by MUBARAK ALI
IMAGE/Khuda Bux Abro
In the early period of Islamic history, the most important and significant task was to collect material on the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). His personality was the centre of important events which happened during his lifetime in the early period of Islam. Efforts were made to preserve all his actions for the guidance of the Muslim community. Firstly, Hadith or traditions were collected and carefully examined and verified through a method known as asnaad. This methodology was also applied in writing history.
Historians divided the material on the life of the Prophet into three categories. The first category covered the time period from Hazrat Adam to Hazrat Ismail. The second covered the period from Hazrat Ismail to the death of the Holy Prophet, and the third category dealt with the events which occurred during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. The sources of the material were the Old and New Testaments, the Holy Quran, Traditions of the Holy Prophet and the history of the Arab tribes.
Ibn Ishaq (d.768 AD) was the first historian to collect material on the life of Holy Prophet, producing it in the form of his book, Seerat-i-Rasulullah. The book however, wass considered lost work, but extensive passages quoted by subsequent historians from the book provided modern historians the opportunity to reorganise it, and it is now available.
An important characteristic of Ibn Ishaq’s book was that the events were presented in a simple form without exaggeration. Since he was tolerant in his views, he praised and admired the role of those who opposed Islam, making the book a reliable source of information on early Islam.
Ibn Hisham (d.833AD), who revised Ibn Ishaq’s book, distorted it by deleting passages that he did n’t approve of. In the absence of Ibn Ishaq’s manuscript, the availability of Ibn Hisham’s book became the only source of material on the life of the Holy Prophet.
Another prominent historian, Umar Alwaqidi (d.82AD) wrote Kitab-al-maghazi, a well-known work on the military campaigns and wars fought in the early period of Islam. He concluded his history up to the period of Haroon al Rashid, the Abbasid caliph. Ibn Saad (d.845AD) further extended the scope of historiography by introducing the genre of tabaqaat. The first tabaqa focuses on the life of the Holy Prophet, the second on the lives of the companions of the Holy Prophet and the third one covered the lives of Tabaeen (the generation which followed the companions of the Holy Prophet. This division of historiography helped the readers to understand the process of history.
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