Chapter 2-Shi’ite Works on the Prophet’s Biography During the First Centuries
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Chapter 2
Shi’ite Works on the Prophet’s Biography During the First Centuries
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As far as the biography of Prophet Muhammad (S) is concerned, it should be said that accounts of the maghÄzÄ« (campaigns in which the Prophet took part) were also taught by the Imams. The main testimony in this regard is a narration by Imam ‘AlÄ« ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-AbidÄ«n (‘a), who said: “KunnÄ na‘lam maghÄzÄ« RasulullÄh kamÄ na‘lam al-surah min al-Qur’Än” (we teach the campaigns of the Messenger of Allah as we teach the surah of the Holy Qur’Än).[2]
In the ahÄdÄ«th related on the authority of Imam Muhammad al-BÄqir and Imam Ja‘far al-SÄdiq (‘a), several narrations could be found on the Prophet’s sÄ«rah, many of which have been recorded. For example, Ibn IshÄq and later Ibn Sa‘d in their biographies of the Prophet, have quoted some narrations on the authority of Imam BÄqir (‘a). Among the Shi‘ite works, about one fourth of ‘AlÄ« Ibn IbrÄhÄ«m QummÄ«’s exegesis of the Holy Qur’Än deals with the accounts and history of the Prophets. This book which was completed by referring to several other works, has made use of several written accounts that were available during the third and fourth centuries AH.
For example, the book al-Mab‘ath wa al-MaghÄzÄ« by AbÄn bin ‘UthmÄn has been used by ‘AlÄ« bin IbrÄhÄ«m QummÄ« in his tafsÄ«r (exegesis). QummÄ«’s tafsÄ«r is among the works whose section on the Prophet’s biography almost exclusively quotes narrations from Imam BÄqir and Imam SÄdiq (‘a). One of the reasons for this is the inclusion in it of TafsÄ«r AbÄ« al-JÄrud, which is entirely based on the narrations of Imam BÄqir (‘a) and gives an account of the Prophet according to the revelation of the ayahs. The narrations of AbÄ« al-JÄrud are distinct from the other sections, and ‘AllÄmah MajlisÄ« has mentioned all the narrations of this book in the volumes of BihÄr al-AnwÄr under the title TÄrÄ«kh NabiyyinÄ (History of Our Prophet).
Another book is Mab‘ath al-NabÄ« wa AkhbÄruh, by ‘AbdullÄh bin Maymun al-QaddÄh, who was a narrator of hadÄ«th from Imam BÄqir and Imam SÄdiq (‘a).[3] At any rate, these are firm proofs of the attention paid by the Infallible Imams (‘a) and the Shi‘ites to accounts of the Prophet’s sÄ«rah.
The history of Islam in general was also a matter of interest for the Shi‘ites. Asbagh bin NubÄtah is among the earliest Shi‘ite authors who has a book on martyrdom (maqtal) of Imam Husayn (‘a).[4] Ahmad bin ‘UbaydullÄh ThaqafÄ« is another one and the titles of two of his books are: KitÄb al-Mubayyazah fÄ« AkhbÄr MaqÄtil Al-i AbÄ« TÄlib, and KitÄb fÄ« TafzÄ«l BanÄ« HÄshim wa Zamm BanÄ« Umayyah wa AtbÄ‘ihim.[5] Muhammad Bin ZakariyyÄ bin DÄ«nÄr is also among the early Shi‘ite authors and according to al-NajÄshÄ« some of his books are: al-Jamal al-KabÄ«r, al- Jamal al-Mukhtasar, SiffÄ«n al-KabÄ«r, Maqtal al-Husayn,[6] KitÄb al-Nahr(awÄn), Maqtal AmÄ«r al-Mu‘minÄ«n, AkhbÄr Zayd and AkhbÄr FÄtimah.[7]
Another example is IbrÄhÄ«m bin Muhammad al-ThaqafÄ«, who was at first a ZaydÄ« and then became an ImÄmÄ«. He has written historical works such as: KitÄb al-Mubtada’ wa al-MaghÄzÄ« wa al-Riddah, AkhbÄr ‘Umar, AkhbÄr ‘UthmÄn, KitÄb al-DÄr, al-GhÄrÄt (a work that has survived), AkhbÄr Zayd, AkhbÄr Muhammad (Nafs Zakiyyah) wa (his brother) IbrÄhÄ«m.[8]
