The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 219 The Transformation of a Historical Tradition: From Khabar to Ta’n’kh AbdulKader I. a1 Tayob Introduction Some idea of the past is present in every culture, and historical consciousness as an awareness of this past is a distinctive element in total cultural expression. Hence, it would be a mistake to assume that there was no historical consciousness among the Arabs predating Islam. However, it was the religious, political and social transformation of the Arabs through Islam that motivated an extensive interest in the past and its systematic recording. Muslim historians developed the idea of the past they had inherited from pre-Islamic Arabia and expressed it in an extensive historical literature. The study of the past in early Islamic history was motivated and determined by a number of factors. This article seeks to outline some of the important developments which led to a distinctive Islamic historiography. It seeks to do so by an examination of studies conducted on the early Islamic historical tradition. In particular, three fundamental aspects of the different phases of historical writings from pre-Islamic Arabia through the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Hijrah are investigated: the external form of historical recollection; its subject matter; and the meaning and significance of both the form and the subject matter of historical recollection in the culture. 1. he-Islamic Arabia The interest in the past among the pre-Islamic Arabs is best exemplified by the custom of evening tribal gatherings, called mujdis, at which the special Dr. AbdulKader I. al lhyob has his pfi.D. in Religion from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and is a Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies, the University of Western Cape, Capetown, South Africa. 220 %l- 5, No. 2, l988 morrreds inrhetribe'shistory werel%mxounM.' The tribal stories WeRpaSsed O l l O ~ f r o m o O e ~ * %a the next, each one e l l i n g it in their one way. Rrrm in which the reports weze COIlched was uniform. It was a ktcabar @I akhbitr), a or an d o t e 3 which was not so much fixed by any dbmceto agener;ri time frameas it was to apartidarand usually nmarkabie t ipre or m t . 2 TBe o d natnre of the anecdote ensured that it was $old in ananimated and vivid style. Wrse usually formed the center of the taie chaxghg it with an emdmal and sentimental value^^ This centrality of verse and the foeus on important events or figures, may be vi& as a combination and synthesis of elemeats from the Northern and Southern A d f r i k Even though it WMlCd be difficult to find a clear in the k&~bur.~ The No~-ti~ern Arabian tsadition tended to h a s on verse hrms with a seeming disregard h r the chronology of the ukhbiir. On the other hand, the Southern Arabian Kingdoms, reigning from I200 B.C. to 527 A.C., have ie€t stone inscriptions whkh indicate that a kind of dating sysiem had tree0 emplayed in the administ&on. Specific historical occurrences, usually of religious significance, were used as reference points in dating political events and administrative measures. At first, these references changed from one event to another and 110 single event seerns to have commanded sufficient notice to be adopted as a single reference point. Hawever, from 115 A.C. onwads there appears to be a fued dating system in use there.5 There is no wideme, though, that such a unifwm system ofdating was used in historical nxollection. Nevertheless, what can be said is that, in general, an animated and stylistic presentation witbut regard for its chronology or concern for some form of fxd points of time reference, existed side by side in the pre- Islamic tradition of history. The subject matter of these &&fir wered every aspect of the culture. It could include a discussion of the tribe's gods, ancestors and the most important battles in which the tribe was involved. In such battle stories, the individual or individuals would represent the best of the tribe's values and aspirations. History was a recounting of these "Days" (Ayyfirn). Since the battles occupied the central position of these &fir, the latter were usually hi*- point at which rile two s t l a b are &em-, both ale present *AM al-'Gzu Duri, Ihe Rise of Historical W t i n g Among the Ambs, ed. and trans. ZFmuz Rosenthal, The History of Muslim ffistoriogmphy (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1%8), p. 10. 'Duri, Rise, p. 18 4Hamilton A. R. Gibb, Studies on the Civilization of Islam, ed. Stanford J. Shaw and William R. Polk (Boston, Beacon Press, 1962), p. 109; Rosenthal, History, P. 21; Duri, Rise, p. 14. Lawrence 1. Conrad (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), p. 19. %id., p. 14. 221 Elements for €E&miography in the Qur'h. The pre-Islamic conception of the past was taken up by the Qur'h and changed to suit its own purposes. The modification of the historical tradition of pre-kkdc M i a was extensive, affsting the form, the subject and the meaning of the historical recollection. 9uri, Rise, p. 18; Erlix Ladewig Petersen, Wli and Mubwiyah in Early Ambic M i t i o n , tms. P.L. Christensen (Copenhagen: Scandinavian University Books, 1964) p. 25 Ayyam is a word which refers in gcneral to the sometimes endless conflicts among the Arab tribes. c.f. Edward W. h e , An Ambic-English Lencon, ed. by Stanley Lane-Pool, 2 Mr. 8 parts (Beirut: Librarie du Liban, 1968; =print ed., London, &burgh: Wdliam & Norgate, W3), bk. 1, p& 8 p. 3054; Muhammad Murtada al-widi, Taj al-brus, 10 vds. (Libya: n. p.. l386B966), 9:ll6. Cf. mumww& in M- b. Mukarram b. Manzur (d. 7Wl292), L i s m al-Xmb, 3 vols., ed. Yusuf Khayat and Nadim Mar'ashli, with an Introduction by Shaykh Abd Allah al-'Al;q.ali (Beirut: Dar Lisan al Arab, IQH)), 3:459; Ignace Ctoldziher, MmZitn Stdies, 2 vols., ed. by S. M. stern, trans. by C. R. Barber and S.M. Stern (London: George Allen & Unwin, IWl), l:22. 'Petersen, i41i and Muhwiyyah, p- 41. 