Historiography and
Islamic Historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in
developing history as an
academic discipline, and by extension is any body of
historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how
historians have studied that topic using particular sources,
techniques, and theoretical
approaches.
Historiography was more recently defined as "the study of the way history has been and is written – the history of historical writing...
When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the
changing interpretations of those
events in the works of individual
historians."
[HISTORIOGRAPHY OF EARLY ISLAM
The historiography of early Islam refers to the study of the early history of Islam during the 7th century, from Prophet Muhammad’s first revelations in AD 610 until the disintegration of the Four Caliph’s in AD 661, and arguably throughout the 8th century and the duration of the Umayyad Caliphate, terminating in the incipient Islamic Golden Age around the beginning of the 9th century.
Muslim historical traditions first began
developing from the earlier 7th century with the reconstruction of Prohpet Muhammad’s life following his death. Because narratives
regarding Muhammad and his companions came from various sources, it was necessary to verify which sources were more reliable. In order to evaluate these sources, various
methodologies were developed, such as the
"science of biograhpy", " science of hadith”"
and "Isnad" (chain of transmission). These methodologies were later applied to other historical figures in the Muslim world.
the "science of biography" especially as practiced in Islam, where it was first applied to the sira, the life of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and then the lives of the four Caliphs who expanded
Islamic dominance rapidly. Since validating the sayings of Muhammad is a major study ("Isnad"), accurate biography has always been of great
interest to Muslim biographers, who accordingly attempted to sort out facts from accusations, bias from evidence, etc. The earliest surviving Islamic biography is Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, written in the 8th century, but known to us only from
later quotes and recensions (9th–10th century).
The "science of hadith" is the process that Muslim scholars use to evaluate hadith. The classification of Hadith into
Sahih (sound), Hasen (good) and Da’if (weak) was firmly established byAli ibn al-Madini (161–234 AH). Later, al- Madini's student Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870)
authored a collection that he believed contained only Sahih hadith, which is now known as the Sahih Bukhari. Al-
Bukhari's historical methods of testing hadiths and isnads is seen as the beginning of the method of citation and a precursor to the scientific method which was developed by later Muslim scientists.
Other famous Muslim historians who studied the science of biography or science of hadith included Urwah ibn Zubayr (died 712), Wahb ibn Munabbih (died 728), Ibn Ishaq (died 761), al-Waqidi (745–822), Ibn Hisham (died 834)…..amog others.
