not have a story in my book, but I did not want the book to be lengthened.
Jaafar Bin Muhammad Al-Qattan said: I heard Muhammad Bin Ismail say: I wrote Hadiths narrated by a thousand sheikhs and more, and I wrote for each of them ten thousand and more Hadiths, and I didn’t write a Hadith without mentioning its chain of narrators.
Al-Abbas Ad-Douri said: I have not seen anyone who is as good at seeking Hadith as Muhammad Bin Ismail.
He did not leave an origin or a branch without taking it into consideration, then he said to us: Do not leave anything from his sayings unless you write them down.
Muhammad bin Yusuf Al-Bukhari said: I was with Muhammad Bin Ismail in his house one night, and I counted that he began remembering things that he annotates in one night: eighteen times.
Muhammad Ibn Abi Hatim al-Warraq said: When I was with Abu Abdullah on a journey, we would stay together in one house, except in sever heat sometimes.
I used to see him rise in one night fifteen to twenty times, in all of that taking a lighter, setting fire to a lamp, and then he would bring out Hadiths and start marking and highlighting them.
Abu Bakr al-Madini said: We were one day in Nishapur with Ishaq Bin Rahwayh, and Muhammad Bin Ismail.
Then Ishaq touched on one of the Hadiths of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and it was Atta’ Al-Kikharany, so Isaac said to him: O Abu Abd Allah, what is Kikharan? He said: A village in Yemen.
Muawiyah Bin Abi Sufyan had sent this man from among the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to Yemen.
He heard two Hadiths from Atta’.
So, Isaac said to him: O Abu Abdullah, it is as if you have witnessed these people! Al-Farbri said: I heard Al-Bukhari say: I entered Baghdad eight times, and each time I sat with Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
One day, Ahmad said to me: O Abu Abdullah, did you leave knowledge and people and go to Khurasan? He said: I remember what he said until now (15).

9 - His Method in Classification:

Abd Al-Quddus Ibn Hammam said (16): I heard a number of sheikhs say: Muhammad Ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari wrote biographies between the tomb and pulpit of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
In addition, he used to pray two rak'ahs for every biography he wrote.
His disciple Ibrahim bin Maqil narrated: I heard Muhammad Bin Ismail Al-Bukhari saying: I did not include in this book - Al Jami'- except what is authentic, and I left some of them so that the book would not be long.
And he quoted that Muhammad Bin Abi Hatim, said: I heard Al-Bukhari say: If this book was published, some of my scholars would not understand how I classified the book “At Tarikh” nor did they know it.
Then he said: I classified it three times.
And he quoted that Muhammad Bin Abi Hatim, said: I heard Al-Bukhari say: Ishaq Bin Rahwayh took the book “Al-Tarikh” to Abdullah Bin Tahir, and said: O chief, do you not think that it is magic?! He said: Abdullah bin Tahir looked at the book in astonishment and said: I do not understand how it was classified.

10 - His Morals and Worship:

Al-Warraq said: He was very shy when he was young.
His sheikh Muhammad Bin Salam al-Baikandi said: Do you think the virgin is shyer than this boy (17)? Musbih Bin Saeed said: On the first night of the month of Ramadan, Muhammad Bin Ismail Al-Bukhari used to gather his companions, pray with them, recite twenty verses in every rak'ah, and likewise until he finishes the Qur'an.
He used to recite between one half and one-third of the Qur’an in the early dawn.
He also used to make a recitation of the whole Qur'an every day at Iftar time, and he says, with every recitation of the whole Qur'an, there is a fulfilled supplication(18).
Muhammad Bin Abi Hatim said: Muhammad Bin Ismail was invited to the garden of some of his companions.
Traces of the wasp were visible on his body, so some of them said to him: How did you not finish the prayer when it stung you?! He said: I was reciting a Surah and I wanted to complete it (19).