222 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 a. Akhbiir as Part of the Unseen. The basic form of history, the M a r , was not altered. It was adopted and formed the basic material of early Islamic historiography. Now, however, the khabar was not only information about the past restricted to Arab culture; it was also placed within the world-view of the Islamic message. The past was declared inaccessible to the present except through the mediation of one who has actually witnessed it. Addressing the Prophet about an event in the past, the Qur’iin says: You were not on the western side when We assigned the Commandment to Moses. You were not of those who witnessed (min al-shiihidin) it . . . Nor were you on the side of lkr when we called to Moses . . . (28:45-46) In these verses, the fact that the Prophet was not present and did not actually witness the event (i.e. was not shahid), rendered him ignorant of the event. A similar view is expressed in one of the verses discouraging the tendency to quibble over minute details of the past. The purpose of this, no doubt, is to focus on the mmal lessons of history rather than on the details; but at one point, the Qur’iin describes the efforts to guess at the details as “a shot in the dark “ or (rcijm6n bi ‘I-ghayb) (18:22). This alludes to the notion that the details of the past, and possibly the past itself, f d into the domain of the “unseen”, and this domain is best known by God alone. In contrast, the word used in the previous verse to emphasize presence at an actual event is Shahid which is on the opposite extreme of knowing: God being “Knower of the unseen (ghayb) and the seen (shahiidah)”.* Izutusu has identified ghayb (unseen) and the (shahiuhh) (seen) as one of the central contrasts in the message of the Qur’iin, and it seems that the knowledge of the past falls on the side of the ghayb (un~een).~ The following verse directly connects the unknown ghayb with the past, only fully known by God and thus revealed by Him to the Prophet: “This is the information of the unseen ghayb which we reveal to you (nzihihi ilayk); you (the Prophet) were not with them . . . n(3:44)10 8There are numerous references to God in the Qur‘in as the knower of both the invisible and the visible, with the former always taking precedence, eg. (6:73), (9:94), 10:105), (l3:9), (64:18). )Toshihiko Isutzu, God and Man in the KDmn (New York: Books for Libraries, A Division of Arno Press, 1980; reprint ed. Keio University, Tokyo, 1964), pp. 82-85. W f . also, Qufin, 11:49: l2:102. AbdulKader I. al m o b Transformation of a Historic Tradition 223 In this verse, the real and ultimate knowledge of the past is closely associated with revelation wuhy, which places it even further out of reach?' Like the other verses quoted above, the phrase "you were not with them", though, suggests a reason for the Prophet's ignorance about the particular event. It thus sets the limits within which the past may be accessed at a l l ? P The witness, and particularly his presence at an event, is the irreplaceable condition for ensuring information about the past?3 b. The Subject of the New Akhbar Since revelation confirmed the condition that only eyewitnesses could faithfully report the past in revelation, the pre-Islamic emphasis on the battles and great events of the past is confirmed in the Qur'iin. An eyewitness, for example, cannot report a slow trend or development. He is restricted to reporting the battle, the anecdote or the moral virtues of the individual. Now, however, in the Qur'gn, instead of the tribes, the focus of history is on the Prophets and the message they brought to all of mankind. Even locally, the tribes are completely ignored in more ways than one. The Qur'iin should not be thought of as a book of history which proposes to trace a chronology of events from a certain fured point onwards or deals exhaustively with each and every topic in human history. By its own admission, it has even omitted some aspects of the past which are otherwise important. It states, for example, "that only some of the Prophets have been mentioned (40:78)." Even so, the Qur'iin's extensive discussion of the Prophets went beyond the tribal stories and anecdotes and broke the boundaries of the pre-Islamic vision of the past. The idea that the central message of the Prophet was a legacy of a line of Prophets extending from the creation of man, underlined the unity of man and bore far-reaching implications for the subject matter of history. "In fact, the entire Qur'in was conveyed by a "trusted messenger." The testimomy of Gabriel guaranteed the message to Muhammad. Cf. Laroui, Abd Allah, The Crisis of the Arab Intellectual, trans. by Diarmid Cammell (Berkeley, Los Angeles; London: University of California Press, 1976), p. 16. 'ZBased on such verses, some Muslims identified the knowledge of the past given in the Qur'an as one of the special characteristics of Muhammad's prophethood. Cf. 'Iyad b. Musa (d. 544/1149), Kitab al-Shija' bi taEf huquq al-rmcs@fa. ed. 'Ali Muhammad al-Bukhari, 2 vols. (Cairo: Isa Babi a-Halabi, 1398/1!977), 1501; Maslid b. 'Umar al-Taftaz&-, Sharh hqa'id al-Nasafi mab hashiyah al-mawlani Ahmadal-Jundi (Rtersburg, Russia, 1897), pp. 156,255; Abu Bakr b. al-Tayyib al Baqillani, Ijaz al-Qurh, ed. by Sayyid Ahmad Saqar (Egypt: Dar al-Ma'arif, (1954)), pp. 10-20; Jalal al-Din al-Suyiti, Kitab al-Itqcinfi Llwn al-Qur'In (n.p., (1854), 745). lSFor a discussion of this view, see Isma'il R. al-Faniqi, "Towards a Historiography of Pre-Islamic Hijrah," Islamic Studies 1 (1962): 65-87. 224 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 Recognizing the plurality of tribes and clans, the Qur’sin, emphasized the essential unity of man. Its stories did not deal with the recognized heroes and legends of Arabia; however the Prophets of Arabia, namely Hud, Salih, and Shu‘ayb, are given extensive treatment. Moreover, they are set within a universal framework wherein a Prophet has been sent to every group of humanity (16:36). The Qur’sinic historical focus is set precisely on these Prophets that have been sent to man and the latter’s reaction to them. The emphasis on man’s common humanity beyond the structure of tribes and clans is clear in the Qur’in’s usage of collective terms. Shulib and qubii’il, peoples and tribes, are used only once in the Qur’iin and in this single case it is to illustrate the structure of kinship among mankind. More importantly, the point made is that these structures have no real value: “0 Mankind, we have created you, male and female, and appointed you peoples (shu’iib) and tribes qubii’il, that you may know one another. Surely, the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most godfearing of you. God is all-Knowing, all-Aware” (39:19). Both shufb and qubii’il denote spreading out and dividing in the process of generating from a single source!* They have the same connotation as the more direct usage of bani (sons) among the Arabs to denote the tribes who, through a complex web of subtribes and supertribes, were ultimately thought to be originating from a single ~ource!