The Scholarly Biography of Imam Tirmidhi ‘May Allah Have Mercy on Him’ (Part 7)
Imam Tirmidhi’s Method of Arranging Chapters and Titles
Imam Tirmidhi used two specific methods in compiling and categorizing the contents:
1. General and Comprehensive Title
These titles include various hadiths on different issues of the same type, such as purity, zakat, marriage, etc. In these types of titles, Imam Tirmidhi uses the phrase “Al-Abwaab,” which is added to the subject of the hadiths. For example, he says: “Abu’ab al-Tahara ‘an Rasulullah (peace be upon him)” and “Abu’ab al-zakat ‘an Rasulullah (peace be upon him).”
It is worth mentioning that Mufti Muhammad Farid states in his book Minhaj-ul-Sunan under “Abwaab Al-Taharah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)”: “This statement by Imam Tirmidhi ‘from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)’ indicates that the hadiths in this book are Musnad and Marafah hadiths. If any explanations about the scholars and their opinions are given in the meantime, it is either in a digression or as an explanation for understanding the meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).”
2. Specific Title
This type of title refers specifically to a single topic. In these cases, Imam Tirmidhi uses the word “Bab,” which is added to the same topic, such as: “Chapter on what was mentioned in the siwak” or “Chapter on loyalty to the one who freed.”
Imam Tirmidhi’s Method of Determining the Titles and Translations of Chapters
Imam Tirmidhi followed three methods in determining the titles and translations of chapters:
A. Clear and Apparent Titles
This type of title corresponds clearly to the content of the hadiths. Most of Imam Tirmidhi’s titles are in this style, and he uses the following methods to express them:
1. General News Sentence: “Chapter on what was mentioned in the siwak,” followed by a hadith from Abu Hurairah: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘If it were not for the more difficult…’” (the hadith continues).
2. Specific News Sentence: “Chapter: What was said about the residence being two by two,” followed by the hadith of Abdullah ibn Zayd.
3. Interrogative Sentence: “The chapter that came on how to get up from prostration,” followed by the hadith of Malik ibn al-Huwayrith al-Laythi.
4. Full Text of the Hadith as a Chapter Title: For example, “The chapter that came that if you perform ablution, there is no prayer except the prescribed one,” followed by a hadith from Abu Hurairah.
B. Inferential Titles
These titles do not correspond clearly to the content of the hadith. For example:
In the section on purity, Imam Tirmidhi says: “Chapter on rinsing the mouth and nose” and then narrates a hadith from Salamah ibn Qais: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘When you perform ablution, blow your nose, and when you cleanse yourself, do the witr.’” Following that, he explains the differences of scholars regarding rinsing the mouth and nose and its ruling.
Here, the title of the chapter is “rinsing the mouth and nose,” but in the text of the hadith, only rinsing is mentioned.
C. Mentioning a Chapter Without a Specific Title
Sometimes Imam Tirmidhi simply mentions the word “chapter” or “chapter from it” between several hadiths but does not provide a specific title. For example, on the subject of divorce, he says: “Chapter of what has come about in divorce for the insane,” and then narrates a hadith from Abu Hurairah: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘All divorce is permissible except for the divorce of the insane who is defeated in intellect.’” After that, without mentioning a specific title, he narrates a hadith from Hazrat Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her).
In the section on prayer, he says: “The chapter on what has come about in the times of prayer,” and after narrating the hadith of Ibn Abbas and Jabir regarding the Imamate of Gabriel (peace be upon him), he mentions the word “from him” and then narrates the hadith of Abu Hurairah and Buraidah (may Allah be pleased with them).
In the chapter on Hajj, he says: “The chapter on what has come about in the Hajj of the boy,” and then narrates a hadith from Jabir bin Abdullah: “He said: A woman brought a boy to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, is this Hajj?’ He said: ‘Yes, and you will be rewarded.’” Then, without mentioning a specific title, he narrates another hadith: “When we performed Hajj with the Prophet (peace be upon him), we would ask about women and not about boys.”
Regarding the fact that Imam Tirmidhi brought some chapters without translating al-Bab and interprets it with the word “Bab” or “Chapter from me,” Dr. Nuruddin Attar writes in his book: “The title ‘Bab’ without the translation of ‘Chapter’ is used in Jami’ al-Bukhari and Jami’ al-Tirmidhi for two reasons and occasions:
1. The content of the chapter has some connection with the previous chapters, which is in fact complementary to them. However, due to the additional benefit that exists in the content of the chapter, a separation and a chapter are created with the word ‘Bab’, as if this chapter is a continuation of the previous chapters.
2. Or the content of the chapter is a benefit that relates to the main subject of the previous chapters and is mentioned after them on this occasion, as was stated in the previous example.”
