The Bible and Islamo-Biblica in Islamic Futūḥ ("Openings", "Conquests") and related literatures

 

IN PROGRESS 2008-9

A considerable body of both Futūḥ (“Conquests”; “Openings”) and Faḍā’il (“Excellences”) traditions and literatures exist from the early Islamic centuries. This is evidenced in various sometimes thematically organized hadīth compilations.  Such literatures grew up in the early Islamic centuries in celebration, for example, of the glory and excellence of the Qur’an and related divine revelations. Tracts and compilations came into being relative to the Islamic conquest and acquisition of specific regions and territories in the Middle East and in celebration, for example,  of particular holy days, persons and geographical locations.  Biblical texts and expository Islamo-biblical testimonia and traditions are often incorporated into these literatures.

al-Azdī, Abu Mikhnaf   (d. 157/774)

  • Futūh al-shām -- apparently incorporated into the Futuh al-Sham listed below.

al-Azdī,  Abu Ismā‘īl Muhammad ibn `Abd-Allah al Azdī, al-Baṣrī (d. c. 190/805).

"The Futūh al-shām by Abū Ismā`īl al-Azdī is one of the earliest extant Arabic sources dealing with the Islamic conquest of Syria and is one of the few extant historical documents from the second/eighth century.... The two surviving manuscripts of Azdī's Futūh al-shām are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, nos. Arabe 1664 and 1665. They comprise 82 and 149 folios, respectively. The first manuscript was copied in Jerusalem on 22 Dhū al-Hijja 613 (21 April 1217) by a Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghassānī. The second, which is clearer than the first, was copied on 1 Dhū al-Qacda 764 (12 August 1363) Arabe 1664 refers to Azdī's text under the title Kitāb mukhtaşar futūh al-shām li-l-Wāqidl (Synopsis of the Conquests of Syria by Waqidï) by Abū Ismā`īl Muhammad ibn  `Abd Allah al-Azdï al-Başrî. But this title does not appear in the other manuscript, and it seems that it was added later by one of the owners of that manuscript." (Mourad 2000: 577,   )

Lees, William Nassau (ed.,) 1853-4

  •  The Fotooh Al-Sham [= Futūḥ al-Shām, "The Conquest of Syria"]. Being An Account of the Muslim Conquests in Syria by Aboo Isma'ail Mohammad Bin `Abd Allah, Al-Azdi Al-Bacri [sic.] who flourished about the middle of the second century of the mohammadan era.  Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica; Collection of Oriental Works (Fasciculus I-IV), 1853-4.  247pp + 58pp (index) and 43pp of English text.

  • The Fotooh al-Shám," being an account of the Moslim conquests in Syria, by ازدي، محمد بن عبد الله. al-Azdī-al-Baṡrī Muḣammad ibn 'Abd Allāh; W Nassau Lees,  Calcutta, [J. Thomas], Baptist Mission Press, 1854.  [This is apparently a second 1854 printing?).

  • Bibliotheca Indica: A Collection of Oriental Works: Volume 16: The Fotooh Al-Sham: Being an Account of the Moslim Conquests in Syria By Aboo Isma'ai'L Mohammad Bin 'Abd Allah, Al Azdi Al-Bacri Who Flourished about the Ensign W.L. Lees (ed.)  Reprint. Biblio Verlag, Osnabruck, Germany, 1980. HBk 15.5 cms x 21.5 cms.

 

  • " Azdī's Futūh al-shām also exists today in two editions. The first was published in Calcutta in 1854 by William N. Lees, who edited the work, with the title Kitāb futūh al-shām, on the basis of one slightly damaged manuscript found in India. A few pages at the beginning of that manuscript are missing or badly worm-eaten, as are another three pages in the body of the text, and few pages at the end of it..." (so Mourad -- there are now actually 3 or 4 printings of the 2 editions )...

`Abd al-Muncim `Āmir, ed. 1970.

