Early Historical Writings
Maghazi:
Military expeditions of the Prophet SAW, began in Madinah with
conjunction with the study of hadith, some scholars wanted to study more
beyond the limitations of the juridical aspect of the subject
Rich material about the wars, participants, small details of the battles,
aims, list of casualties, leader of the army,
Short description: Usually pioneers are scholars of hadith, isnad
Also the popular tales passed by word of mouth – storytelling, folklore –
isnad was not required because this was he early age of history writing,
historians were flexible and the exact form of rules of using isnad was not
established yet.
Some information from the Qur’an, hadith and eye-witnesses
It began with ‘Urwah bin Zubayr, later –Ibn Ishaq – al-Waqidi They paid
a special attention to the career of the Prophet as a military leader.
They paid a special attention to the career of the Prophet as a military
leader
Main foundation for later seerah books Main writers: Aban b. Uthman
(20-100H), ‘Urwah b. Zubayr (23-94H), al-Zuhri (51-124H), ‘Abdullah al-
Waqidi
It covers various aspects of the Prophet’s life: the beginning of revelation,
some personal affairs and not only about battles
Free from exaggerations,
Some writers like ‘Urwah ibn Zubayr even extended it into later khulafa
al-Rashidun time and spoke about the battle of Yarmuk
Then seerah works began to appear.
SIYAR (sirah, seerah)
Biographical details of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, his actions, sayings
and practices
From the birth until his death
Firstly –oral
Reason?
Spread to Yemen, Syria and Iraq in the 2nd century H (Duri)
By the end of the third century , the lines of the seerah were laid and the
bulk of basic material was collected
First writers: Abān b. ‘Uthmān, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubair b. al-`Awwām, Ibn
Shihāb al-Zuhrî, Ibn Ishāq, Zayyat al- Bakkā’i
. Al-Zuhri was among the first writers (51-124H) from Madinah school
Nature: in chapters, based on hadith and emphasis on isnad.
What is jahiliyyah period?
'ignorance') is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs
in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE. It is often translated as the "Age of
Ignorance". The term jahiliyyah is derived from the verbal root jahala "to be
ignorant or stupid, to act stupidly".
The Main Features of the Jahilliyah Period:
Immortality: many practices went on in pre Islamic Arabia which are
considered immoral by the standards of Islam which included;
Idol worship – commits sins of shirk
Unlimited polygamy- limited to maximum of four wives in Islam all of whom
have to be treated equally.
Female infanticide- goes against Islamic teachings on equality and the concept
of Ummah.
Drunkenness- goes against Islamic teachings which forbid all alcohol and
intoxicants as haram.
Usury- goes against Islamic teachings that no interests can be charges or
received on money to avoid making the rich richer and the poor poorer, goes
against the concept of charity and the idea of Ummah.
Sexual immortality- goes against the Islamic teaching that although sex is a
gift from God to be enjoyed it is only for within marriage.
THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET (570 A.D / CE TO 632 A.D)
Arabia before Islam:
Pre-islamic religion in Arabia included local polytheistic beliefs in the
name of so-called Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.
IDOL WORSHIPING
The pre-islamic Arabs were mostly idol worshippers
The idols were insight ka’ba (about 360 idols at the time of the conquest of
Makkah).
Most prominent ones were; AL Habal (the chief god) and AL-Lat, AL-
Uzaah, AL-Manat were female idols believed to be the daughters of god.
Animal’s sacrifices were observed their names.
Elements in the nature:
The Arabs also worshipped the sun, moon, stars and regarded tress, stones,
caves as holy.
There were fire-worshippers who built fire temples and altars.
Christians and jews:
The Christians and the Jews had distorted their religion.
The Christians believed that the Christ was the son of god, while the Jews
believed that Ezra was the son of god.
AYAT: (The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah “and the Christians say,
“The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their statement from their mouth
s; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before them. May Allah
destroy them; how are they deluded?
Social Conditions:
Society at the time of jahilliyah was morally corrupt; superstitious,
uncivilized and barbarous.