The books which JÄbir bin YazÄ«d al-Ju‘fÄ« wrote also deal with similar topics and are titled: KitÄb al-Jamal, KitÄb al- SiffÄ«n, KitÄb al-NahrawÄn, KitÄb Maqtal AmÄ«r al-Mu’minÄ«n and KitÄb Maqtal al-Husayn.[9]
‘AlÄ« bin Hasan bin ‘AlÄ« bin FazzÄl was also a prominent Shi‘ite author, and among his works mention could be made of: al-DalÄ’il, al-AnbiÄ’, al- BashÄrÄt and al-Kufah. [10]
Among the renowned Shi‘ite scholars of Basrah was ‘Abd al-‘AzÄ«z JalludÄ« bin YahyÄ al-‘AzdÄ« who was a prolific writer. Some of the historical books which he wrote are: KitÄb al-Jamal, KitÄb al-SiffÄ«n,[11] KitÄb al-Hakamayn, KitÄb al-GhÄrÄt, KitÄb al-KhawÄrij, KitÄb Zikr ‘AlÄ« fÄ« Hurub al-NabÄ«, KitÄb Ma’Äl al-ShÄ«‘ah ba‘d ‘AlÄ« (‘a), AkhbÄr al-TawwÄbÄ«n wa ‘Ayn al-Wardah, AkhbÄr man ‘Ashqa min al-Shu‘arÄ’, AkhbÄr Quraysh wa al-AsnÄm, KitÄb TabaqÄt al-‘Arab wa al-Shu‘arÄ’, KitÄb Khutab al-NabÄ«, KitÄb Khutab ‘UthmÄn, KitÄb RasÄ’il ‘Umar, KitÄb RÄyÄt al-Azd, and KitÄb MunÄzarÄt ‘AlÄ« ibn MusÄ al-RizÄ (‘a).[12]
The Shi‘ites of Qum also contributed to the early historiographical works. Ahmad bin IsmÄ‘Ä«l bin ‘AbdullÄh BajallÄ« was one of them, and among his most important works is: KitÄb al-‘AbbÄsÄ«, about which al-NajÄshÄ« writes: “wa huwa kitÄb ‘azÄ«m nahw min ‘ashrah ÄlÄf waraqah min akhbÄr al-khulafÄ’ wa al-dawlah al-‘AbbÄsiyyah. Ra’aytu minhu akhbÄr al-AmÄ«n” (It is a voluminous book of 10,000 pages dealing with the accounts of the caliphs and the Abbasid State. I have seen from it the account of al-AmÄ«n).[13] Muhammad bin Hasan al-QummÄ« had access to this book and he has quoted four instances from it in his History of Qum (refer to Bibliography of Works Related to Qum, p. 19. In History of Qum, the events on pp. 145, 200, 236 & 237 have been quoted from TÄrÄ«kh ‘AbbÄsÄ«).
Another early historian was ‘AlÄ« bin Ahmad JawwÄnÄ« who wrote AkhbÄr SÄhib Fakhkh and AkhbÄr YahyÄ bin ‘AbdullÄh bin Hasan.[14] Ahmad bin Muhammad bin KhÄlid al-BarqÄ« who was a renowned traditionist (muhaddith) from Qum, has a book entitled KitÄb al-MaghÄzÄ« on the Prophet’s sÄ«rah. He is the author of several other works such as, KitÄb al-Shi‘r wa al-Shu‘arÄ’, KitÄb al-BuldÄn wa al-MasÄhah, KitÄb al-TÄrÄ«kh and KitÄb al-AnsÄb.[15]
One of the renowned historians during the era of the Infallible Imams (‘a) was AbÄn bin ‘UthmÄn Ahmar BajallÄ«. He authored a valuable book on the accounts of the previous Prophets and the biography of Prophet Muhammad (S), of which, unfortunately, only a few parts are extant. Shaykh TusÄ« says about this book:
“We have no information of his works except the book in which he has collected from the beginning the account of Prophet (Muhammad [S]), the start of his mission (mab‘ath), his military campaigns (maghÄzÄ«), his passing away as well as the happenings at SaqÄ«fah (BanÄ« SÄ‘idah) and the riddah. There is another copy from which the scholars of Qum have related.”[16]
This book was available to ‘AlÄ« bin IbrÄhÄ«m QummÄ« and he has extensively quoted from it in his tafsÄ«r. The bibliographer al-NajÄshÄ« was also aware of this book, and he writes: “He has an excellent and voluminous book in which he has collected accounts (of Prophet Muhammad [S]) from the beginning till his passing away including the military campaigns.”[17] This work was available to many ‘ulamÄ’ of the following centuries, but the most detailed quotations from it are found in Shaykh TabrisÄ«’s I‘lÄm al-WarÄ. We (the author of this article Rasul Ja‘fariyÄn) have published the extant portions of this book under the title KitÄb al-Mab‘ath wa al-MaghÄzÄ« and talked about him and his book in detail in the introduction.
