Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Tirmidhi was born near Tirmidh in 824 CE and traveled through Khurasan, Iraq, and the Hijaz in pursuit of hadith, studying closely under Imam al-Bukhari, before losing his eyesight in his later years.
He compiled his 'Jami'', which stood apart from other hadith collections by grading each tradition as authentic, fair, or weak, and by presenting jurists' differing views on each legal question, blending narration with comparative jurisprudence.
Legacy
His work became known as 'Sunan al-Tirmidhi' and is counted among the six canonical hadith collections, distinguished by a unique classification method still relied upon in the science of hadith terminology.
