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Template:Infobox Book Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa (Arabic: الإمامَةُ و السّیاسَة) is a historical book attributed to Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari which narrates the events of the 1st to the 3rd century AH (7th to 9th century CE), adopting an approach close to that of the Shi'a in some instances.

Some researchers consider the accounts in Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa regarding historical issues disputed between the Shi'a and the Sunnis—such as the incident of Saqifa and the subsequent disagreements—to be inclined towards the Shi'a perspective. Some Sunni authors have argued that the author was Shi'a because he mentioned the Incident of the attack on the house of Lady Fatima (a); a claim that has been rejected by researchers.

Differing opinions have been expressed regarding the reliability of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa. Some consider it a valuable historical text from the 3rd/9th century, arguing that doubts about the author's identity do not diminish its value. Others regard it as containing incorrect information and the work of an unknown and weak author.

The book is also referred to as Taʾrīkh al-khulafāʾ (History of the Caliphs). The author tracks the history of the caliphs from the accession of Abu Bakr up to the conflict between al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the caliphate.

Various theories have been proposed by researchers regarding the author of this book. Some have rejected the attribution of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa to Ibn Qutayba, citing reasons such as the inconsistency of the book's prose and historiographical method with Ibn Qutayba's other works. Others, such as Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Kharsan, have refuted the arguments presented to disprove the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba.

Status and Reliability

Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa, attributed to Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari (213/828 – 276/889), is a historical book from the 3rd/9th or 4th/10th century regarding which differing opinions have been expressed. Some have considered it a valuable historical text from the 3rd century AH, stating that doubts regarding the identity of its author do not reduce its validity.[1]

Others, including Muhammad Qazvini, a bibliographer and editor of texts, have considered this book to contain many historical errors and superstitious contents, which indicate the scholarly weakness of its author.[2]

The lack of certainty regarding the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba, alongside the omission of chains of transmission (isnād) for historical reports, are considered other reasons for the unreliability of this book.[3] According to some researchers, if this book were not attributed to Ibn Qutayba, it would not have achieved fame due to the weakness of its content.[4]

View on Shi'ism in the Book

The reports of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa regarding historical positions disputed between the Shi'a and the Sunnis, such as Saqifa and the subsequent disagreements, have been considered inconsistent with the religious orientation of Ibn Qutayba and close to the Shi'a approach.[5]

Some Sunni authors[6] have criticized the author for narrating reports that lead to casting aspersions on the Sahaba (Companions), especially in narrating events related to Saqifa and the allegiance of Imam 'Ali (a) to Abu Bakr.[7] Some have also argued for the Shi'ism of the author due to his mention of the Incident of the attack on the house of Lady Fatima (a);[8] a matter that has been rejected by researchers.[9]

References to the verbal altercation between Imam 'Ali (a) and Umar b. al-Khattab during the coercion of Imam 'Ali (a) to pledge allegiance to the first caliph,[10] and Imam 'Ali (a) going with Lady Fatima al-Zahra (a) to the doors of the Ansar to seek help for reclaiming the right of Caliphate,[11] are counted among reports that are rarely found in sources contemporary to this book.[12]

Sources and Content

Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa is also referred to as Taʾrīkh al-khulafāʾ.[13] In terms of sources, Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa is considered to contain a disorganized collection of works by historians of the 1st century AH.[14] It is said that traces of lost works by great historians of the early Islamic centuries can be found in this book.[15]

Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa is considered to contain unique historical reports[16] which are confirmed by other sources, although the exact text of these reports does not appear elsewhere.[17] For this reason, this book is considered one of the primary sources for the history of the caliphs up to the early Abbasid era.[18]

The author tracks the history of the caliphs from the time of the accession of the first caliph to the conflicts between al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the Caliphate.[19] Reports related to the era of the first and second caliphs are narrated very briefly.[20] Subsequently, the author deals with the news of the period of Imam 'Ali's (a) caliphate in detail, such that it occupies one-quarter of the book's volume.[21] From the news of the Muslim conquests, the author covers the conquest of North Africa and Andalusia, and with a brief mention of the Marwanids, he addresses the rise of the Abbasids and mentions the news of the early caliphs of this dynasty.[22]

About the Author's Identity

Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim al-Dīnawarī was of Iranian origin and Sunni denomination. He authored numerous works in various fields of religious sciences and literature.[23]

