MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

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(HIST 1000- SEC 1)

OUTLINEDefinition of Muslim historiography

Historical conciousness in Islam

Characteristics of early Muslim historiography

Islamic sources

Scholars and their contributions

DefinitionThe study of the early origins of Islam based on a

critical analysis, evaluation, and examination of authentic primary sources materials and the organization of these sources into a narrative timeline.

Al-Maqrizi : Giving information about what once took place in the world.

Al-Kafiyaji : A branch of learning which investigates time sections and the circumstances prevailing in them, as well as the circumstances which are connected with those time sections, with a view to their fixation as to time.

Historical conciousness in Islam

Role of the Quran and the HadithMuslim historical traditions -developed-earlier 7th

century.

Quran & Hadith -two great sources of human knowledge and experience.

Quran is full of warnings from the lesson of history eg: the story of ‘Ad and Thamud, the Israelites and etc. – to draw human’s attention on their misdeeds and violation of Allah’s command.

The holy Quran itself provides as an incentive to the study of history.

The spirit of the Quran- condusive to historical research and development of historiography.

Bernard Lewis says in Historians of The Middle East ‘ The first lesson of history- of universal history- was received by the Muslim in the shape of religious teachings and they proved themselves worthy students of the subject’.

Role of Pre-Islamic poems and Geneological tables

The Arabs had a kind of historical tradition- even before the beginning of Islam- called ‘Ayyam Al-Arab’ or Battle days of the Arabs.

all these events preserved in Arabic poems and geneological tables.

detailed description of the heroic deeds of the tribes and clans in Arabic poems made them suitable as the nucleus of the real histographical reports.

Sirah and Hadith and the methods of Isnad developed historical sense among Muslims

Muslim historiography begins with the biographies of the prophet- collections of Traditions (Hadith).

To examine their genuineness-by means of isnad.

this developed a scientific and critical attitudes -essential in the development of historiography and historical outlook.

Another important reason- Maghazi(the description of conquests and military expedition)-record & preserved-activities & victories.

The two most important branches in muslim historiography- Sirah & Maghazi.

Characteristics of Muslim Historiography

Early Stage- Theological Viewpoint: historians interpret history

in the light of Divine plan Later Stage- Sociological Standpoint• In place of annalistic history, history became

critical and sociological.• Mas ‘udi was the first to have introduced this

outlook.• Later , carried by Ibn Khaldun.

Early Stage-Study of Muslim communityMas ‘udi: studied- 1)both Muslim and non-

Muslim history(Indians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans), 2)the influence of climate and geographical factors upon the growth of civilization.

Later Stage- Ibn Khaldun: developed those ideas into

theories and present them in a more coherent manner than Mas’udi.

Early Stage- Chronological Trend: history up toTabari was

written around dates and years.Later Stage- Chronological Trend: Mas ‘udi’s time – began to be

written based on dynasties.

Early Stage- Free from bias and prejudice: historians like Ibn

Hisham, Mas ‘udi wrote history independently, no officials.

Later Stage- When officials began to write history, history lost

its independent.

Islamic sourcesTraditional Islamic sources for early Islamic

history1)Qur'an 2)Hadith 3)Sira and Maghāzī 4)Tafsir 5)Fiqh

6)Futūh7)Inscriptions 8)Coinage 9)Manuscripts : a)Sana'a

manuscripts b)Oxyrhynchus papyri c)Qur'an collections10)Archaeological records 11)Non-Muslim sources7th Century Islamic sources1)Qur'anic Mosaic on the Dome of the Rock2) The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays; by Sulaym ibn Qays. This

is a collection of Hadith and historical reports from 1st Century of the Islamic calendar. A l-Mas'udi also refers to this book.

7th Century non-Islamic sources- Hagarism authored by Michael Cook and Patricia

Crone. Hagarism concludes that looking at the early non-Islamic sources provides a much different and more accurate picture of early Islamic history than the later Islamic sources do, although its thesis has little acceptance.

Muslim HistoriansTwo famous scholars of Muslim Historiography are: 1) At- Tabari

a) Biography• Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibn Jarir At-Tabari (b. c. 839, Amol

Tabaristan [Iran]- d. 923, Baghdad, Iraq)• His name means "Muhammad of Tabaristan, father [abu] of

Jafar, son [ibn] of Jarir"• One of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian

historian and exegete of the Qur’an, who wrote exclusively in Arabic.

• Had a good grounding in grammar, lexicography and philology. Such were considered essential for Qur'anic commentary.

b) Major works

He wrote history, theology and Qur’anic commentary.His two writings are History of Prophets and Kings

and Quran Commentary.The first of his two large works, generally known as

the Annals (Tarikh al-Tabari). This is a universal story from the time of Qur'anic creation to AD 915, and is renowned for its detail and accuracy concerning Muslim and Middle Eastern history.

The sources for at-Tabari History covering the years from Prophet’s death to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty (AD 6611-750)

His second work was the commentary on the Qur’an which was marked by the same fullness of detail as the Annals. The size of the work and the independence of judgment in it seem to have prevented it from having a large circulation, but scholars such as Baghawi and Suyuti used it largely.

A third great work was begun by Tabari. This was to be on the traditions of the Companions of Muhammad (Sahaba), etc. However, it is not completed.

In general, Tabari's approach was conciliatory and moderate, seeking harmonious agreement between conflicting opinions.

2) Ibn Khaldun

a) Biography

Wali Al-Din ‘Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Albi Bakr Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan Ibn Khaldun (b.May 27, 1332, Tunis-d.March 17, 1406, Cairo.

He was an astronomer, economist, historian, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, hafiz, jurist, lawyer, mathematician, military strategist, nutritionist, philosopher, social scientist and statesman.

Better known as the greatest Arab historian, who developed one of the earliest non-religious philosophies of history.

b) Major works

• His masterpiece which is the Muqaddimah, is Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history.

• It records an early Muslim view of universal history.• The work also deals with Islamic theology and the natural

sciences of biology and chemistry.• Ibn Khaldun starts the Muqaddimah with a thorough criticism

of the mistakes regularly committed by his fellow historians and the difficulties which await the historian in his work.

• He also calls for the creation of a science to explain society and goes on to outline these ideas in his major work the Muqaddimah.

• He then wrote a definitive history of Muslim North Africa, in Kitab al-I’bar.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_early_Islam

www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/ACF2F43.pdf

Rasul, M.G. (1976). The Origin and Development of Muslim Historiography. Lahore : Kashmiri Bazar. (call no.: DS38.16R2310)

Introduction to History and Civilization- student’s references