| Author | Al-Tirmidhi |
|---|---|
| Language | Arabic |
| Series | Kutub al-Sittah |
| Genre | Hadith collection |
| Published | 9th century |
| Part of a series on |
| Hadith |
|---|
 |
 Islam portal • Category |
The Sahih al-Tirmidhi (Arabic: صحيح الترمذي, romanized: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī) is a hadith compiled by Islamic scholar al-Tirmidhi in c. 864–884 (250–270 AH). Among the Kutub al-Sitta of Sunni Islam, the book is often ranked highly authentic.
The full title of the compilation is al-jāmiʿ al-mukhtaṣar min as-sunan ʿan Rasūl Allāh ﷺ wa maʿrifat al-saḥīḥ wal-maʿlūl wa mā ʿalayhil al-ʿamal (Arabic: الجامع المختصر من السنن عن رسول الله ﷺ ومعرفة الصحيح والمعلول وما عليه العمل).[1][2] It is shortened to al-jāmiʿ al-saḥīḥ, al-jāmiʿ al-sunan, al-jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, al-sunan al-Tirmidhī or the common Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī.
The term Jami within the title indicates a complete collection covering all eight Risalah (Allah's message) subjects. The term Sunan within the title refers to the collection's focus and chapter arrangement based on the particular Risalah subject, ahkam (general law).[3] Al-Kattani said: "The Jamiʿ of at-Tirmidhi is also named The Sunan, contrary to those thinking them to be two separate books, and [it is also named] Al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir.[4]
Since the book is considered by most Sunnis to be the most authentic after Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, this came to be known as Sahih al-Tirmidhi.[5]
He began compiling it after the year 864/5 AD (250 AH) and completed it on the 9 June 884 AD (10 Dhu al-Hijjah 270 AH).
It contains about 4330 ahadith[6] (now roughly 4400), and has been divided into fifty chapters—disputed as 46 books.[7]
Ibn al-Athir said: "(It) is the best of books, having the most benefit, the best organization, with the least repetition. It contains what others do not; like mention of the different views, angles of argument, and clarifying the circumstances of the hadith as being sahih, da'if, or gharib, as well as disparaging and endorsing remarks (regarding narrators)."
Sunnis regard this collection as fifth in strength of their six major hadith collections.[8] Ibn al-Jawzi stated that there are twenty-three[9] or thirty[10] forged hadith in it. Some scholars like al-Suyuti have criticised Ibn al-Jawzi's findings as being too strict, concluding that there are no fabricated hadith in the Jami.[11] The 20th-century Albanian Islamic scholar al-Albani identified sixteen fabricated hadith.[12]
Of the four Sunan books, al-Tirmidhi's alone is divided into four categories. The first, those hadith definitively classified as authentic, he is in agreement with Bukhari and Muslim b. al-Hajjaj. The second category are those hadith which conform to the standard of the three scholars, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Abu Dawood, at a level less than Bukhari and Muslim b. al-Hajjaj. Third, are the hadith collected due to a contradiction; in this case, he clarifies its flaw. And fourth, those hadith which some fiqh specialists have acted upon.[13]
Editor, Ahmad Muhammad Shakir's 1937–65, Cairo publication, in 5 volumes, provides the standard topical classification of the hadith Arabic text.[14] The book is divided into 49 chapters:[15][16]