They were addicted to gambling, drinking, stealing, fornication, adultery,
usury.
They were involved in unfair trade practices.
They followed “Might is right”. Injustice prevailed.
Masters did not care slave’s rights and enjoyed the right to life over his
slaves.
Raiding the trading caravans and robbery was common.
Position of women:
Women in pre-Islamic Arab had very low status and were treated like
property, or animals.
Their rights were not recognized, and a man could marry as many women
as he liked.
A man could divorce his wife any time he wished with no conditions
attached.
The birth of a daughter was regarded as shame. Some tribes buried female
infants alive.
AYAT: “When the female (infants). Buried alive is questioned. For what
crime she was killed at (takwir 81:89)
Children were murdered for fear of poverty that would come from raising
them.
Cultural conditions:
The Arabic languages were fully developed, and poetry was an integral
part in Arab culture.
At Ukaz (site of pre- Islamic fairs and poetry contests in Mecca), on annual
fair, the best poems were written in gold letters and hung on the ka’bah.
Arabs were proud of their expressiveness and regarded all other people as
dumb and mute.
They felt honour in bravery, loyalty to tribe, and bringing glory to their
tribes.
They were always ready to pick a fight and kill. (a minor incident would
escalate , and thousands of lives would be lost.
Political conditions:
Arabs was composed of scattered tribes with nomadic settlements without
any government.
The brave, wealthy and wise would be the tribal chief. Tribal loyalties led
to rivalry.
Disputes arose over cattle pastures, springs of water, horse racing and
minor matters,
Silly disputes would stretch to decades like;
1. Harb-ul-Basus: a fight started with killing camel, stretched to 40
years (494-534) conflict.
2. Battle of Dahis and Ghabra: started over horseracing and lasted for 4
decades.
HAZRAT ABU BAKR R.A:
Biography:
He remained caliph for 2 years, 7 months.
He is buried beside Prophet . ﷺ He was educated & a rich merchant.
Through his influence many distinguished persons were converted to Islam.
Her Daughter Hz. Ayesha R.A is married to prophet, so she is mother of believers
(umul- momineen).
He spent 40,000 to free slaves during 1st 3 Nabvis.
He was involved in several campaigns such as the Uhud, Trench, Invasion of Banu
Qurayza, Battle of Khaybar, the Conquest of Mecca, the Hunayn, the Siege of Ta'if,
and the Battle of Tabuk. He also participated in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
At the time of accession:
Designating Abu Bakr (R.A)to lead the Muslims in prayer in his last days when he was too ill
to lead the prayer. Prophet ﷺalso appointed to Abu Bakr (R.A)to lead the
pilgrimage to Mecca.
Many tribes apostatized and refused to pay Zakat. Many false prophets rose.
Due to illness of prophet , ﷺUsama bin zaid (R.A) was not able to go for Syria
expedition. After prophet ’ ﷺdeath Abu Bakr (R.A) sent his army to Syria.
Some tribes were not prepared to pay Zakat. Hz. Abu Bakr said if they withheld, even as
much as string to tie a camel, he would fight against them.
Campaigns against the apostates
(Rida Wars):
The commanders were instructed that before taking any action against an apostate tribe it
should be called upon to return to Islam.
There were many wars fought and these apostasy campaigns ended within short period of
six months, most of the people were readmitted to Islam after these wars.
Most famous battle is Battle of Yamam, in which 700 Hafiz sahaba martyered. Hz. Abu Bakr
had made a law that those sahaba who took part in the battle of badr are an asset to islam
hence they should not take part in any battle, but in this battle he broke his own law and said
no matter if you took part in Badr or not everyone should go to war.
This war was fought against Muselma Kazaab who claimed himself prophet, Muselma was
killed and rest of the people was readmitted to Islam.
After the huge loss of Hufaz sahaba Hz. Umr suggested Hz. Abu Bakr to compile Quran.
During one of these battle Hz. Khalid (R.A) was charged of murdering a Muslim (Malik), he
said if according to Prophet ﷺHe was the Sword of Allah, how could such sword
fall on the neck of a Muslim. Hence he was not sued.