Here we will point out a number of works that have been written on Prophet Muhammad (S) by early Shi‘ite scholars. We have mostly arranged the list according the subject:
KitÄb SifÄt al-NabÄ« (S): Wahab bin Wahab (RijÄl al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 430);
KitÄb Wufud al-‘Arab ilÄ al-NabÄ« (S): Munzir bin Muhammad bin Munzir. Some of his other works are KitÄb al-Jamal, KitÄb al-SiffÄ«n, KitÄb al-NahrawÄn, KitÄb al-GhÄrÄt (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 418);
Mas’alah fÄ« ImÄn AbÄ’a al-NabÄ« (S): AbÄ« Ya‘lÄ Muhammad bin Hasan bin Hamzah Ja‘farÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 404);
KitÄb Mas’alah fÄ« Ma‘rifah al-NabÄ«: Shaykh MufÄ«d (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 402);
KitÄb Zuhd al-NabÄ« (S), KitÄb AwsÄf al-NabÄ« (S), KitÄb fÄ« Ma‘rifah Fazl al-NabÄ« (S) wa AmÄ«r al-Mu’minÄ«n wa al-Hasan wa al-Husayn ‘Alayhim al-SalÄm: Shaykh Saduq (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 390). He also wrote KitÄb fÄ« ‘Abd al-Mutallib wa ‘AbdullÄh wa AbÄ« TÄlib (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 390);
KitÄb al-BayÄn ‘an Khiyarah al-RahmÄn fÄ« ImÄn AbÄ« TÄlib wa AbÄ’ al-NabÄ« (S): ‘AlÄ« bin BilÄl al-MahllabÄ« al-AzdÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 265);
KitÄb Mab‘ath al-NabÄ« (S) wa AkhbÄruh: ‘AbdullÄh bin Maymun al-QaddÄh (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 213);
KitÄb WafÄt al-NabÄ« (S): Salamah bin al-KhattÄb BerÄwastÄnÄ« AzdurqÄnÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p.187);
KitÄb al-Radd ‘alÄ Man Za‘ama al-NabÄ« (S) KÄna ‘alÄ DÄ«n Qawmih Qabl al-Nubuwwah; Ja‘far bin Ahmad bin Ayyub SamarqandÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 21);
KitÄb al-Radd ‘alÄ Man Za‘ama al-NabÄ« (S) KÄna ‘alÄ DÄ«n Qawmih: Husayn bin AshkÄ«b KhurÄsÄnÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 44);
KitÄb AkhbÄr al-NabÄ« (S): AbÄ« ‘AlÄ« Ahmad bin Muhammad bin ‘AmmÄr al-KufÄ«. He also wrote the book KitÄb ImÄn AbÄ« TÄlib (al-Najsahi, p. 95);
KitÄb Zikr al-NabÄ« (S) wa al-Sakhrah wa al-RÄhib wa Turuq DhÄlik: Ahmad bin Muhamamd bin Sa‘Ä«d SabÄ«‘Ä« HamdÄnÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 94);
KitÄb Fazl al-NabÄ« (S): Ahmad bin Muhammad bin ‘IsÄ Ash‘arÄ« (al-Najsahi page 81).