11 - His Morals:

Muhammad Bin Abi Hatim said about Al-Bukhari that he said: I hope to meet Allah the Almighty and not beheld accountable for backbiting anyone.
Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I have never bought or sold anything.
I was ordering someone to buy it for me.
It was said to him: Why? He replied: Because of the increase, decrease and confusion in buying and selling (20).
Ghunjar, in his book "At-Treekh", said: Abu Hafs sent goods to Muhammad Bin Ismail.
Some of the merchants gathered to him in the evening and demanded the goods for a profit of five thousand Dirhams.
He said to them: Go back, tonight.
The next day, other merchants came to him and asked him for the goods with a profit of ten thousand Dirhams.
He said to them: Go back, I intended to sell the goods to the merchants who came yesterday.
This means: Those who demanded it for the first time, so he gave it to them, and said: I do not like to change my intention (21).
And Abdullah bin Muhammad As-Sarfi (22) said: I was with Abi Abdullah Muhammad Bin Ismail in his house, so his bondwoman came to him and wanted to enter the house, so she stumbled on an inkpot in front of her, and he said to her: How do you walk? She said: If there is no way, how can I walk? He said to her: Go, I have freed you (i.e., you are no longer my bondwoman).
So, It was said to him: How did you free her even though she made you angry? He replied: If she had angered me, I would have satisfied myself by freeing her (23).
His bookman said: I saw him lying down while he was writing the book “At-Tafsir” in those days when we were in Farbar, and he had exhausted himself on that day in Hadith documentation.
So, I said to him: I heard you say: I do not prove anything without knowledge, so what is the benefit of lying down? He said: I exhausted myself today, and this is a gap because I was afraid that something might happen relating to the matter of the enemy.
So, I liked to take a rest, and if the enemy attacked us (24), we would be ready (25).
Bakr Bin Munir also said: Muhammad Bin Ismail was praying one day, and ahornet stung him seventeen times, and when he finished his prayer, he said: Look, what is this thing that hurt me while I was praying.
So, they looked and found that it was ahornet stung him in seventeen (26) places.
Despite this, he had not cut off his prayer.
His bookman also narrated: Muhammad Bin Ismail said: I was reciting a verse, and I wanted to complete it.
His bookman also narrated: We were in Ferber, and Abu Abdullah was building a "ribat" (defence post) in the vicinity of Bukhara, so many people gathered to help him, and he was carrying bricks, so I used to say to him: O Abu Abdullah, that is enough for you.
He replied: This is what benefits me.
Al-Hasan Bin Muhammad Al-Samarqandi said: Muhammad Bin Ismail was distinguished by three qualities: He was taciturn, he was not greedy for what people had, he was not preoccupied with people's affairs (27).

12 - His Sheiks:

