Al-Waqidi

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Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ' أبو عبد الله محمد بن عمر بن واقد ‏) (c. 130 - 207 AH; c. 748 - 822 AD), commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: الواقدي), was an early Arab Muslim historian.

He was born and educated in Madina. When Harun al-Rashid made his hajj in 186 AH, he visited Madina. He sent his vizier Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Barmak ahead to locate a suitable guide and Yahya chose al-Waqidi. He followed the caliph back to Baghdad where he lived thereafter. At time of his death he was qadi of the western side of Baghdad.

Al-Waqidi was a tireless collector of traditions and the author of many books. His secretary, Muhammad Ibn Sa`d was also a famous historian. He made use of the information collected by al-Waqidi. Both of them wrote biographies of the prophet Muhammad that are important supplements to the "Sirat Rasul Allah" of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, but al-Waqidi's has survived only in part.

Only one of al-Waqidi's works has survived - "Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi" ("Book of History and Campaigns") which describes the campaigns, Arabic Ghazw made by Muhammad while he was ruling in Madina. Another work still often ascribed to al-Waqidi, "Futuh al-Sham" ("Conquests of Syria"), contains characters from the sixth Islamic century, long after the time al-Waqidi lived. al-Waqidi has been frequently criticized by Muslim writers, who claim that he is unreliable. Imam Shafi'i says that,"the books written by Al-Waqidi are nothing but heaps of lies".

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Last updated on Tuesday February 05, 2008 at 03:00:34 PST (GMT -0800)
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