Various theories have been presented by researchers regarding the attribution of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa to al-Dinawari.[24] It is said that the subject of the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba al-Dinawari has been discussed since at least the 6th century AH.[25] In the 6th century, Judge Abu Bakr b. al-Arabi (468/1076 – 543/1148) attributed Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa to Ibn Qutayba.[26] Among contemporary scholars, it is said that the first person to doubt the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba was Pascual de Gayangos, a 19th-century Spanish orientalist.[27]

Persian translation of Al-Imama wa l-Siyasa

A number of researchers have rejected the attribution of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa to Ibn Qutayba citing the following reasons:[28]

  • The prose of the book differs from other works of Ibn Qutayba;[29] this has been considered the most important reason for not attributing the book to him.[30]
  • Before the 6th and 7th centuries, authors who mentioned Ibn Qutayba did not list this book in his bibliography.[31]
  • The historiographical method of the author of this book differs from Ibn Qutayba's method in his historical works, including Al-Ma'arif.[32]
  • The religious orientation of the author, which is visible in some parts of the book, differs from Ibn Qutayba's religious orientation.[33]

Some of the reasons for rejecting the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba have been challenged.[34] Sayyid Muhammad Mahdi Kharsan, an editor and biographer, in an article attempted to refute all arguments presented for rejecting the attribution of this book to Ibn Qutayba.[35] Regarding the difference in prose and historiographical method of Ibn Qutayba in Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa, he states: those who have made such a claim have not provided evidence by comparing these works; thus their claim is groundless.[36] To refute the second claim, Kharsan mentions six early writers and ten later scholars who have considered Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa among Ibn Qutayba's works.[37]

Manuscripts and Publication

Several manuscripts of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa exist.[38] In 2009, Rasul Jafariyan published a facsimile of an old manuscript (8th century AH) of this book, kept in the Parliament Library, along with articles regarding the attribution or non-attribution of the book to Ibn Qutayba.[39]

The text of Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa has been published multiple times in Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon, attributed to Ibn Qutayba, with non-critical editing.[40] The Persian translation of this book titled Imāmat wa siyāsat (Tārīkh-i khulafāʾ bar asās-i dīdgāh wa manābiʿ-i Ahl-i Tasannun) was published in 2001 by Qoqnoos Publications, translated by Nasir Tabataba'i.[41]

