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The opening folio of a manuscript of Maghazi al-Waqidi

Maghāzī-writing is a branch of Sira-writing that deals with reporting the events related to the Ghazwas of the Prophet (s). Shi'as are considered to have a broad share in Maghazi-writing. The Kitab al-Maghazi of al-Waqidi is counted among the important foundations of Maghazi-writing, upon whose reports many later writings in Maghazi and Sira rely.

The importance of the Maghazi of the Messenger of God (s) was considered so great that in the early era of the compilation of the Prophetic Sira (s), Islamic historians dedicated themselves specifically to collecting news related to the battles of the Prophet (s). The composition of Maghazi in the history of Islam, due to the writing of monographs on Ghazwas, took shape very early and before the writing of comprehensive Sira books. Muhammad b. Ishaq (d. 151/768) is considered a pioneer in collecting and writing Maghazi.

In the field of Maghazi-writing, the existence of a significant volume of Sira and Maghazi narrations in the hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), alongside narrations regarding the attention of the Imams (a) to knowing Maghazi and Sira, is counted as evidence of the attention of the companions of the Imams (a) and Shi'as to Maghazi-writing. In some sources, fifteen Shi'a authors from among the companions of the Imams (a) are mentioned who have a book titled Al-Maghazi among their works; such as Abu Mikhnaf and Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi.

Meaning and Status

Maghazi-writing is considered an important branch of Sira-writing whose purpose is to report events related to the Ghazwas and Sariyyas of the era of the Prophet (s).[1] The importance of the Maghazi of the Messenger of God (s) was considered so great that in the early era of the compilation of the Prophetic Sira (s), Islamic historians dedicated themselves specifically to collecting news related to the battles of the Prophet (s).[2]

According to Sadiq A'inavand (d. 2015), a researcher of Islamic history, early historians of Islam used the terms Maghazi and Sira synonymously; in their view, Sira and Maghazi were the description of conditions and the expression of events of the life of the Prophet (s), and based on this, Maghazi-writing would be the same as Prophetic Sira-writing (s).[3] Accordingly, in his view, one must distinguish between two usages of Maghazi, general and specific: its general usage is the Prophetic Sira (s) and the knowledge related to it, i.e., Sira-writing; but its specific usage is the events of the Ghazwas of the Messenger of God (s), and the knowledge related to it would be Maghazi-writing.[4]

Al-Maghazi written by Muhammad b. Umar al-Waqidi (d. 207/823)

According to some researchers, the existence of these two types of usage, general and specific, regarding Maghazi has made it difficult to thematically distinguish between works titled Maghazi in early works of Islamic history, especially lost works.[5] On the other hand, it is said that some writings on Maghazi were within Sira-writing works and comprised a significant portion of their volume;[6] such that in the titles of these Sira books, the title Maghazi was also included.[7]

Early Writings

The writing of Maghazi in the history of Islam is considered very early due to the writing of monographs on Ghazwas, preceding the writing of comprehensive Sira books.[8] Some researchers have considered the reason for this precedence to be the existence of remnants of the Ayyam al-Arab thought (narrating the wars of Arabs before Islam) in the historical mentality of early Islamic historians; a matter which caused them to undertake the writing of works on wars as the most important event in the field of social life.[9]

Regarding the writing of Maghazi, like Sira-writing, it is said that initially, it was linked with the compilation of Hadith.[10] Accordingly, the context for the emergence of early writings in the field of Maghazi is also considered to be the chapters of Maghazi and Sira in hadith books, which after some time received independent attention.[11] Also, the School of Historiography of Medina has been called the School of Maghazi due to the presence of the Prophet (s) and the greater presence of the Sahaba there.[12]

In some sources, ʿUrwa, the son of Zubayr b. al-Awwam (d. 94/712-13), is called a pioneer in Maghazi-writing;[13] however, like Sira-writing, Muhammad b. Ishaq (d. 151/768), the pioneer in writing a codified and coherent Sira, is also considered the pioneer of collecting and writing Maghazi.[14]

According to some researchers, many early Maghazi books have been lost; however, one of them remains despite its antiquity: the book Al-Maghazi written by Muhammad b. Umar al-Waqidi (d. 207/823).[15] This book is considered one of the important foundations upon whose reports many later writings in Maghazi and Sira rely.[16]

A work by the Shi'a historian Aban b. Uthman al-Ahmar

Status of Shi'as in Writing Maghazi

In the field of Maghazi-writing, the existence of a significant volume of Sira and Maghazi narrations in the hadiths of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), including Imam al-Baqir (a), alongside narrations regarding the attention of the Imams (a) to knowing Maghazi and Sira, is counted as evidence of the attention of the companions of the Imams (a) and Shi'as to Maghazi-writing;[17] among these narrations, reference is made to a narration from Imam al-Sajjad (a):[18] "We, the Ahl al-Bayt (a), teach the history of the Maghazi and Sariyyas of the Prophet (s) to our children just as [we teach] a Surah of the Surahs of the Quran."[19]