  • Tarikh Futūḥ al-Shām   Cairo, 1970

  • "The second edition was published in Cairo in 1970 by `Abd al-Muncim `Āmir. `Āmir, not aware of the presence of the two manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale, claimed to have found another manuscript in Damascus in a private library and to have based his new edition, entitled Tarīkh futūh al-shām, on it.`Āmir described the manuscript he found as complete, compared to the incomplete one Lees had published. However, by comparing both editions, it is clear that `Āmir copied Lees' text, concocting a few additions to make it appear different and more complete. Apparently, neither of the two manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale seems to have been the one used by Lees, because they both contain the folios that are missing from his edition..." (Mourad 2000). 

  • New edition prepared by Lawrence Conrad (see below).

  •  

De Goej, Michael J.

  • Mémoire sur le Fotouho's-Sham attribué à Abou Ismall al-Baçri, in Mémoires d'histoire et de géographie orientales, no. 2 Leiden, 1864.

  • Mourad has shown that de Goej's "negatve criticism" of the Azdi Futuh al-Sham is misleading and inaccurate (see below).

Haneberg, D. B. 

  • Erorterungen uber Psuedo-Wakidi's Gesch. d. Eroberung Syriens, in Adademie der Wissenschaften, Munich. Philosophisch-Historische Abteilung. Abhandlungen, v. 9 (1863) p. [127] ff

Mourad, Suleiman

  • “On Early Islamic Historiography: Abu Isma‘il al-Azdi and his Futuh al-Shām (Conquests of Syria),” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120.4 (2000), 577–593. "

  • The aim of the following study... is to examine this book in the light of newly found evidence, mainly sources that have not been checked by modern researchers or were not available to them. An investigation of the transmission of the Azdī text, as well as the evidence it provides, establishes its authenticity, date, and provenance. Azdī's Futūh al-shām is, in fact, a late second/ eighth century compilation based on a work having the same title by Abu Mikhnaf al-Azdī (d. 157/774) of Kūfa, and hence it depended originally on material that was in circulation in Kūfa." (2000: 577).

Conrad, Lawrence.

  • "Al-Azdi’s History of the Arab Conquests in Bilad al-Shām: Some Historiographical Observations,' in M.A. Bakhit (ed)Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilad al-Shām During the Early Islamic Period up to 40 AH/640 AD, [ed. Muhammad ‘Adnan Bakhit],  vol. 1 pp. 28-62. Amman, 1987. 

  • A new edition and translation of the Azdī text (apparently in prepartaion, see Mopurad 2000:577).

Ibn `Abd al‑Ḥakam (ADD= 803-871 CE).

Futūḥ Miṣr
  • The History of the Conquest of Egypt, North Africa and Spain.  Futūḥ Miṣr . ed. Torrey, Yale Univ. Press: New Haven [=Yale Oriental Series ‑‑Researches III], 1922).  *

The  Futūḥ Miṣr or (as Torrey paraphrased) ‘The History of the Conquest of Egypt, North Africa and Spain’

Richard Gottheil Review: The History of the Conquest of Egypt, North Africa and Spain by Ibn 'Abd Al-Ḥakam by Charles C. Torrey

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 43, (1923), pp. 144-148

al-Balādhurī, Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Jab (ADD/893)

  • Futûh al-buldân. Liber expugnationis regionum, quem e codice Leidensi et codice Musei Brittanici edidit M. J. de Goeje.

  • Editio secunda (photomechanice iterata). Leiden 1968. 4to. (5 lvs, 128 pp. Latin preliminary, 539 pp. Arabic text.).

  • See Brockelmann, GAL 1:142.

  

Donner, Fred M.
  • The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. *
  • The Problem of Early Arabic Historiography in Syria," in Muhammad `Andan al-Bakhit, ed. Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilad al-Shām during the Early Islmaic Period up to 40 A.H./640 A.D. The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Shām (English and French Papers) (Amman: University of Jordan, 1987), 1-27.

