Introduction comprising a biography of Imam al-Tirmidhi, an introduction to his book al-Jamiʿ, and a description of the authoritative sources relied upon in its critical edition.

His name, lineage, and kunya:

He is the Imam, the ḥāfiẓ, the critic distinguished in the defects (ʿilal) of ḥadīth and its jurisprudence: Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā ibn Sawrah ibn Mūsā ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, Abū ʿĪsā(1) al-Sulamī, al-Būghī, al-Tirmidhī, the blind one, author of beneficial works in the science of ḥadīth, such as al-Jāmiʿ, al-ʿIlal, al-Shamāʾil, and others.

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(1) It was he who chose this kunya for himself, and he would not refer to himself except by it. Some scholars disapproved of being addressed by the kunya Abū ʿĪsā, relying on a mursal ḥadīth and another mawqūf report on ʿUmar, both narrated by Ibn Abī Shaybah in al-Muṣannaf. There is no proof in them, because the first is mursal and the second is mawqūf on ʿUmar. The basis for permissibility is the ḥadīth of Abū Dāwūd (4963), via Hishām ibn Saʿd, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God be pleased with him, struck a son of his who was called Abū ʿĪsā, and that al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah was called Abū ʿĪsā. ʿUmar said to him: "Is it not enough for you to be called Abū ʿAbd Allāh?" He replied: "The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave me this kunya." In the biography of al-Mughīrah in al-Iṣābah by Ibn Ḥajar: al-Baghawī mentioned via Zayd ibn Aslam that al-Mughīrah sought permission to enter upon ʿUmar and said: "Abū ʿĪsā." He said: "Who is Abū ʿĪsā?" He said: "Al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah." He said: "Does ʿĪsā have a father?" Then some of the Companions testified on his behalf that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to address him by that kunya. He said: "The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, has been forgiven, and we do not know what will be done with us." So he gave him the kunya Abū ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Mubārakfūrī said in his introduction to Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, 1/273: "Al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah reported that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave him the kunya Abū ʿĪsā, and some of the Companions testified on his behalf. What proof could be greater than this for permissibility?"