Ameerul Mumineen Fil Hadith

Imam Muhammad Bin Ismail Bukhari

(Mataa e Waqt Aur Kaarvaan e Ilm by Ibnul Hasan Abbasi, p. 104-137)
Muhammad Bin Ismail Bin Ibrahim Bin Mugheera Bin Bardizba Al Ju'fee Al
Bukhari Al Yamaani:
Ismail (father of Imam Bukhari) was a renowned scholar and muhaddith
(scholar of Hadith). Imam Bukhari's great grandfather, Mugheera, had accepted Islam
at the hands of Yamaan Ju'fee, the Governor of Bukhara, because of which he also got
the title of Ju'fee. Ismial's father was Ibrahim about which history is completely silent.

Ismail was a student of the

legendary Hammad Bin Zaid and the Visit musarhad.blogspot.com for
genius of his age, Imam Malik. He also more articles on Islam.
narrates some hadiths from them. In the
book Tabaqaat e Kubra, Tajuddin Subuki writes about him:
"Ismail was one of the pious scholars of his days. He had the distinction of hearing
hadiths from Imam Malik. He got to visit Hammad Bin Zaid and had the the company of
Abdullah Bin Mubarak. Ahamd Bin Hafs narrates that when he visited Ismail at the time of the
latter's death, he said, "Of all my property, there is not a single dubious dirham (rupee)." (He
meant that not the smallest part of his wealth was haraam.)"

On Friday, 13 Shawwal 94 AH, a baby was born in Ismail's house. He was

named MUHAMMAD. Who could have imagined that this infant would some day
become that fragrant flower of the Islamic garden whose sweet scent will continue for
centuries, and the coarsest curtains of the age would be unable to obstruct his fame
from spreading far and wide.

A Brief History of Bukhara

Bukhara (39º43' N, 64º38' E) was one of the most beautiful cities of
Mawaraun Nahr region situated at a height of 722 feet above the sea level. It covered
an area of 205 000 square kilometre. Before the conquests of Alexander of
Macedonia, Bukhara was under the control of the Persian Empire. In those days it was
called Saghdiyan. When Alexander conquered the cities of Persia, Bukhara also came
under his control. Through him, the city got annexed (included) to the Greek empire.
Then, when the Islamic army got up to hoist God's flag in every nook and corner of
the earth, it conquered Bukhara too.
During the days of Hazrat Muaviya Bin Abu Sufyan's caliphate, Obaidullah
Bin Ziyad Bin Abi was made the governor of the Khurasan state lying near Bukhara
in 53 A.H. In 54 A.H. he marched towards Bukhara and conquered Nasf and Baikand
on the way. In those days, Bukhara wa being ruled by a woman named "Khatoon".
The woman petitioned the Turks to help her against the Muslims. But the valiant
Muslims defeated the combined army of Bukhara and the Turks. The ruler Khatoon
agreed to pay an annual tribute of one hundred thousand dirhams. In 55 A.H., Hazrat
Muaviya appointed Saeed Bin Usman as the governor of Khurasan. History then falls
silent about Bukhara up to 87 A.H. In that year, the great commander of Islamic
victory procession, Qutaiba Bin Muslim turned his attention towards this region
conquering many cities and states including Bukhara. Then the days of Changez
Khan's savagery came and like many other bustling cities, Bukhara too died. On 4 Zul
Hajja 616 A.H. (10 Feb 1220 Christian Era), Bukhara was laid to ruins.
A few centuries later, history took another turn when the entire tribe of
Changez Khan, the Tatars – after having vanquished and humiliated the great
Abbasid Caliph whose throne was at Baghdad, and after conquering most of the
Islamic states and provinces – meekly submitted before the spiritual might of Islam.
The Tatar rulers converted en masse to the religion and way of life of their lowly
subjects – the Muslims. Now, they were the great defenders of Islam for several
centuries to come. In 1370 C.E. Taimur Lang, the great Islamic conqueror of the
Changezi tribe, won Bukhara for Islam. Thus Bukhara once again flourished as a
great centre of Islamic way of life and culture. In 1498 C.E., Uzbeks captured
Bukhara, dethroning the Taimur dynasty. The Russians enslaved Bukhara in 1873
C.E. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, Bukhara became a part of the
newly freed country, Uzbekistan. Though the stains of Communism have not yet
disappeared from Bukhara, it holds great hope of an Islamic future. What is needed is
sacrifice, devotion and dedication by Islamic preachers. The land of great muhaddith
Abu Zakariya Abdur Raheem Bin Ahmed (d. 461 A.H.) and famous philosopher Ibn
Saina (d. 428 A.H.) eagerly waits to get a taste of sublime humanity and return to its
glorious Islamic roots.

Imam Bukhari's Education