al-Tirmidhi

Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa al-Tirmidhi (c. 209-279 AH / 824-892 CE) was a scholar of hadith — the reports of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad — from Transoxiana, the region beyond the Oxus river in Central Asia. He was born in Bugh, a village near Tirmidh (Termez, in present-day Uzbekistan), from which his name derives.

From about 235 AH (849-850 CE), sources report, he travelled widely through Khurasan, Iraq, and the Hijaz (the western Arabian region containing Mecca and Medina) to gather and verify traditions. Among his teachers were leading hadith masters of the age, including al-Bukhari, whom he is reported to have met in Nishapur, as well as Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj and Abu Dawud. He is best known for his Jami (also called his Sunan), one of the six hadith collections that came to be regarded as canonical in Sunni Islam, and for the Shama'il, a compilation of reports describing the Prophet's character and appearance.

Al-Tirmidhi is credited with helping to establish the practice of openly grading each tradition, and is widely associated with popularizing the term "hasan" (good) as a middle category between "sahih" (sound) and "da'if" (weak) — though some scholars hold the term was used before him. The historian al-Dhahabi reports that he became blind in his final years. He is said to have died in Bugh in 279 AH (892 CE).