~ Drawing on this metaphor, the Qur’in uses ”&mi k u m ” to refer to mankind in general. Thus, it uses %uni”in the tribal structure referring to a particular tribe, for a notion where all of mankind is one single tribe deriving from Adam.’6 The two most common terms used in the Qur‘iin in reference to particular groups among mankind are quwn and ummah. In Arabia, “quwm” is a tribal unit which can be loosely translated as clan. It is derived from “qiim” which in its simplest form means “to stand”. The Qur’iin, while it continues its usage as a word related to kinship,” introduces a nuance to it by using it exclusively “Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-Arab, 2:319 for “shu’ub” and 3 3 2 for “qabii‘ill l5For this tribal structure and a full treatment of the Arab social and political structure, see Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 16For example, see Qur’fin, 7:26,27,31,35, 12; 17m. Cf. Julian Obennann, who discusses the new, more universal, prophet-centered genealogy introduced by the Prophet Muhammad, which replaced the Arab isolationist genealogy, in “Early Islam,” in The Idea of History in the Ancient Near East, gen. ed. Robert Claude Dentan (New Haven, Yale University Ress, 17The use of “qawm” as a kinship relational term is illustrated by some of the exeg-’ explanation of haw Jesus never addresses the Jews I&mi Ism%} as “my people’’ fpnumi) in the Qur‘in, having no father among “his” people. A striking contrast occurs in (6k5-6) =+here Moses addresses his peopie as “my people” (qaWmi) while Jesus calls on his audience as “children of Israel’’ ( h i Zsm‘il). Mahmud b. ‘Umar al-Zamakhshari, Al--f hn hoqa’ hotnotes (continued next page.) 1981), pp. 20-25. 1955), p ~ . 245-248, 290, 299, 303. AbdulKader I. a l Tayob Transformation of a Historic Tradition 225 for communities to whom prophets have been sent and who may then accept or reject him. In this usage, extending the root meaning, it denotes a group which is offered some responsibility with the freedom to accept it (i.e., stand by it) or reject it!* But there is another more direct term used by the Qur'iin to underscore its universal message, and that is "ummah7 It is a more cohesive and well-defined group than quwm. An "ummah" is a group which has a particular purpose (qqd) which differentiates it from other such p u p s . In the Qur'iin, it is used to refer to a people who have a single purpose around which they unite!g Nevertheless, both terms, "qawm" and "ummah", as used in the Qur'iin, are collective nouns connoting a sense of belonging and unity based on something other than the immediate tribal bond. This panorama of humanity, where each group is the recipient of the Divine Message from God, is a ready map for historians to fa in. There are many empty spaces, but the outline is clearly drawn. However, the picture of the past in the Qur'in is f d y anchored in a conception of the Divine principle in history, and a unique view of the future, both of which infuse a particular meaning into the past. c. The Meaning of the Akhblir. The focus of the Qufiiriic message on the Prophets of God pointed to the importance and value of mads redm to them. This moral response is placed under two fimdamental parameters. In the persons of the Prophets, God sustains apld advances the cause of the m o d against the irnnoral and amoral. Moreover, having placed man in this s h a h , God intervenes, alternately saving and destroying people for their particnIar responses.*O This is a feature of the AbE.ahamic traditions, and renders history on earth fundamentally imp0rtant.2~ Hence, the deeds and the events of history are iq q h m d al-tard wa 'uysm al- 'qmi l fi wujuh al-ta'wEl, 4 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub aI-'Arabi, 1947), 4525; Muhammad b. Ahmad al- Amsari a d m i , a l - M ' l i a(tk-irn al- Q u r k , v&. (Cairo: Dar d-Kitab al-'hbi li al-Tiba'ah w'l-Nashr, l387/1%7), 1783. Tbn Mmmr, Lisan aZ-XroB, 3:191-195. For some examples of the usage of qawm in l*b Marm~, Lisa ul-Amb, 1:lW-EXE. h the QUlG, 2 3 4 and 143 indicate that "ummah" is a weKde€ind group while 22D and 6:38 describe it as a united and cohesive group. For a detailed study of the term which underlines its religious and ethical connotation, see Frederick M. Denny, "The meaning of ummah in the Qur'in,'' History of Religions 15 (1975): 34-m. "FIX a synoptical illustration of the moral frailty of man in response to the Prophets and Messengers of God, see the Q&h, (4710-227). ZTor a discussion of meaniIzgfur time and fistory in the Abrahamic traditions in particular, cf. Encgclopedia of &digion, S.U. "Sacred Time," by Barbara C. Sproul, and History by C. T. McIntire. the Qur'h, see (2:164), (2;230), (2:264), (2:285), (6:47), (6:98), (6~144-147). 226 , The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vbl. 5, No. 2, 1988 not simply happenings, they are religiously meaningful within the motif of God‘s Will: “whaever God wills, He leads astray; and whoever He wills, he places on a straight path” (6:30); “ . . . had it not been for the bounty of God, He would never have purified anyone. .” (24:21); and “God sets aside whoever He wills for His Mercy” (2:105) some of the numerous verses in the Qur’iin which repeatedly feature God‘s ”involvement” in history.** The other component of Abrahamic historical conscious-ness is that of the ultirnate destiny of h~manity.4~ In the case of Islam, the ultimate destiny of humanity features in the fundamental Qur’iinic emphases on the Day of Judgement and man’s accountability to God on that day. This had farreaching implications for the historical consciousness of pre-Islamic Arabia. The promises and threats that accompanied the notion of accountability on the Pay of Judgement forcsd the individual to become acutely aware of his actions. In the case of history, actions in the past were relevant and “meaningful” since they implied serious consequences in the future.z4 In this case, in contrast to the Will of God, the meaningfulness of the historical place rested ultimately on a future metaphysical plane. The relation between the historical and the eschatological is certain and indubitable. In contrast, there may not necessarily be a direct causal or other relational connection between deeds or actions in a linear historical plane. There is nothing in the Qur’iin, though, to completely rule out the moral law of cause and effect in history. In fact, the Qur’fin declares emphatically that a reflection on the actual human past may actually reveal moral lessons for the present. ’ h o related terms in the Qur’iin emphasize the aspect of history as moral lessons. The past exhibits a constant pattern (sunnah) which contains a lesson (’ibruh) for those who ponder over it. It is the Sunnah of God in the past, meaning His path, Method, Way and Pattern. Since it is the Sunnah of God, it is immutable and constant, and based on the real nature of man and the real nature of the world, and it is ultimately contingent on the Will of God.