The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad

Library of Arabic Literature

by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid, Sean W. Anthony (Editor and Translator)

The Expeditions is one of the oldest biographies of the Prophet Muhammad to survive into the modern era. Its primary author, Maʿmar ibn Rashid (714-770 AD/96-153 AH), was a prominent scholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning in prophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qurʾan. This fascinating foundational seminal work contains stories handed down by Maʿmar to his most prominent pupil, ʿAbd al-Razzaq of Sanʿaʾ, relating Muhammad’s early life and prophetic career as well as the adventures and tribulations of his earliest followers during their conquest of the Near East.

Edited from a sole surviving manuscript, the Arabic text offers numerous improved readings over those of previous editions, including detailed notes on the text’s transmission and variants as found in later works. This new translation, which renders the original into readable, modern English for the first time, is accompanied by numerous annotations elucidating the cultural, religious and historical contexts of the events and individuals described within its pages.

The Expeditions represents an important testimony to the earliest Muslims’ memory of the lives of Muhammad and his companions, and is an indispensable text for gaining insight into the historical biography of both the Prophet and the rise of the Islamic empire.

Genres: Islam, Religion, History, Biography

424 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2014

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Should you being putting together a curriculum on Islam, you'll want to include the Quran of course and a collection of Hadith and then too something about the life and doings of Muhammad, of which this last volume is an example. My standard recommendation of The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary was redoubled in reading this life of Muhammad insofar as the commentary in The Study Quran had already familiarized me with (let's estimate) a third to a half of the material covered in here. One quickly gets the impression that the context of the life of Muhammad and the early Muslims (ie, distinguish between the Emigrants and the Allies, the Meccan period and the Medinan period) is essential to understanding the seemingly abstracted Quranic revelations. Quranic verses were revealed within concrete historical contexts which, frankly, leave little to no traces within the Quran itself and so knowledge of this other stuff like Muhammad's sayings and doings becomes essential so that your readings of the Quran don't start sounding like Jack van Impe's of the Xian scriptures.

At any rate, what you really want to know ;; for readers of novels and other narrative fans, there is material here of a much greater interest than either the Quran and Hadith, both of which totally lack any kind of narrative structuring.

And for the scholarly geek, not only are these LAL volumes first rate ( ToC ::
Letter from the General Editor
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Note on the Text
Timeline
Arabia and the Near East in the 7th Century
Mecca and Medina During the Lifetime of the Prophet
Notes to the Frontmatter
THE EXPEDITIONS
Notes
Glossary of Names, Places, and Terms
Genealogical Table of the Quraysh of Mecca
Bibliography
Further Reading
Index
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute
About the Typefaces
About the Editor-Translator)
but you also get a view into the scholarly apparatus of orally transmitted scholarship ; i.e., how when writing was viewed as cheating and the only true knowledge was the knowledge known by heart and transmitted verbally from teacher to student ;; i.e., the foot/endnotes of an oral academy, for instance :: "'Abd al-Razzaq, on the authority of Ma'mar, on the authority of al-Zuhri, who said: Kathir ibn al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib reported to me on the authority of his father, al-'Abbas, who said:" and follows some episode.

At any rate, The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muhammad is now available from LAL in a very affordable (and atrractice!) monolingual paperback. I can't imagine, in This Day And Age, a single cogent reason for any voter in the USofA to not read it. (or some other thing on the life of Muhammad and the early Muslim community, and it might be some modern volume of scholarship ; but these ancient primary sources are pretty damn cool too).

[ReemK10 (Paper Pills) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love about the LAL translations are the footnotes! This scholarly translation excels in providing a picture of the Messenger of God as a just man. Readers will appreciate these early biographies that correlate with verses from the Quran. That we even have a written account from the 8th century that comes with recorded chains of transmission from verifiable eyewitnesses is in itself staggering. An inspiring account that should be required reading for anyone who can appreciate the preservation of such a text!