Imam Al-Bukhari went on his journey in seeking Hadith to most of the regions, and he wrote in Khurasan, all the cities of Iraq, Hijaz, the Levant, and Egypt, and he learned from Al-Huffaz, the critics.
He met with Makki Bin Ibrahim in Khurasan, Abu Asim in Basra, Ubayd Allah Bin Musa in Kufa, Abu Abd Ar-Rahman al-Muqri in Makkah, and Muhammad Bin Yusuf Al-Firyabi in Levant.
He wrote about people, including his peers, such as Abu Muhammad ad-Darmi, Abu Zur’a, Abu Hatim Ar-Razi, and others who are similar to them.
He even wrote about those who are less than him.
Abu Hatim Sahal Bin As-Sari said: Muhammad Bin Ismail Al-Bukhari said: I met more than a thousand Sheiks from the people of the Hijaz, Mecca, Medina, Basra, Wasit, Baghdad, the Levant and Egypt, I met them century after century.
He also mentioned that he traveled to the Levant, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula twice, and to Basra four times, and he resided in Hijaz for six years.
He said: I do not know how many times I entered Kufa and Baghdad with the scholars of Khurasan.
The bookman of Al-Bukhari said: I heard him say: I entered Balkh, so the people of Hadith asked me to tell them about whom I narrated Hadith.
I narrated a thousand Hadiths for a thousand Sheikhs about whom I wrote, then he said: I wrote about one thousand and eighty people, all of whom are Hadith narrators.
At-Taj As-Subki said: Al-Hakim in (Tarikh Nishapur) frequently counted the Sheiks of Al-Bukhari, and mentioned the regions he entered, then said: I have only named from every aspect a group of the forerunners in order to infer the highness of his chain of narrators.
In As-Sahih, there are narrations for (345)(28) Sheiks, from different places.
Ibn Hajar divided his Sheiks into five classes (29) and said: The first class: Those who told him about the Followers, such as: Makki Bin Ibrahim, Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Ansari, Ubaid Allah Bin Musa, Abu Asim An-Nabil, Abu Na`im Al-Mula’i, Abu Al-Mughirah Al-Khawlani, Ali Bin Ayyash, Khallad Bin Yahya, and others.
The second class: Those who were in the era of those people, but were a little later than them, such as: Adam Bin Abi Iyas, Abu Mushar Abdul-Ala Bin Mushir, Ayoub Bin Suleiman Bin Bilal, Hajjaj Bin Menhal, Saeed Bin Abi Maryam, Thabit Bin Muhammed, and others from the companions of Al-Awza’i, Ibn Abi Dhi’b, Ath-Thawri, Shu’bah, and Malik.
The third class: Sheikhs whom Muslim and others shared quoting from them with him, such as Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh, Yahya, Ali, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Qutaibah, Nu`aym Ibn Hammad, and their like from the companions of Hammad Ibn Zayd, and Laith Ibn Sa`d, then from the companions of Ibn Al-Mubarak, Hushaym, Ibn Uyaynah, and the like.
The fourth class: his fellow Hadith seekers, such as Muhammad Bin Yahya Ad-Dhuhaili, Abu Hatim Ar-Razi, Muhammad Bin Abdur Rahim, known as Sa’iqa, Ad-Darmi, Abd Bin Humaid, Ahmed Bin An-Nadr, and Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Al-Bushanji and a group, and among them are those who are a little older them him.
The fifth class: They are people of the age of his disciples whom he heard from them for benefit, such as Abdullah Bin Hammad Al-Amuli, Abdullah Bin Abi Al-Qass, Hussein Bin Muhammad Al-Qabbani, Muhammad Bin Ishaq As-Sarraj, and Muhammad Bin Issa At-Tirmidhi.

14 - His Disciples:

Al-huffaz (experts in Hadith) learned from Imam al-Bukhari, heard from him, and wrote Hadiths that he dictated, and he was still beardless young.
Imams quoted him such as Muslim in (As-Sahih), At-Tirmidhi in (Jami’), Abu Zura’a, Abu Hatim Ar-Razian, Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Hadrami Mutayyn, Ibn Khuzaymah, Muhammad bin Nasr Al-Marwazi, Salih bin Muhammad Jazra, Abu Bakr bin Abi Muhammad bin Yahya bin Yahya bin Sa`id, and many other uncounted people.

15 - The Story of His Tests:

Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, was subjected to two tests:
- A Scientific test represented in two incidents:
The first incident is narrated by Ibn Udayy: I heard several Sheiks say that Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, came to Baghdad.
Scholars of Hadith heard about his coming, so they gathered one hundred Hadiths and changed its texts and chains of isnad intentionally.
They changed the text of this chain of narrators for another chain, and the chain of the narrator of this text for another text.
Then they asked ten men, each man had ten hadiths, to recite them to Al-Bukhari.
Then they went to the gathering, where a group of strangers from the people of Khurasan and elsewhere and from the Baghdadis attended.
When the gathering calmed down, a man from these ten came to Al-Bukhari and asked him about one of those upturned Hadiths.
Al-Bukhari said: I do not know it.
He asked him about another, and he said: I do not know it.