*5 However, there are patterns which may be detected. The patters found in 4‘The presence and involvement of a transcendental God in history is problematic for Islam. The Will of God in history, is, though, indubitable. For some of the numerous studies of Islam’s historicity in terms of God‘s Will in Hisotry, cf. Laroui, ‘Ihe Crisis, pp. 21 ff.; cf. also, Rosenthal, History, pp. 24-25; Gustav Richter, “Medieval Arabic Historiography,” Islamic Culture 33 (1959), p. 241; Fr. Gabrielli, “Arabic Historiography,” Islamic Studies 18 (1979), p. 82; Tarif W i d i , Classical Arab Islam, p. 63. Wilfred C. Smith, Islam in Modem Hisrory (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957), pp. 11-16. LSEncyclopediu of Religion, S.V. “History,” by C. T. McIntire. 44Rosenthal, History, pp. 23ff. Wunnah in the Qur‘5n has two referents; it is the “sunnah of the ancients” and “sunnah of those who came befop” [(8:38, (l5:13), 1777), (18:55), (35:43)], and “SUM& of God” [(48:23), (35:43), (4:85)]. The following is a clear example where the two are tied together: “The sunnah of God with respect to those who came before” (33:38). AbdulKader I. al lhyob Transformation of a Historic 'kidition 227 his-tory have both physical and metaphysical significance for the present. As such, the relevance of the past to the present is not historically relational in the sense that a number of preconditions necessitate, through some laws or generalities, that a certain situation would, and must, prevail. In historical terms, in fact, the good and virtuous person or persons may be put to extremes of hardship in the form of trials and persecutions, while those who commit evil may seem to prosper.e6 In this way, in contrast to God's eschatological promise, temporal life may not seem advantageous to the good and virtuous. However, sometimes even in this world, the good will be victorious in a total, even material, sense and evil will always be defeated.*' Worldly success notwithstanding, history's real significance is found in eschatology; and this seems to be the 'ibrah (lesson) of history. The outer appearance of the vicissitudes of history may not be exact, but are certainly a source of reflection, which may serve as a bridge over which one may cross (Arabic verb: Slbam) over to the inner meaning: "Surely, in their (Prophets') stories is a lesson ('ibmh) for those of understanding . . ."(l2:lll); and, again with references to situations in the past, "In this, there is a lesson ('ibruh) for those of understanding (or, for those who fear)" (3:l3), (79:26).e8 Hence, in spite of the fact that the sunnah is never clearly and absolutely known, the past can and must inform the individual of his moral presence in the present world. r6See the Qur'iin, for example: "Do you think you will enter paradise without going through that which those before you went through? All kinds of afflictions struck them and they were shaken (to the extent) that the Messenger and those who believed with him cried: "When does the help of Allah (come)?" (2:214); and, "Do you think you will be left alone by saying you believe, and not be tempted and tested?" (29:2). On the other hand, with regard to the success and prosperity of the disbelievers, the says: "I (God) extend (umli) to them, but my plan is tight" (68:45); and, "Let not those who disbelieve think that the good we extend to them (numli lahum) is good for them; we only do so that they increase in error. They will have a disgracing punishment" (3:178). r'l'bid., 4:55; cf. Fazlur Rahman, &jor lhemes of the Qurh (Chicago: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1980), pp. iv, 57-61; Ismdil R. al Fiiriiqi, Tawhid: Zrs Zmplkm*onsfbr I?rought and Life (Virginia, International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1402/1982), pp. 40-45. 2% (3:13), the Qur'iin refers to the victory of the believers over a powerful enemy. 0x1 the other hand, (79:26) is related to the Pharoah's armgance taward Moses' message. Cf. "ibrah" in Muhsin Mahdi, Zbn Khaldun's Philosophy of History (London: George M e n and Unwin, 1957), p. 65-8. 228 abeQLd*m* pwfx,wealthandspi&lmf by God in ba& worldly and of the Messengms sent to &em, destruction. ~ ~ s s o R ( & ~ ) f ~ k * & k t ~ i . t The bistury may be h m v e , but the d mmnhg of events can be c of actions on the of*!I%@w3sd earlier peoples are scattered throughout the chpters an8 are often repeated with different tmpbs . At wery paht, though, &s p d c k sense rof the past is maintained. The Will of God and the Day of Ju&emmt form the backdrop against which individual human choices are made in histmy. In this way, the pre-Islamic Arab conception of the past is infused with new meaning and sigmficance. Now, through the v&kn of the w r M y and eschatological future, the present carries meaning €or fie future. For the pre- Islamic Arab, the prment drew freely fiom the past to & itself mtaningfu. For the Muslim Arab, the imminent and distant future shea l@t an b e past so that the latter could contribute to the present. In its turn, the present keeps it vision focused on the future. The storks (qzzqq) in the Qufiin.dmut the m i s The overall Qur’iinic message is, thus, that dl man, created by God, originate from the same source, and have the same purpose to fulfill in the world. That purpose is made known very clearly through the q e n q of rhe Prophets sent by God. Throughout the history of the Fkpbsaad k i r &ions the extent to which the morality is realized may be witnessed in the wmH, it will definitely and decisively be evaluated in the Hereah-. vary mhgious view of history provided the framework for a new historical mmciausness for the Arabs. The actual historiography, moreover, was h n l y 1- in but from the human perspective, it is an area .which is hazy and can only be accessed through the reports of eyewitnesses. to humanity, the Will of God has been clearly manifested. Even the ukhbiir within a divine epistemology. The past is d d h d d be instnaCti =, AbdulKader I. al mob Transformation of a Historic Tradition 229 3. Early Islamic Historiography. The foregoing discussion of the elements of a new “Qur’nid’ historiography does not mean that early Muslim historiography took on this shape. Due to the paucity or utter lack of extant works of early Islamic historiography, it is almost impossible to verify whether the early Muslims (lst/7th century) adopted these Qur’nic suggestions for a new historiography. We have full and complete historical works only from the late 2nd and 3rd centuries A.H. (8th and 9th centuries A.C.), the historians in this period refer largely to their sources in the 2nd century A.H. (8th century A.C.)