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Ramadhan 19 Friday Hijrah 1445
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Title – The Message   Preface   Arabian Peninsula the Cradle of Islamic Culture   Arabia before Islam   Conditions of Roman and Iranian Empires   Ancestors of the Prophet   Birth of the Prophet   Childhood of the Prophet   Rejoining the Family   Period of Youth   From Shepherd to Merchant   From Marriage up to Prophethood   The First Manifestation of Reality   The First Revelation   Who were the First Persons to Embrace Islam?   Cessation of revelation   General Invitation   Judgement of Quraysh about the Holy Qur’an   The First Migration   Rusty Weapons   The Fiction of Gharaniq   Economic Blockade   Death of Abu Talib   Me’raj – The Heavenly Ascension   Journey to Ta’if   The Agreement of Aqabah   The Event of Migration   The Events of the First Year of Migration   Some Events of the First and Second years of Migration   The Events of the Second Year of Migration   Change of Qiblah   The Battle of Badr   Dangerous Designs of the Jews   The Events of the Third Year of Migration   The Events of the Third and Fourth years of Migration   The Jews Quit the Zone of Islam   The Events of the Fourth Year of Migration   The Events of the Fifth Year Of Migration   The Battle of Ahzab   The Last Stage of Mischief   The Events of the Fifth and Sixth years of Migration   The events of the Sixth Year of Migration   A Religious and Political Journey   The Events of the Seventh Year of Migration   Fort of Khayber the Centre of Danger   The Story of Fadak   The Lapsed ‘Umrah   The Events of the Eighth Year of Migration   The Battle of Zatus Salasil   The Conquest of Makkah   The Battle of Hunayn   The Battle of Ta’if   The Famous Panegyric of Ka’b Bin Zuhayr   The Events of the Ninth Year of Migration   The Battle of Tabuk   The Deputation of Thaqif goes to Madina   The Prophet Mourning for his Son   Eradication of Idol-Worship in Arabia   Representatives of Najran in Madina   The Events of the Tenth Year of Migration   The Farewell Hajj   Islam is completed by the Appointment of Successor   The Events of the Eleventh Year of Migration   A Will which was not written   The Last Hours of the Prophet  

 

 

Chapter 5: Important Books Composed by Scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah

 

The most important books compiled in the field of `ilm al-rijal by scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah are four:

  1. Kitab Ibn Mandah, Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Yahya (died 301/913-14).
  2. Hilyat al-‘awliya’ by Abi Nu`aym al-‘Isfahani (died 430/1038-9).
  3. Kitab Abi Musa, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-‘Isfahani (died 581/1185-6), which is a continuation of the work of Ibn Mandah.
  4. Al-‘Isti`ab by Ibn `Abd al-Birr.

After the above four works, other writings on `ilm al-rijal by Sunni scholars were primarily based on them; `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Athir al-Jazari (died 630/1132-3) brought them together in his Usd al-ghabah. AI-Dhahabi produced a summarized version of Usd al-ghabah in his Tajrid Asma’ al-Sahabah, adding some new entries. Badr al-Din Muhammad al-Qudsi and Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Kashghari, too, produced their own condensed versions of the Usd al-ghabah.14

A point worthy of notice here is that Shi`ah scholars of `ilm al-rijal, in the fifth and sixth centuries, named such books as were exclusively related to Shi`ite narrators of hadith as “rijal”, calling accounts of others, including both Shi`ah and Sunni narrators, as “ta’rikh”.15 Another notable point is that, in the past, there existed a mutual, inseparable link between the three disciplines of dirayat al-hadith, `ilm rijal al-hadith and bibliography. Works dealing with one of the topics, invariably discussed issues connected with the other disciplines.

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