Then he asked him about another, and he said: I do not know it.
He continued to recite it one by one until he finished the ten Hadiths, and Al-Bukhari would say: I do not know it.
The jurists who attended the gathering would turn to each other and say:The man is brilliant.
And whoever was among the other people who attended, judged Al-Bukhari with incapacity, negligence, and lack of understanding.
Then another man of the ten came and asked him about one of those upturned Hadiths.
Al-Bukhari said: I do not know it.
He asked him about another, and he said: I do not know it.
He asked him about another, and he said: I do not know it.
He continued to recite it one by one until he finished the ten Hadiths, and Al-Bukhari says: I do not know.
Then the third and fourth till the tenth until they all finished the upturned Hadiths, and Al-Bukhari only says: I do not know it.
When al-Bukhari knew that they had finished, he turned to the first of them and said: Your first Hadith is such and such, the second Hadith is such and such, the third and fourth is such and such, up to the tenth.
He returned each text to its chainof narrators, and every chain of narrators to its own text, and he did the same to the others, and he returned the texts of all Hadiths to their chain of narrators and returned its chain of narrators to its text.
Therefore, people credited him with memorization and knowledge.
The second incident is also narrated by Ibn Udayy with his chain of narrators.
Haykan bin Muhammad bin Yahya, said:I said to my father, O father, what is the matter between you and this man - meaning Muhammad bin Ismail - even though you are not one of his men in seeking knowledge? He said: I saw him in Makkah following Shamakhda, who is a Qadri [those who deny taqdeer (divine decree)] kufi.
This was reported to Muhammad bin Ismail, and he said: I entered Makkah and did not know any of the Hadith scholars (Muhaddithin) there.
However, Shamakhda had known those scholars, so I followed him to bring me closer to the Hadith scholars (Muhaddithin), so what is wrong with this!


- A test with Regard to Doctrine
It is also narrated by Ibn Udayy, he said: A group of Sheiks told me that when Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari came to Nishapur and the people held a gathering with him, Sheiks of Nishapur envied him when they saw the people coming and gathering with him.
It was said: O scholars of Hadith, Muhammad bin Ismail says: The word of the Qur’an which we pronounce are created, so test him in the gathering.
When the people attended the gathering with Al-Bukhari, a man came to him and said: O Abu Abdullah, is the word in the Qur’an which we pronounce are created or not? Al-Bukhari ignored him and did not answer him, so the man said: O Abu Abdullah, and he repeated it to him, so he ignored him and did not answer him, then he asked the same question for the third time, so Muhammad ibn Ismail turned to him and said: The Qur’an is the speech of Allah, uncreated.
The actions of people are created, and testing is a condemnable innovation.
So a heated discussion took place and people rioted and went out leaving Al-Bukhari alone, where he had to isolate himself at home.
I heard the Ismaili say: I heard Al-Farahani say: I heard Amr bin Mansour An-Nisaburi say: I heard Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari when he was asked about the word in Qur’an, He said: I heard Ubaid Allah bin Saeed Abu Qudamah Al-Sarkhasi say: I heard Yahya bin Saeed Al-Qattan and Abd Ar-Rahman bin Mahdi say: The actions of the people are created.
I heard Abu Bakr al-Ismaili say: I heard al-Farahani say: It was said to Muhammad ibn Ismail: Do you take back what you said so people can get back to you? He said: I have no need for them.

