The Origins of The Islamic State Being pdf download

The Origins of The Islamic State Being – Translation From The Arabic Accompanied With Annotations Geographic And Historic Notes Of The Kitab Futuh Al-Buldan Of al-Imam Abdu-l’Abbas Ahmad ibn Jabir al-Baladhuri PHILIP KAURI HITTI

THE ORIGINS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE BEING

Arabic Historiography with Special Reference To Al-Baladhuri

ALTHOUGH rudimentary elements of historiography can be traced back to the description of the “ days ”, i. e., the battles between the tribes, and such stories as the “Ma’rib dam ”, “ the owners of the elephant” and the digging of the “Zamzam well”—all of the pre-Islamic antiquity—, yet Arabic historical writing, in the strict sense of the term, is a branch of Islamic literature. Interest in Muhammad necessitated the compilation of traditions (Ar. ḥadîth) relating to the life and campaigns of the Prophet and his companions.

The communistic theocracy of warriors under the early caliphs, and particularly ‘Umar’s system of assigning state pensions to Moslems according to their kinship to the Prophet, gave impetus to the study of genealogy in which even pagan Arabs, who attached special importance to descent, were interested.

The elucidation of passages in poetry, one of the earliest and most fully-developed modes of expression among the Arabs, and the necessity of determining persons and places referred to in their religious literature made philologists apply themselves to historical research.

The three sources of Arabian history, therefore, are (1) pre-Islamic stories, (2) traditions relative to the life and campaigns of the Prophet and the companions, and (3) genealogical lists and poetical compositions. The earliest books of history are biography (Sirah), books of campaigns (magazi), and books of genealogy and classes (ansâb wa-tabaķât).

The domains of theology, law, and history in their early rise overlap and are not sharply defined from one another.

No student of Arabic literature fails to be impressed with the fact that the bearers of the torch of learning among the Arabs were in most cases of foreign and particularly of Persian stock.

This is to be explained by the fact that public opinion considered it contemptible for the Arab to busy himself with the pursuit of knowledge to the neglect of the noble art of warring. To this general tendency, however, studying anecdotes, transmitting traditions, and remember- ing stories—especially if they commemorated the deeds of heroes, orators, and poets, formed a conspicuous example.

We read in al-Mas’ûdi ‘ that Mu’âwiyah the founder of the Umayyad dynasty “devoted one-third of the night to the reading of the news and battles of the Arabs and non- Arabs.” Do we also read in al-Bayân?

that al-Manşûr the Abbasid caliph after long hesitation decided to put Abu-Muslim al-Khurâsâni to death as a result of hearing an anecdote about Sapor the Persian king.

 One of the favorite sayings in early Islam was the following found in al-‘Iķd al-Farid 3: “For kings the study of genealogy and histories, for warriors the study of battles and biography, and merchants the study of writing and arithmetic.”

 The chief source from which history writing flowed was tradition (hadith). It was a pious custom that when Moslems met, one should ask for news (hadith), and the other should relate a saying or anecdote of Muḥammad. Each event is related in words of eyewitnesses or contemporaries and transmitted to the final narrator through a chain of intermediate reporters. The authenticity of the reported fact