MUSLIM

HISTORIOGRAPHY
Che Fathiyah Che Hamid 0829322 (18)
Izyan Diyana Merzuki 0829464 (19)
Hamizah Zakaria 0928030 (52)
(HIST 1000- SEC 1)
 OUTLINE
Definition of Muslim historiography

Historical conciousness in Islam

Characteristics of early Muslim historiography

Islamic sources

Scholars and their contributions

 Definition
The 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
Ø Role of the Quran and the Hadith
Muslim 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’.
vRole 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.
qSirah 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.

 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 community


vMas ‘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 sources
Traditional Islamic sources for early Islamic
history
1)Qur'an 2)Hadith 3)Sira and Maghāzī 4)Tafsir 5)Fiqh
6)Futūh
7)Inscriptions 8)Coinage 9)Manuscripts : a)Sana'a

manuscripts b)Oxyrhynchuspapyri c)Qur'an collections

10)Archaeological records 11)Non-Muslim sources

7th Century Islamic sources

1)Qur'anic Mosaic on the Dome of the Rock

2) 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 Historians
Two 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'aniccreation to AD 915, and is renowned
for its detail and accuracy concerning Muslim
and Middle Eastern history.
 The sources for at-TabariHistory 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

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