*g Nevertheless, the following exposition of Islamic historiography from the 2nd century A.H. (8th century A.C.) will attempt to outline its basic elements, and where relevant, to point out its relation to the Qur’nic view discussed above. (A) From Akhbiir to Tu’rikh The ukhbiir were implicitly endorsed by the Qur’gn and did not disappear; but one of the most significant events in the life of the Prophet became their central reference point. The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mukkuh to Madinah was established by the Caliph ‘Umar as the dating reference for his administration. The event is known as hijrah and the calendar system goes by this name. The date itself or the act of assigning a date to a measure or event is called Tah-kh. Its first usage, according to Muslim scholars, was that of a specific time or date, and this usage can be traced back in a papyrus to the year 22 A.H. / 643 A.C.30 The use of a fixed reference point was certainly adopted from Southern Arabia. However the selection of the hijrah as the reference and not any other, was a direct result of the historical consciousness of the Qur’ln. In reference to the Prophet’s hijrah, the Qur’ln says: If you do not assist him, then God has certainly assisted him when those who disbelieved expelled him. He was the second of the two in the cave when he told his friend: “Do not grieve! God is with us!” Then God sent down His succor on him and aided him with troops you did not see, bringing low the word of those who disbelieved, and raising high, the word of God. And God is Mighty, Firm (9:40) nsR. Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History, a Fmmework for Inquiry, Studies in Mid& Eastern History- Number Nine (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1988), pp. 74-75. 30Jalal ‘1-Din Al-SuyUti, al-Shamarikh f i ‘ilm al-ta’rikh, ed. by Chr. Fr. Seybold (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1894), pp. 4-5; Al-Kafiji, “al-Mukhtasar fi ‘ilm ‘1-ta’rikh,” in History, ed. Rosenthal, p. 472; Rosenthal, History, p. 12. 230 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 The verse makes it unmistakably clear that Divine intervention was in favor of the Prophet Muhammad and his emigration. The establishment of the reference point was thus an expression of the historical and religious consciousness of the early Muslims. Later Islamic historiography totally appropriated the term Ta’rlkh by cabg any collection of annalistically arranged reports about the past a Ta’rikh. The earliest instance of this has been traced to Haytham b. ‘Adi (d.206-207 A.H.1821-822 A.C.).31 It does not seem mere convenience which prompted historians to call a book of history, a Ta’rikh. A closer look at the word Ta’r- zkh reveals a more significant explanation than the fact that a book dealing with history was simply considered to be full of dates (literally, Ta’rikh). According to Rosenthal, the form of the term is probably of South Arabian origin meaning “moon” or “month”. Moreover, al-Sakhawi suggests that the rod is derived from “arkh” or ”ikh” which means the young one of a wild cow. It denotes something new and by extension, it is related to an event or occ~rrence .~~ Hence, taking both these nuances of Ta’rikh, the term becomes more significant for it means both a specific date and a significant event associated therewith. It was thus clearly suited for the historical consciousness generated by the Qur’sn, where each event in history was significant from a moral and religious perspective. Nevertheless, historians did not immediately start dating their material. The use of exact dating in history has been found to be rare until the 3rd century A.H. 9th century A.CS3 When dating did not take hold as a practice, however, it spread and was widely adopted. In fact, well before specific dating can be found to be standard practice, early scholars interested in the past were concerned about the chronological arrangement of the reports.34 The idea of dating material as a logical growth of chronological arrangement was thus easily adopted in historiography. Thus, the akhbZir tradition of pre-Islamic Arabia was transformed into the Ta’rikh. The latter carried over some of the akhbiir’s essential characteristics but emphasized a greater concern for dating and chronology. Moreover, the slHaytham was a Kufan known for his knowledge of akhbGr and poetry. Three of his works have titles with ta’rikh: Kitab Ta’rikh al-bjam wa bani Umyyzh [The book of ta’rikh of the non-Arabs and the Umayyads], Ta’rikh al-ashmf al-kabir [The taiikh according to years]. Rosenthal, History, p. 65; Ishaq b. Ishaq al-Nadim, Al-Fihrist, ed. Gustav Flugel (Beirut: Mgktabah Khayat, n.d.; reprint ed. posthumously published by J. Roedinger and August Mueller, SPRosenthal, History, pp. 11-12; Al-Sakhawi, Al-llan bi I-tuwbikh li man dhamma I- ta‘dh, Wosenthal, History, p. 13. 3*For the early concerns about chronology, see Duri, Rise, pp. 28, 111. %m), pp. 99-100, ed. by Franz Rosenthal, in History, Rosenthal, p. 203. AbdulKader I. al ”hpb Transformation of a Historic Tradition 231 hijrah and the Tu’iikh underscored the distinctively Islamic character of the form and meaning of historiography. The interest in the past in early Islamic history was cultivated by people with varying interests. Dun’ has dis-tinguished two “schools” who then merged together to produce the great %-century historians like al-Baladhuri (d. 279 A.H.1892 A.C.) and al-Mada’ini (d. 225 A.H.1839 A.C.). Both used the pre- Islamic legacy of Arabia and both contributed to the growth and development of Tu’iikh. b. Madinah School of Historiography. The momentous event in the memory of the early Muslims was the life of the Prophet. His prophetic venture was an overwhelming event in Arabia’s history, and it was a compelling example of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’ln. In terms of the meaningfulness of history, the early Muslims did not have to look any further for significant and pivotal moments in their