 

[Pseudo-] al-Wāqidī, Abi `Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn `Umar ibn Wāqidī (d.207/822).

  • Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi  ("Book of History and Campaigns")

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Cairo: XXX., 1373/1954.

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").  2 vols. in 1 . Beirut : al-Maktabah al-Ahliyah, 138X/1966

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Beirut: Dar al-Jīl. n.d.. 312+310+2pp.

  • Futūḥ al-Shām ("The Conquest of Syria").. 2 vols. in 1 . Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya. 2005. 696pp.

  • The Islamic Conquest of Syria, A translation of the FutuhuShām: The inspiring history of Sahabah's conquest of Syria. Translated by Mawlana Sulayman al-Kindi, 1426 AH/2005 CE. ISBN 1-84200 06-7 5.  584pp.

  • The Islâmic conquest of Syria : a translation of Futûhushâm : the inspiring history of the Sahabâh's conquest of Syria / as narrated by the great historian of Islâm al-Imâm al-Wâqidî ; translated by Mawlânâ Sulaymân al-Kindî. London : Ta-Ha, 2005. xiv, 584 pp + maps.

 

 

Ali ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allah ibn `Abd Allah, Thiqat al-Din, Abū al-Qasim =

Ibn `Asākir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi`i al-Ash`ari (499-571/ d. 1175)

Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq (=TMD).

Important papers and details of the publications history of this extensive and extremely important Arabic work can be read in  James E. Lindsay (ed), Ibn `Asakir And Early Islamic History, Princeton, New Jerdey: The Darwin Press, 2001. See especially, Suleiman A. Mourad, `Appendix A. Publication History of the TMD' pp.127-133.

  • Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq. ed. `Umar ibn Gharama al-`Amrawi and `Ali Shiri. 80 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1995-2001. 

  • CDRom version  of the above was published in Amman (Jordan), Dar al-Turath, 200?.

  • Ta'rīkh Madīnat Dimashq. ed. `Alī Āshūr (76 vols. in) 40 vols. . Beirut: Dar al-Ihya al-Turath al-`Arabi, 2001. 

Fada'il ashab al-hadith i (11 vols);  Fadl al-Jumu`a;  Fadl Quraysh; Fada'il al-Siddiq, Fada'il Makka; Fada'il al-Madina; Fada'il Bayt al-Muqaddas, Fada'il `Ashura';  Fada'il al-Muharram; Fada'il Sha`ban.

Little, Donald P.

  • Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa al-Khalil wa-fadal'il al-Shām. Reviews the book `Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis wa al-Khalil wa fada'il al-Shām,' by Abu al-Ma ali al-Musharraf Ibn al-Murajja Ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdis, edited by Ofer Livne-Kafri. in Journal of the American Oriental Society; Jul-Sep 1999, Vol. 119 Issue 3, pp. 549. 

Morray, David

  •  Review of  `Fada'il Bayt al-Magdis wa-al-Khalil wa-fadal'il al-Shām,' edited by Ofer Livne-Kafri  in  Journal of Semitic Studies; Autumn 96, Vol. 41 Issue 2, pp. 360,-3. 
    ISSN: 0022-4480

Kennedy, Hugh (Review)

Abu 'l-Ma'ali al-Musharraf b. al-Murajja b. Ibrahim al-Maqdisi

  • Fada'il bayt al-maqdis wa al-khalil wa-fada'il al-Shām by Ofer Livne-Kafri,  Review in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), Vol. 62, No. 1 (1999), p. 206.

 

Mourad, Suleiman. 

  • Sirat al-sayyid al-Masih li-Ibn 'Asakir al-dimashqi (The Biography of Jesus by Ibn 'Asākir of Damascus). Amman: Dār al-Shurūq), 1996.

 

 

 

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al-Waqidi

  • Futūh al-Iraq (Conquests of Iraq)

Shihab ad-Din Admad ibn Abd-al-Qadir

  • Futūh al-Habasa (Conquests of Abyssinia) .