Notes

  1. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201; Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 155.
  2. ↑ Qazvīnī, Yāddāsht-hā-yi Qazvīnī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, pp. 109–110; Muṣṭafā, Al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī wa l-muʾarrikhūn, 1983, vol. 1, p. 242; Sālārī Shādī, «Shakhṣīyyat wa āthār-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», pp. 68–69.
  3. ↑ Bayḍūn, Al-Ḥijāz wa l-dawla al-Islāmiyya, 1983, p. 19.
  4. ↑ Sālārī Shādī, «Shakhṣīyyat wa āthār-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», p. 69.
  5. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201; Muḥammad Nūr, «Ibn Qutayba wa kitāb al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 246.
  6. ↑ Ibn al-ʿArabī, Al-ʿAwāṣim min al-qawāṣim, 1997, p. 353.
  7. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  8. ↑ Mawlāyī-niyā & Asadī, «Barrasī-yi iddiʿā-yi tashayyuʿ-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», p. 128.
  9. ↑ Mawlāyī-niyā & Asadī, «Barrasī-yi iddiʿā-yi tashayyuʿ-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», pp. 128–129.
  10. ↑ Ibn Qutayba, Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa, 1410 AH, p. 29.
  11. ↑ Ibn Qutayba, Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa, 1410 AH, p. 29.
  12. ↑ ʿAllāmātī, «Ibn Qutayba», p. 111.
  13. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  14. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  15. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  16. ↑ Bayḍūn, Al-Ḥijāz wa l-dawla al-Islāmiyya, 1983, p. 19; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  17. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  18. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  19. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 155; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  20. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 155.
  21. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 155.
  22. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 155.
  23. ↑ Lecomte, «Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», p. 166; Ādharnūsh, «Ibn Qutayba», pp. 447–460.
  24. ↑ Muḥammad Nūr, «Ibn Qutayba wa kitāb al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 248.
  25. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  26. ↑ Ibn al-ʿArabī, Al-ʿAwāṣim min al-qawāṣim, 1997, p. 353.
  27. ↑ Muṣṭafā, Al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī wa l-muʾarrikhūn, 1983, vol. 1, p. 241; Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  28. ↑ Qazvīnī, Yāddāsht-hā-yi Qazvīnī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 110; Ibn Qutayba, Al-Maʿārif, 1992, editor's intro, p. 56; Muṣṭafā, Al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī wa l-muʾarrikhūn, 1983, vol. 1, pp. 241–242; Ādharnūsh, «Ibn Qutayba», p. 459; Dhakāwatī Qarāgūzlū, «Sīrī dar ʿUyūn al-akhbār», p. 77.
  29. ↑ Qazvīnī, Yāddāsht-hā-yi Qazvīnī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 109; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 200.
  30. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 200.
  31. ↑ Qazvīnī, Yāddāsht-hā-yi Qazvīnī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 109; Ibn Qutayba, Al-Maʿārif, 1992, editor's intro, p. 56; Ibn Qutayba, ʿUyūn al-akhbār, 1996, editor's intro, vol. 4, p. 36.
  32. ↑ Qazvīnī, Yāddāsht-hā-yi Qazvīnī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 110; Muṣṭafā, Al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī wa l-muʾarrikhūn, 1983, vol. 1, p. 242; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 200.
  33. ↑ Muṣṭafā, Al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī wa l-muʾarrikhūn, 1983, vol. 1, p. 241; Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 200.
  34. ↑ Sālārī Shādī, «Shakhṣīyyat wa āthār-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī», p. 66.
  35. ↑ Kharsān, «Ḥawl al-nisba kitāb al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa ilā Ibn Qutayba», pp. 59–70.
  36. ↑ Kharsān, «Ḥawl al-nisba kitāb al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa ilā Ibn Qutayba», p. 67.
  37. ↑ Kharsān, «Ḥawl al-nisba kitāb al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa ilā Ibn Qutayba», pp. 59–70.
  38. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  39. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, 1392 Sh, p. 201.
  40. ↑ Bahrāmiyān, «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa», p. 156.
  41. ↑ Ibn Qutayba, Imāmat wa siyāsat, 1380 Sh, p. 4.

References

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  • ʿAllāmātī, Ṣādiq. «Ibn Qutayba». In Kitāb-i māh-i tārīkh wa jughrāfiyā. No. 150. Ābān 1389 Sh.
  • Bahrāmiyān, ʿAlī. «Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa». In Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī. Vol. 10. Tehran, Markaz-i Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, 1380 Sh.
  • Bayḍūn, Ibrāhīm. Al-Ḥijāz wa l-dawla al-Islāmiyya (Dirāsa fī ishkāliyyat al-ʿalāqa maʿ al-sulṭa al-markaziyya fī l-qarn al-awwal al-hijrī). Beirut, Al-Muʾassasa al-Jāmiʿiyya li-l-Dirāsāt wa l-Nashr wa l-Tawzīʿ, 1983.
  • Dhakāwatī Qarāgūzlū, ʿAlī Riḍā. «Sīrī dar ʿUyūn al-akhbār-i Ibn Qutayba Dīnawarī». In Faṣlnāma-yi Maʿārif. No. 33. Ādhar-Isfand 1373 Sh.
  • Ibn al-ʿArabī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Naṣṣ al-kāmil li-kitāb al-ʿawāṣim min al-qawāṣim. Cairo, Maktabat Dār al-Turāth, 1997.
  • Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim. Al-Imāma wa l-siyāsa. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. Beirut, Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1410 AH.
  • Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim. Al-Maʿārif. Edited by Tharwat ʿUkāsha. Cairo, Al-Hayʾa al-Miṣriyya al-ʿĀmma li-l-Kitāb, 1992.
  • Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim. Imāmat wa siyāsat (Tārīkh-i khulafāʾ bar asās-i dīdgāh wa manābiʿ-i Ahl-i Tasannun). Translated by Sayyid Nāṣir Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Qoqnoos, 1380 Sh.
  • Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim. ʿUyūn al-akhbār. Edited by Aḥmad Zakī al-ʿAdawī. Cairo, Dār al-Kutub wa l-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyya, 1996.
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