16 - His Status and the Praise He Received byScholars:

Much praise was given to Al-Bukhari, and Al-Jiani collected a little of that in the introduction to “Taqid Al-Muhmal” from groups of people from the Basrians, the people of the Hijaz, Kufa, the Baghdadis, the people of Rayy, Khurasan and Transoxiana.
Al-Bukhari reached a high position in knowledge of Hadith since his childhood.
The people of knowledge from Basra followed him seeking Hadith while he was a young man, as they would sit him in the street and thousands of people would gather around him, most of whom were narrators, even though he was a young man whose hair did not appear on his face.
And Abu Muasher Hamdawayh bin Al-Khattab said: When Abu Abdullah came from Iraq the last time, people met and crowded over him.
Then, he was asked about people honoring him.
He said: How if you had seen when I entered Basra?! Abu Ali Saleh bin Muhammad Jazrah said: when Muhammad bin Ismail used to sit in Baghdad, I was writing what he read, and there was more than twenty thousand people gathering in his council.
Muhammad ibn Ya`qub ibn al-Akhram said: I heard our companions say: When Al-Bukhari came to Nishapur, four thousand men greeted him on horseback, other than those who rode a mule or a donkey and those who walked on their feet.
Salim bin Mujahid said: I heard Abu Al-Azhar say: There were four hundred people in Samarkand asking for Hadith, so they gathered for seven days, and they wanted to make Muhammad bin Ismail commit a mistake.
Therefore, they mixed the narrators of ash-Sham with the narrators of Iraq, and the narrators of Yemen with the narrators of al-Haramayn.
They could make him commit a mistake, neither in the narrators nor in the text.
And Ibn Udayy (30) said: When Ibn Sa`id mentioned Muhammad bin Ismail, he would say: The butting ram (i.e, so strong in knowledge who can beat every one).
At-Tirmidhi said: I have not seen anyone in Iraq or Khurasan more knowledgeable than Muhammad bin Ismail in the ambiguities of Hadiths, history and knowledge of narrators.
And Muhammad bin Abi Hatim said: I heard Mahmoud bin An-Nadr Abu Sahl Ash-Shafi’i say: I entered Basra, the Levant, Hijaz and Kufa, and I saw all scholars, so whenever Muhammad bin Ismail was mentioned, they preferred him over themselves.
Hatim bin Malik Al Warraq said: I heard the scholars of Makkah say: Muhammad bin Ismail is our Imam, our jurist, and the jurist of Khorasan.
Khalaf bin Muhammad said: I heard Aba Amr Ahmad bin Nasr Al-Khaffaf say: Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari, the pious, the pure, the scholar, the like of whom I have not seen.
Abu Ahmad al-Hakim said: Al-Bukhari was one of the Imams in knowing and collecting Hadiths, and if I said that I did not see anyone’s classification resemble his classification in accuracy and goodness, I would hope to be honest.
At-Tirmidhi said: Muhammad bin Ismail was with Abdullah bin Munir.
When he wanted to leave, he said to him: O Abu Abdullah, may Allah make you the adornment of this nation.
At-Tirmidhi said: And Allah accept his prayer.
Hashid bin Ismail said: I heard Ahmad bin Hanbal say: No one has come to us from Khurasan like Muhammad bin Ismail.
Abu Hatim ar-Razi said: Muhammad bin Ismail is the most knowledgeable of those who came to Iraq.
And Abu Abdullah al-Hakim said: Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari is the Imam of the scholars of Hadith.
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah said: I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable and memorized about Hadith than Muhammad ibn Ismail.
Al-Hakim said: I heard Muhammad bin Yaqoub Al-Hafiz say: I heard my father say: I saw Muslim bin Al-Hajjaj in the presence of Al-Bukhari asking him like a boy.
Ahmed bin Hamdoun Al-Qassar said: I heard Muslim bin Al-Hajjaj saying to Al-Bukhari: “Let me kiss your feet, O master of scholars, and doctor of Hadith."
Ibrahim al-Khawwas said: I saw Abu Zur’a, like a boy, sitting in front of Muhammad bin Ismail, asking him about ambiguities of Hadiths.
Imam Abu al-Abbas al-Qurtubi said: He is the well-known scholar, and the standard-bearer of the science of published Hadith, the author of “At-Tareekh” and “As Sahih."
The one who is referred to in the Science of Jarh and Ta`deel (knowledge of vetting the narraters of Hadith).
One of Islamic Huffaz, whom Allah authorized to memorize the Hadith of his Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
Imams of his time attested to his leadership in memorizing and transmitting Hadith, and the biographies of his book attested to his brilliance and jurisprudence.
Imam An-Nawawi said: you have to know that the description of Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, in preceding his peers in this science is agreed upon in the later and ahead of times.
it is attested to him that most of those who praised him spread his virtues were his distinguished and skilled Sheiks.
Al-Hafiz Al-Mizzi said: He is the Imam of this field, a role model, and whose book is relied on among the scholars of Islam.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Nasir ad-Din ad-Dimashqi said: The masters of knowledge graduated at his hand, and the people of the narration benefited from him and he was the unique of his time, holding his tongue, and pious in all his affairs, in addition to his abundant knowledge, great mastery and interest in narrative, good memorization of the Sunna and Hadiths.
As well as, his knowledge of history, while preserving his times and hours, and constantly worshiping until his death.
He also said: He was a man of standing, of great value, second to none, and no one like him was born after him.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: he is the best in memorization and the Imam of the world in the jurisprudence of Hadith.
Al-Hafiz As-Sakhawi said: Whoever contemplates his choices of jurisprudence in his "Jami'" knows that he was diligent and successful, even if he was much in agreement with Ash-Shafi’i.

