Arab scholar and author of one of the six canonical collections of spoken traditions (hadith (Ḥadīth)) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.

The life of at-Tirmidhī is poorly documented. He journeyed to Khorāsān, to Iraq, and to the Hejaz in search of material for his collection and studied with such renowned scholars of Ḥadīth as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Bukhārī, and Abū Dāʿūd as-Sijistānī.

His canonical collection al-Jāmiʿ as-ṣaḥīḥ (“The Sound Collections”) includes every spoken tradition that had ever been used to support a legal decision, as well as material relating to theological questions, to religious practice, and to popular belief and custom. Of special interest in this work are the author's critical remarks on the links in the chains of transmission ( isnāds).

In the Kitāb ash-shamāʾil (“Book of Good Qualities”), at-Tirmidhī presented those hadiths specifically commenting on the character and life of Muhammad.