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Imam al-Bukhari and sample hadiths

Lessons 26–27 · 2 lessons · Q. Yo‘ldoshev, V. Qodirov, J. Yo‘ldoshbekov. Literature: textbook for Grade 9 of general secondary schools. Revised and expanded 4th edition. “O‘zbekiston” NMIU, Tashkent, 2019
26

Imam al-Bukhari

Textbook: pp. 129–131
GoalTell the life path of Imam al-Bukhari (810–870) in order and explain his devotion to learning.
New words
Imam al-Bukhari · Imom al-Buxoriyhadith · hadisHijaz (region of Arabia) · HijozKhartang (village near Samarkand) · Xartang
Explanation

His full name is Abu Abdulloh Muhammad ibn Ismoil al-Buxoriy; he was born in Bukhara on 21 July 810 (194 AH). His father Ismoil was a learned man who wrote down the child’s birth date; after he died early, his mother raised the boy. From the age of ten he began to memorise hadiths. In 825, aged sixteen, he went with his mother and brother Ahmad to the Hijaz, lived there six years, and later stayed in Damascus, Cairo, Basra, Kufa and Baghdad. The textbook says he knew about six hundred thousand hadiths. When the emir of Bukhara called him to the court to read out his books, he refused and had to leave the city; he set off toward Samarkand and died in the village of Khartang on 31 August 870 (256 AH), aged 60, and was buried there.

Worked examples
Example: to see the life as a whole we build an order: Bukhara (birth) – age ten (memorising hadiths) – 825 (Hijaz) – other cities – 863–868 Nishapur – 870 Khartang. This order helps us not to mix up events.
Example: refusing the emir’s invitation shows his independence of mind. According to the textbook, he held that knowledge should not be carried to a ruler’s door; this decision cost him his place in the city.
Class activity

In pairs draw the order above as a timeline and write a year or age on each stage. Then one student tells it and the other checks the dates.

Practice
1
Where and when was Imam al-Bukhari born?
2
Name three cities of his life.
3
How old was he in the year he died? Work it out.
4
Why is his refusal of the emir’s invitation considered an important event?