17 - His Traits:

Al-Hassan bin Al-Hussain Al-Bazzaz said (31): I saw Muhammad bin Ismail an old man with a thin body, not tall or short.

18 - Visions and Glad Tidings:

An-Najm bin Fudayl (32)who is of the people of knowledge and virtue said: I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, in a dream, and he came out of the gate of Masin - the village in Bukhara - and Muhammad bin Ismail Al-Bukhari was behind him. Whenever the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, took a step, Muhammad bin Ismail, took the same step. And he put his feet where the Prophet put his feet, peace be upon him.

19 - His Death:

Ibn Udayy narrated that Abd al-Quddus ibn Abd al-Jabbar as-Samarqandi said: Muhammad bin Ismail came to Khartank, one of the villages of Samarkand, two Parasang away.
And he had relatives there, so he stayed with them.
One night after he had finished praying, I heard him supplicating and saying: O Allah, the earth has become too straitened for me, so take me to You.
He said: The month was not completed until he passed away.
He was buried in Khartank, may Allah have mercy on him.

20 - Examples of his Jurisprudential Choices:

The choices of Imam Al-Bukhari are known in the branches of his chapters.

Because the discussion about them is so long that it is difficult to comprehend, we will mention some of them (33): - Taking bath from Sexual intercourse without the emission of sexual discharge is not obligatory, but rather it is a precaution.
- There is nothing wrong with reading the Qur’an in the Hammam (old bathrooms –those were like houses, not modern day bathrooms).
- It is permissible to wash and rub sexual discharge.
- Water does not become impure by the fall of the impurity in it unless it is changed.
- It is permissible to comb by the bones of a dead animal, such as elephants and the like, to paint from them and to trade in them.
- Purifying butter and the like if a mouse and the like fall into it by throwing the mouse and its surroundings, whether it is liquid or solid.
- If an impurity is thrown on a person while he is praying, his prayer will not be invalidated.
- Whoever sees blood on his clothes while he is praying, he should throw it away and complete the prayer, and he does not have to repeat it.
- It is permissible for the one who is in 'Janaaba'to read the Qur’an.
- And that if a woman comes with evidence from her family members whose religion is acceptable, that she has menstruated three times in a month, then she has spoken the truth and her waiting period has expired.
- Tayammum is only for the face and hands.
- It is permissible to combine two and more obligatory prayers with one tayammum unless he does something that invalidates ablution.
- And that if a person who is in 'Janaaba' is afraid of cold water, he must do tayammum and pray.
- It is permissible to wear something that is dyed with impurity.
- The thigh is not Awrah (which covering is compulsory).
- The person praying in the ship can revolve with it wherever it has turned.
- It is permissible for a man to prostrate on his clothes and bed.
- It is permissible to pray while wearing sandals.
- Whoever prays the Eid, does not pray the Friday prayer, which is the view of Imam Ahmad school.
- And it is permissible to pray in the church, except in a church in which there are statues.
- The permissibility of a woman’s I'tikaf and sleeping in the mosque.
- It is permissible for a man to sleep in the mosque.
- It is permissible to recite poetry in the mosque.
- It is permissible to play with harpoons in the mosque.
- It is permissible for a polytheist to enter the mosque.
