User:Al-Andalusi/Al-Waqidi
Abu `Abdillah Muhammad Ibn Omar Ibn Waqid al al-Aslami | |
|---|---|
| Title | Al-Waqidi |
| Personal | |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Main interest(s) | History of Islam |
| Notable work(s) | "Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi" ("Book of History and Campaigns") |
| Senior posting | |
Influenced | |
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Waqid al-Waqidi (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن عمر بن واقد الواقدي; 130 AH/748 CE[nb 1] - 207 AH/823 CE) was an early Arab Muslim historian.
Biography[edit]
Early life and family[edit]
Al-Waqidi was so called after his grandfather al-Waqidi, who was a client (mawla) of 'Abd Allah ibn Buraida ibn al-Hasib who belonged to the Medinan family of Aslam.[1]
He was born and educated in Medina.[2]
Education[edit]
Positions held[edit]
Death[edit]
When Harun al-Rashid made his hajj in 186 AH, and intended to visit Medina, he sent his vizier Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmak ahead to locate a suitable guide, and Yahya chose al-Waqidi. Al-Waqidi then followed the caliph back to Baghdad where he lived thereafter. At the time of his death he was qadi of the western side of Baghdad.
Works[edit]
Al-Waqidi was a tireless collector of traditions and the author of many books. His secretary, Muhammad Ibn Sa`d was also a famous historian. He made use of the information collected by al-Waqidi. Both of them wrote biographies of the prophet Muhammad that are important supplements to the "Sirat Rasul Allah" of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, but al-Waqidi's has survived only in part.
Only one of al-Waqidi's works has survived - "Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi" ("Book of History and Campaigns") which describes the campaigns (Arabic "Ghazw") made by Muhammad while he was ruling in Medina. Another work still often ascribed to al-Waqidi, "Futuh al-Sham" ("Conquests of Syria"), contains characters from the sixth Islamic century, long after the time al-Waqidi lived. al-Waqidi has been frequently criticized by Muslim writers, who claim that he is unreliable.[3] Imam Shafi'i says that,"the books written by Al-Waqidi are nothing but heaps of lies".
Reception[edit]
Praise[edit]
Criticism[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- Notes
- ^
Muslim sources have differed on his birth date:
- 130 AH: as told by himself and stated by Ibn Sa'd, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Nadim, Al-Thahabi and others.
- "Born after 120 AH": as related by Al-Thahabi in his Siyar a'lam al-nubala'.
- 129 AH: as reported in Al-Wafi bi Al-Wafayat by Al-Safadi and Al-Nujum al-Zahira.[2]
- 130 AH: as told by himself and stated by Ibn Sa'd, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Nadim, Al-Thahabi and others.
- Citations
Sources[edit]
- Al-Sallūmī, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ibn Sulaymān ibn Nāṣir (2004). Al-Wāqidī wa-kitābuhu al-Maghāzī: manhajuhu wa-maṣādiruh (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Medina: Al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah bil-Madīnah al-Munawwarah. ISBN 9960024628.