past; moments which left no doubt in their minds that God has sustained His Messenger every step of the way. It is in this light that the life of the Prophet was the first subject matter of early Islamic historical recollection. However, the recording of the life of the Prophet was not just a reminiscence of the past; it was also a recollection, which was more firmly anchored in the desire to emulate the Prophet in his religious and moral behavior rather than a purely historical tradition. The life of the Prophet and by extension, the lives of his immediate followers, became a widespread subject matter among the early Muslims, but it was most vigorously pursued in Mudinah by the followers of the companions (tubifin). As time went on, the historical growth and development of the Islamic order steadily expanded this base by providing it with more diverse subjects.J5 The interest in the life of the Prophet c w e d two aspects: (1) his exemplary character and life; and (2), the battles (maghiizi) in which he participated. The first came to be known as the siruh which in its root meaning stands for a “path” or “~tructure”.~~ The later technical usage came to mean the “path” or “structure” of a life (biography). In fact, “a1 Sruh: as “the Sruh”, came ~ 35Duri, Rise, pp. l52ff. s6The Lisan al Xmb gives three meanings to “sirah”: (1) sunnah, in the sense of a path being followed; (2) hay hh, meaning a form or structure; and (3), with the verb sayyam meaning “spaking about the past”. All the meanings are derived from the word “sam”which means ”to go,” “to travel” and ”to move.” The first two meanings follow directly from the root verb. One of the meanings of ”sunnah” is something which has been trodden upon or walked upon. Form hay hh is a structured, regulated outline and hence carries the meaning of being moved over. The third meaning comes closest to the technical meaning of biography but is not restricted to it. Ibn Manzur, 2:252-3. 232 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 to be associated exclusively with the life of the Prophet. In this light, it would appear that the (maghiizi) would be included in the general framework of siruh. This usage is, and has been interchangeable, but it seems that the maghiizi, being an echo of the Ayyiim of the Arabs, was thought to be a distinctive element in the biography of the Prophet.37 There was in the society at the time, a corresponding interest in the battles and the life of the Prophet from a more popular and general interest. This was developed and cultivated by the storytellers (qzq.yii.y). The storyteller freely used elements from the (maghiizi), embellishing and changing them to suit his needs. This flowered into a kind of folklore which was distinct from the literature developed by the pious in Madinah.38 The Madinah school’s presentation of the life of the Prophet and battles and raids was framed with an emphasis on the authority of the source material and a close scrutiny of the material and sources them~elves.~~ The historiography of Madinah developed within the parameters of the broader religious and moral interest in the life of the Prophet, and the leading representatives of the school, ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr (d. 94 A.H./ 712 A.C.), Muhammad b. ShihBb al-din al-Zuhri (d. 124 A.H.1741 A.C.) and MBsa b. ‘Uqbah (d. 141 A.H./ 758 A.C.), were as much hadith scholars as they were historians. 40 s7Even though the earliest extent biography of the Prophet, that of Muhammad b. Ishaq, is known simply as al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Khallikan mentions that the book was first called al-Maghiizi wa 7-siyar. Moreover, Muhammad b. ‘Umar Al-Wiqidi, who wrote the famous Kitab al-Maghiid, includes pilgrimages and other non-military material in it. Ahmad 5. Muhammad b. Khallikan (d.681/1282), Wafayat al-a)um wa anba’abnahl-zaman, 8 vols., ed. by Ihsan ‘Abbas (Beiruit: Dar al-Thaqafah, (1968-1972)), 4:276-277; Kitab al-MaghGzi, 3 vols., ed. by Marsden Jones (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), 13. s8The story-tellers exercised their craft in all circumstances, from the battle-field to the mosque. Very early in Islamic history, religious movements (like the Kharijites) and political groupings (like the Umayyads) had their own story-tellers to serve their interests. Shawqi Dayf, al-Fann wa maa5ihibUh f i al-nathr al-Wmbi (Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1965), pp. 74-75; Goldzher, Studies, 2:151-159; Encyclopedia of Islam, lst ed., S.V. “Kissah,” by D. B. Macdonald. 3g‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Duri, “The ‘Iraqi School of Historiography in the Ninth Century,” in Hisroriuns ofthe Middle East, ed. B. Lewis and P.M. Holt, Historical Writing on the Peoples of Asia, v. 4 (London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1962), p. 46. *“Urwah is a second generation Muslim scholar (tabi‘i) who was among the first to take an interest in the biography of the Prophet. He taught the great al-Zuhri who distinguished himself as a hadith scholar with a particular interest in the biographical and historical aspects of the Prophet’s life. Musa b. ‘Uqbah wrote a book called MaghGzi from which historians as late as Ibn Kathr cite. Ibn ‘Uqbah is considered a trustworth W i t h authority who relied, among others, on ‘Urwah b. al-Zubayr and al-Zuhri. In addition, he is also regarded by some as the most accurate and authentic biographers of the Prophet. Ahmad b. Wli b. Hajr al- Wsqalani (d.853/1449), TaMhib al-tahdhib, 12 vols. (Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1968; reprint ed., Hyderabad, 1325-27/1888-1890), 7180ff, 10:361; Ibn Khallikan, Wzf Gyat, 3:255-258,4:177-179; Duri, Rise, pp. 23, 25, 78, 91-92, 95. AbdulKader I. a1 Tayob Transformation of a Historic Tradition 233 Following the pre-Islamic form of oral narration as confirmed by the Qur'inic view of the past, the form of a historical report in this school consisted of an isniid (chain of narrators) which sought to establish authenticity by tracing every report to an eyewitness through a series of connected, and reliable, secondary reporters. This was the ideal method of establishing the veracity of an event or statement. Often, however, scholars in the field of history departed from this method by collecting different reports supported by different isniids from the primary source and combining it into one "collective isniid: 44 This was done primarily to produce a smooth narrative out of a number of disjointed reports. In this way, the first move was made to develop a continuous story. However, the more stringent method of verification was still upheld as an ideal. The early sirah-mughiizi authors were generally realistic and relatively free of gross exaggeration. But, this is less true of the later historians as they expanded their histories to include all the known historical and quasi- historical material. Muhammad b. Ishaq, the famous biographer of the Prophet, relied on Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 114 A.H. / 732 A.C.) for material about pre-Islamic Yemen and the stories of the Christians and Jews in the form of legendary and historically inaccurate anecdotes, called i~rii'iliyyiif.