- And the permissibility of lying down in the mosque and stretching the legs.
- It is permissible for a sick person to combine the Zuhr and Asr prayers, and the Maghrib and Isha prayers.
- It is permissible to speak if the iqama is performed for a need.
- It is permissible for an innovator to be an Imam.
- The permissibility of the Imama, even if there is a river, road, or wall between the Imam and those who pray.
- It is permissible for women to go out to the mosque at night and perform prayer before the light of day appears.
- The legitimacy of the husband’s permission for the woman to go out to the mosque, and prohibition is Abominable (makrooh).
- The legitimacy of Friday prayer in villages and cities.
- It is permitted to leave Friday prayer if it's raining.
- And the legitimacy of the Imam’s admonition to women on the day of Eid if they attend the prayer.
- The legitimacy of a woman attending the Jumu'ah Prayer, even if she is borrowing a jilbab (covering sheet).
- The permissibility of qunoot before and after Ruku’ (bowing).
- A woman may feed from her husband’s house without his permission.
- And the permissibility of paying zakat from the wife to her husband and to her orphans.
- It is permissible to give zakat to someone who wants to perform Hajj.
- Prohibiting the giver of charity from buying his alms.
- And the permissibility of giving alms to the poor, wherever they are.
- The permissibility of nullification of Hajj for Umrah for those who did not have a sacrifice.
- He believes that the matter of sales is due to what people are familiar with.
- He chose Aisha's doctrine of not veiling a woman from a slave, whether it was hers or someone else's.
- The permissibility of the testimony of the blind and the veiled woman, if her voice is known.
- The permissibility of backbiting the people of corruption and suspicion - It is permissible for a woman to serve men, even if she is a bride, as is the case with the women of villages and deserts according to their natural instinct.
- He chose the doctrine of Ibn Abbas that if the divorce was conditional, it does not happen at all.
- He chose the doctrine of Mujahid and Ataa in the verse of ‘Iddah al-Hawl, that it is sound and not abrogated if the will accepted for the residence of the year.
- And it is permissible for women to visit men, as the people of villages and deserts do according to their natural instinct.
- Al-Khidr is not alive now.
- The permissibility of giving nicknames to polytheists and calling him by the nickname given to him (like Abu Jahl).
- And that the daughters of the stepdaughter and the stepson are like the stepdaughter in the prohibition. The wives of the sons’ children are like the wives of sons, and the stepdaughter is forbidden, even if she is not in his lap.
- He said, explaining the verse:" they change the words from their (right) places" [Al-Ma’idah: 13]. The word “change” means they remove and no one removes the word of a book from the books of Allah, but they distort it, interpreting it without its interpretation – see further details in (Fath al-Bari), it is very important.
- He permitted acting according to the ruler’s letter to his workers, and the judge to the judge without testimony or evidence.
- It is permissible for a woman to testify from behind the curtain if she is known.
- That the ruling of the ruler does not allow what is forbidden, nor does it forbid what is permissible.
- Whoever judges unfairly or disagrees with the people of knowledge, it is rejected and Allah does not accept it.
- He permitted translating for the ruler, even if the translator was a disbeliever.