Individuals such as Sayyid Hasan al-Sadr[20] and Agha Buzurg Tihrani,[21] by enumerating reasons for the Shi'ism of Muhammad b. Ishaq, have considered the Shi'a as the founders of Maghazi-writing. Also, Agha Buzurg Tihrani has recorded al-Waqidi, the author of the most important Maghazi-writing work, among Shi'a authors.[22]

Based on this, it is said that Shi'as, following their Imams, have had a broad share in Maghazi-writing.[23] Such that in Shi'a Rijal and bibliographical works, many writings titled Maghazi are attributed to some Shi'a authors; for example, it is said[24] that Agha Buzurg Tihrani (d. 1389/1970) in the book Al-Dhari'a mentioned fifteen Shi'a authors, from the companions of the Imams (a), who have a book titled Maghazi among their works;[25] including:

Notes

  1. ↑ Āʾīnawand, ʿIlm-i tārīkh dar gustara-yi tamaddun-i Islāmī, vol. 1, p. 288; Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 102.
  2. ↑ Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 102.
  3. ↑ Āʾīnawand, ʿIlm-i tārīkh dar gustara-yi tamaddun-i Islāmī, vol. 1, p. 288.
  4. ↑ Āʾīnawand, ʿIlm-i tārīkh dar gustara-yi tamaddun-i Islāmī, vol. 1, p. 288.
  5. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s), p. 363.
  6. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s), pp. 203–205.
  7. ↑ For examples see: Munajjid, Muʿjam mā ullifa ʿan Rasūl Allāh (s), pp. 110, 113, 122.
  8. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s), p. 363.
  9. ↑ Dūrī, Baḥth fī nashʾat ʿilm al-taʾrīkh ʿind al-ʿArab, p. 29.
  10. ↑ Ḥusayniyān Muqaddam, Taṭawwur-shināsī-yi sīra-nigārī, p. 48.
  11. ↑ Āʾīnawand, ʿIlm-i tārīkh dar gustara-yi tamaddun-i Islāmī, vol. 1, p. 250.
  12. ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Manābiʿ-i tārīkh-i Islām, pp. 55–56; Ḥusayniyān Muqaddam, Taṭawwur-shināsī-yi sīra-nigārī, p. 48; Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 105.
  13. ↑ Ḥājī Khalīfa, Kashf al-ẓunūn, vol. 2, p. 1746.
  14. ↑ Ḥājī Khalīfa, Kashf al-ẓunūn, vol. 2, p. 1746; Ṣadr, Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa, p. 232.
  15. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s), p. 363.
  16. ↑ Naṣṣār, Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s), pp. 363–364.
  17. ↑ Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 105.
  18. ↑ Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 105.
  19. ↑ Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-akhlāq al-rāwī, vol. 2, p. 228; Ṣāliḥī al-Shāmī, Subul al-hudā wa l-rashād, vol. 4, p. 10.
  20. ↑ Ṣadr, Taʾsīs al-Shīʿa, pp. 232–233.
  21. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, vol. 21, pp. 290–291.
  22. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, vol. 21, p. 290.
  23. ↑ Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 106.
  24. ↑ Yaʿqūbī & Muntaẓerī Muqaddam, "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī", p. 106.
  25. ↑ Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, vol. 21, pp. 289–290.

References

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  • Ḥājī Khalīfa, Muṣṭafā b. ʿAbd Allāh. Kashf al-ẓunūn ʿan asāmī al-kutub wa al-funūn. Baghdad, Maktabat al-Muthannā, 1941.
  • Ḥusayniyān Muqaddam, Ḥusayn. Taṭawwur-shināsī-yi sīra-nigārī bā takya bar naqsh-i aṣḥāb-i Imāmān (a). Qom, Pazhūhishgāh-i Ḥawza wa Dānishgāh, 1395 Sh.
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  • Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Jāmiʿ li-akhlāq al-rāwī wa ādāb al-sāmiʿ. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAjjāj Khaṭīb. Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Risāla, 1417 AH.
  • Munajjid, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn. Muʿjam mā ullifa ʿan Rasūl Allāh (s). Edited by Nādī ʿAṭṭār. Cairo, Dār al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ lil-Turāth, n.d.
  • Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Edited by Sayyid Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1418 AH.
  • Naṣṣār, ʿAmmār ʿAbūdī. Taḥawwul-i sīra-nigārī-yi Payāmbar (s) nazd-i muvarrikhān-i Musalmān tā pāyān-i ʿaṣr-i ʿAbbāsī. Translated by Āmina Mūsawī Shajarī & Sayf-ʿAlī Zāhidī-far. Qom, Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm wa Farhang-i Islāmī, 1399 Sh.
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  • Ṣāliḥī al-Shāmī, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf. Subul al-hudā wa l-rashād fī sīrat khayr al-ʿibād. Edited by ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd & ʿAlī Muḥammad Muʿawwaḍ. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1414 AH.
  • Yaʿqūbī, Mahdī & Ḥāmid Muntaẓerī Muqaddam. "Barrasī-yi dānish-i maghāzī-nigārī bā taʾkīd bar Maghāzī-yi Wāqidī". Nashriya-yi Maʿrifat. No. 196 (Farvardin 1393 Sh).
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