~~ Though Ibn Munabbih was known to have been an unreliable authority in terms of accuracy, some historians took from him simply as a result of the paucity of more reliable authorities and information in these areas.43 The Qur'ln's repeated reference to the past, and especially the previous Prophets, clearly suggested that knowledge of the peoples or civilizations who had appeared before Islam was important and could be informative and valuable. Following upon this, the historian was filling in the detail not included in the Qur'ln. The method of isnd, however, could not be extended to include the vast range covered in the Qur'ln, and this left the historian with no choice but to report what he had heard and leave it in the security of the is&. He could simply say that this was what he had heard. The Madinah school of historiography was, then, the Islamic response to the problems of historical recollection. They used the basic framework of the &bar to carry the information about the past but supported it with an elementary form of isniid to connect the past to the present. The primary purpose seems to have been to expound and transmit the religious and historical significance of the life of the Prophet. The historical tradition grew out of the religious concerns, and the historians considered it their moral obligation to keep the memory of the Prophet alive. From this initial point, it grew ~ ~ **Duri, Rise, p. 28. 42Ibid., p. 16; Encyclopedia of Islam, new ed., S.V. "Isra'iliyyit," by G. Vajda. 4sDuri, Rise, p. 157. 234 / “ The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 and flowered by drawing upon the historical dimensions of the Qur’iin and the Arab milieu which it had inherited. c. The Iraqi School of Historiography. More so than the Madinans, the champions of this school continued the use of the tribal form of historical recollec-tion and dissemination. The akhbiir continued to be passed along the generations. The conquering Muslim armies in Iraq were composed of tribes who were encouraged to settle in the garrison towns (amiir) of Basrah and Kufah where they continued their tribal legacies. In fact, they added and enriched the tribal &iir with the new experiences during the conquests. No doubt, they were also influenced by the Islamic demands made by the Madinah scholars, and slowly adopted their methods. But the Iraqis, in their turn, influenced developments in Madinah. The champions of the Iraqi school of historiography were the well- informed riiw-s, or a.khb6r-L~ as they later came to be lcn0wn.4~ These “narrators- of the akhbiir were not exclusively interested in the past as such. Rather, they had broader nterests ranging from a knowledge of the aWtbiir and genealogies to poetry and philology. Awanah b. al-Hakm (d.147 A.H.1764 A.C.), one of the earlier akhbiiris, had a special interest in poetry and genealogy, while Abu Mikhniif (d. 157 A.H./774 A.C.) was a well-known genealogist representing the interests of the Azd tribe in his The various disciplines mastered by the akhbiiri were interconnected though they sometimes fulfdled particular functions in society. Each discipline expressed tribal identity in terms of its language (philology and poetry), descent and status (genealogy) and history ukhir . Poetry sometimes drew from the aWtbiir for its subject matter. Genealogy’s chief importance lay in its procuring for the tribe the esteem and status in relation to other tribes and the arsenal with which to attach and to insult other lesser tribes. As the tribal advocate, the &Gin used the infor-mation supplied by genealogy. 46 Having settled down in the garrison towns, the tribes established new alliances both among themselves and the conquered people. Each of the tribes rani was basically an oral narrator of the ukhbcir, who acquired the name of ukhbiiri. Even though the oral nature of his mation was never completely lost, the ukhbciri was basically a r6wi who put down the repom in writing. The earliest known person to have put dawn some poetry and &r into writing was Daghfal b. wanzalah al-Sadiisi (d.70/690). This trend was later accelemted by the introduction of paper on a mass scale through the paper factory up in Baghdad in 178/795. hr i , ‘hqi M, p. 47; Gibb, SIadks, p M; S h q i Dayf, al-*sral-ilsh*, W n i d-&b al-Islm-, no. 2 {Cairn: flar d-Makif, 1W), p. 4%. 4 5 D u l - 4 Rise, pp. 43 ff. passim., 48. 46Petersen, ‘Mi arrd Mu ‘awiyah, pp. 4 5 t ; Duri, llre Tmqi schod, p. 51. AbdulKader I. al Tayob Transformation of a Historic Tradition 235 had contributed to the great conquests, and they were determined to jealously guard their new-found prestige and fame. The exploits of the individuals who had excelled in these conquests became the focus of cherished anecdotes and accounts of the tribe." The u W r i responded to the new challenges on behalf of their tribes. Furthermore, a renewed interest in genealogy and hence, past events, was facilitated by the system of allotting land (a@') to the tribes in the garrison towns according to tribal affiliation. Disputes about land distribution always required a knowledge of genealogy and the versatile ukhbiiri could provide that inforrnati~n.~~ The akhbiiris were thus strongly linked to the tribal netmrk of the garrison towns. As the old alliances were transformed under the influence of the new political and religious situations, the ukhbiiris followed suit. Abu Mikhnaf, for example, was partial to his own Azd tribe, but on the new political front, he was a supporter of Nz against the Umayyads. But all the Iraqis were not pro- Micis. We find a prominent person like Xwanah b. al-Hakm to be an open supporter of the Ummayyad~.~~ In contrast, the Madinans tried to maintain a relatively non-partisan stand in the political conflicts that took place between the Umayyad dynasty and the contending supporters of Mi in Kufah and Ba~rah.