Muhammad al-Bukhari is one of the most revered compilers and scholars of Hadith, whose chief work, ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’, is considered to be second only to the Holy Quran as source of religious law by the Sunni Muslims. Born with exceptional memory and sharp intellect, he started studying the Hadith at the age of 10 At sixteen, he went to Mecca, where he also studied with renowned scholars, completing his first work, ‘Qadaya as-Sahaba wat-Tabi’een’, by the age of 18. Thereafter, he started visiting all the renowned centers of learning, studying with numerous scholars, collecting more than six lakh Hadiths. Later, at the suggestion of his teacher, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, he decided to compile the authentic Hadiths so as to help ordinary Muslims. Eventually, out of the six lakh Hadiths that he collected, he chose only about 7,275 and compiled them as ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’. He died near Samarkand, at the age of sixty.