KitÄb SÄ«rat al-NabÄ« (S) wa al-A’immah ‘Aalayhim al-SalÄm fÄ« al- MushrikÄ«n: Husayn bin ‘AlÄ« bin SufyÄn BezufarÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 68);
KitÄb al-Wufud ‘alÄ al-NabÄ«: Husayn bin Muhammad bin ‘AlÄ« al-'Azdi (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 65);
KitÄb Nasab al-NabÄ« (S), KitÄb Kutub al-NabÄ« (S), KitÄb AkhbÄr al-Wufud ‘alÄ al-NabÄ« (S), ‘Abd al-‘AzÄ«z bin YahyÄ al-JalludÄ« al-AzdÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, pp. 241-244);
KitÄb AsmÄ’ AlÄt RasulullÄh wa AsmÄ’ SilÄhih wa KitÄb WafÄt al-NabÄ« (S): ‘AlÄ« bin Hasan bin ‘AlÄ« bin Fazl (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 258);
KitÄb al-MaghÄzÄ«: Ahmad bin Muhammad bin KhÄlid al-BarqÄ« (al-NajÄshÄ«, p.76);
Al-Munbi’ ‘an Zuhd al-NabÄ« (S): AbÄ« Muhammad Ja‘far bin Muhammad bin ‘AlÄ« QummÄ« ibn al-RÄzÄ«. Ibn TÄwus has quoted this in several of his works.[18]
KitÄb AsmÄ’ RasulullÄh (S): Hasan bin KhorzÄd (al-NajÄshÄ«, p. 44).
On biographical works concerning the Prophet, there is a marked difference between the approach of the Sunnis and Shi‘ites. The Shi‘ite writers regarded Prophet Muhammad (S) more holier than their Sunni counterparts and based their works on his infallibility.
It is important to note that in Sunni historiography, although the feeling of admiration toward the Prophet’s life is clearly visible, his infallibility in all aspects has been ignored. An example in this regard is the writing of the book Zallah al-AnbiyÄ’ by Abu al-Fazl MashshÄt[19] in response to SharÄ«f MurtazÄ’s TanzÄ«h al-AnbiyÄ’ .[20] Earlier during the 3rd century AH, a Sunni ‘Älim had written a book titled Ma‘ÄsÄ« al-AnbiÄ’, which was refuted by the renowned mutakallim of Samarqand, Abu Mansur MÄtirÄ«dÄ«.[21]
Notes:
[2] Al-JÄmi‘ li AkhlÄq al-RÄwÄ«, vol. 2, p. 288; al-BadÄyah wa al-NihÄyah, vol. 3, p. 242; Subul al-HudÄ wa al-Rashad, vol. 4, p. 20.
[3] Al-NajÄshÄ«, al-RijÄl, p. 213.
[4] MÄmaqÄnÄ«,TanqÄ«h al-MaqÄl,vol. 1, p.150.
[5] Ibn Nadim, al-Fihrist, p. 166.
[6] This book, according to Muhammad bin Sulayman Kufi was popular among the Zaydis. Refer to Muqaddamah ManÄqib al-Imam AmÄ«r al- Mu’minÄ«n, vol. 1, p. 12. In this book ManÄqib (vol. 3, p 177) KufÄ« has also mentioned fifty instances of the outstanding merits of Imam ‘AlÄ« (‘a), most of which are historical, on the authority of Muhammad bin ZakariyyÄ DÄ«nÄr.
[7] Al-NajÄshÄ«, al-RijÄl, p. 347.
[8] Ibid, p. 18. Also refer to LisÄn al-MÄ«zÄn, vol. 1, p. 102-103; Mu‘jam al-UdabÄ, vol. 1, p. 223.
[9] Ibid, p. 129.
[10] Ibid, p. 258 & p. 676.
[11] Ibn TÄwus in Muhaj al-Da‘awÄt has quoted from his KitÄb SiffÄ«n two supplications recited by Imam ‘AlÄ« (‘a) before going to battle during the War of SiffÄ«n, refer to Etan Kohlberg’s A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work - Ibn TÄwus & his Library, p. 333.
[12] Al-NajÄshÄ«, al-RijÄl, pp. 241 & 244.
[13] Ibid, pp. 97 & 242.
[14] Ibid, p. 263.
[15] Ibid, pp. 76 & 182.
[16] Shaykh Tusī, al-Fihrist, pp. 18,19.
[17] Al-NajÄshÄ«, al-RijÄl, p.13.
[18] Kohlberg, Etan, A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work - Ibn TÄwus & his Library, pp. 283-284).
[19] KitÄb al-Naqz, p. 244.
[20] Ibid, p. 11.
[21] Storey, Persian Literature, p. 725.