~O d. Common Ground between the Two Schools-The Fbundation of the Ta'nkh. The ukhbiiris in Iraq and the hadith scholars in Madinah did not cultivate their interests in the past without being mutually affected. In hct, the interest in the life of the Prophet and the early Muslim Community (i.e. the companions of the Prophet) was a common theme in both schools. The events in this period, ranging from the Prophet's alliances and battles with the tribes to the conquests and the conflicts during the early caliphate, were set within a political milieu which had a definite tribal character. Hence, the religious unfolding of Islam is inseparable from the politico-tribal alliances of Arabia, and this is reflected in the historical literature. The interest in the life of the Prophet is most strik-ing among the Madinah "Duri, Rise, pp. 42, l53ff. 4*Ibid., p. 50. 4gDuri, Rise, p. 43; Petersen, Mi and Mu hwiyyah, p. 32. 5OThe Madinan silence and apparent neutrality has been interpreted as a tacit approval of the Umayyads. Petersen says that al-Zuhn, for example, compromised his principles for the Urnayyads (especially the first of them, Mu 'awiyah). Duri, on the other hand, maintains that the evidence available doesi not suppose such a conclusion, and insists on the neutrality of the Madinam Dun, RiM, p. €19; Petersen, Mi and Nu h.wiyah, p. 51. 236 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988 scholars. It seems though, that more than the biography of the Prophet, the two schools shared a marked common interest in the period of the caliphate. In the 2nd century A.H. (8th century A.C.), the numerous kutub (monographs) proliferating in Iraq cover the akhbiir of all the major events during the early caliphate. For example, Abu Mikhnaf (d. 157 A.H./774 A.C.) was credited with writing monographs on the Riddah ( or Apostate wars), Siffin and the khariJite~.~I In a similar manner, the Madinans naturally extended their interest in the life of the Prophet into the early ~aliphate.~‘ Later scholars interested in history borrowed freely from both schools and were influenced by trends in them. A1 Mada’ini, still very much of the akhbiiri, consulted the books of sirah from the school in Madinah, the “books” (kutub) of the earlier akhbaris and other genealogical and philological works, to compose his writings. In fact, Duri considers al-Mada’ini to be a historian who represents the best of both schools. Even the work of Muhammad b. Ishaq is a combination of the elements from the tribal and Madinan literature. 53 The work of the later scholars reflected the extensive range of Islamic historiography. For example, ‘Abu ‘Ubaydah (d. 211 A.H.1826 A.C.), a philologist, took a keen interest in Persian affairs and Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi (d. approx. 203-205A.H./819-820 A.C.), a genealogist, directed his attention to biblical history. 54 The Fihrist of al-Nadim attributes a work entitled Kitiib al-Muluk wa Akhbiir al-Mii&n (The Book of Kings and the Reports of the People of the Past) to ‘Abid b. S h a r ~ a h . ~ ~ But the most striking example of this extensive range is Muhammad b. Ishaq’s biography of the Prophet. The Sirah is divided in three parts: the rnubtada’ (the beginning from Adam to the first revelation of Muhammad), the mab izth (the call) and the maghiiz- z . It not only denotes a wide and extensive scope of his work, but also covers all the known past, as Ibn Ishaq knew it, and it seems to be set within the holistic framework suggested by the Qur’Bn. Hence, the individual events of the akhbiir were not told in isolation of the whole vision of the past. The 51The Fihrist of al-Nadim lists numerous titles of monographs written by these akhbiiris, some of which are given here: Ma ‘mar b. Rashid (d. 1521769) (al-MaghGzi) [Raids]; Sayf b. ‘Umar d. (199/8l5) (Kitab al--ruh al-hbir) [The Large Book of the Conquests], (al-Riddah) [The Apostate Wars]; and, Nasr b. Mazihim (d. 2131827) (SzBn), (Jamal), (Maqtal Husayn b. Ali) [The Murder of Husayn b. Ah]. Al-Nadim, Fihrist, pp. 91-93. 52‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr and al-Zuhri wrote at least on the r i a and aspects of the Prophet. Duri, Rise, pp. 28, 89, 99. 53D~ri , Rise, pp. 40, 43, 48, 61, l52ff. Tbid., pp. 52ff. 55‘Abid was supposedly a Yemenite contemporary of the Prophet but not his companions. He lived reportedly through the reign of Mu ‘awiyah, to who he related the stories and legends of Yemen. Dun, Rise, 32; Fantqi, Nisar Ahmad, Early Muslim Historiography (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyyat-i Delhi, 1979), pp. 87-88; al-Nadim, Fihrist, pp. 89. 237 same thing can be said of the title of Haytham b. ' M i ' s book Kitiib al-ta'rikh ordering and appears to achieve the same scope in breadth and vision.66 Thus, centered in the biography of the Prophet, flowering in the events related to the companions and sweeping through all of time, the ta'rikh came to represent Islamic historiography. It was a collection of dated and chronologically arranged akhbiir which were significant and meaningful. In early Islamic historiography, though, the meaningfulness and significance was most pronounced in the biography of the Prophet, and as a result thereof, in the events in the life of his companions. al-sinln (The Book Of Tahkh According to year^), Which use^ an annalistic Conclusion The Arabian Peninsula bequeathed a historical legacy expressed in the akhbir. The Muslim historians used this medium to express their new historical interests. Some historians, mainly in Madinah, adopted only the form while others, in Iraq, continued the uWzbiir in its totality. Even though the aWlbiir as a form of historical recollection was confirmed by the Qur'iin, it was given a new meaning within the belief-system of the Qur'iin. Under the effects of the religious impact of the Qur'in and the new historical cir-cumstances, the akhbiir changed and took on an entirely new function in the major regions of historical work conducted by the early Muslims. Organized in Islamic culture as Tafikh, the ukhbiir expressed the holism of the Qur'iinic view of history, and underlined the meaningfulness of the past. The biography of the Prophet was the most significant occurrence in the history of early Islam, and received extensive attention. It was the moral and religious elements in the biography of the Prophet which prompted an interest in the past. From this initial point onward, the vision of the past expressed in the Qur'in was appropriated by Muslim historians in varying degrees. 56Rosenthal, History, p. 65.