[Tahir Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historicity of this work and its importance as an early source of information and making it available in the English language for the first time is a landmark. I can’t fault it in that sense. However as a biography, and this is of no blame on the translator and publishers, it unfortunately falls short of what you would expect from a traditional biography.

The book is accredited to Ma‘mar ibn Rāshid (d. 153/770) of Basra, a contemporary of Ibn Ishāq (d.151/768) the author of the famous al-Sīrah rasūl al-Nabawiyyah (The Prophetic Biography). The information gathered in this work by Ibn Rāshid is primarily from one of the greatest scholars of the tābi (contemporaries of the Companions) generation, Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 124/742) of Medina, who was one of the principal teachers of Mālik ibn Anas (d.179/795). The version that survives today is through the student of Ibn Rāshid, ‘Abd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām al-San’ānī (known for his hadith collection “The Musannaf of ‘Abd al-Razzāq”) of Sanaa (d.211/827) hence it is according to his redaction as found in his Musannaf as he recorded it and preserved it. The relevant section of his Musannaf survives only in a single partial manuscript which dates to 747/1347 and is currently held at the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, Turkey. However, the translator has taken in to account the different riwāyāt (transmissions) of the text (as he explains in the notes to the text) to bring this work to an English speaking/reading audience.

The translator, Sean W. Anthony provides an introduction which explains the formation of the text and the personalities involved, it is a good overview. This includes a brief explanation of the format of this work. He covers the origin of the book and how it was composed through the maghāzī traditions, a subgenre of ḥadīth. It has been named “The Expeditions” which is the term given to the Arabic “maghāzī” but as the author points out; this does not do justice to the Arabic word in the fullest sense. The word doesn’t actually connote “biography” as we understand it but rather “a place where a raid/expedition (ghazwah) was made” hence the many narrations found in this work revolve around this aspect i.e. battles. The introduction is well written and informative and it was intriguing to learn that the son of ʻUthmān ibn ʻAffān (d. 35/655), Abān ibn ʻUthmān (d. 105/723) wrote a book containing the conduct (siyar) of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) and his expeditions. This work was allegedly burnt on orders of the caliph for praising the anṣār (Medinese Companions) too much and thus it was lost, if it indeed ever existed.

As a biography it is missing certain events/information so viewing it as a biography where you would expect events beginning from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) to everything in between and then his passing is not what you find here. This is not a traditional biography in the modern sense. The Expeditions is a collection of materials and though some major events are present, the omissions are noticeable and it is unknown whether they ever existed or if ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-San’ānī did not transmit them. This is made even more noticeable through the structure of the work. There is no concern for chronology hence you can open a random chapter and read it. It also contains material which is not connected to sirah but nonetheless is welcomed i.e. “The Construction of the Temple of Jerusalem” as well as incidents relating to the Companions i.e. “The Story of Abū Lu‘lu‘ah, ‘Umar’s Assassin”. In each narration you will find, unlike traditional biographical works, the isnād for the story i.e. the chain of narration. I personally preferred the inclusion of the isnād at it is very important in identifying the source of the information but some may find it a distraction.

There are variations in the reports found in this work, for example it is narrated from al-Hasan al-Basrī (d. 110/728) and 'Abdullah Ibn Abbas (d. 68/687) that 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) was the first to become Muslim while Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī narrates “We do not know of anyone who became Muslim before Zayd ibn Harithah” which is in contradiction to the well known reports that Abū Bakr as-Șiddīq (d. 13/634) was the first adult male to become Muslim. Then there is the report of how 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb (d. 23/644) came to Islam which comes through Ibn Shihāb but does not quite match the traditional reports. Al-Zuhrī reports that after 'Umar hit his sister he searched for the Scripture which he found on a shoulder blade bone and then he hit his sister again, this time with the shoulder blade. He then took the Scripture to be read out to him and thus Islam settled in his heart. This is in negation to the story that after he hit his sister, he felt guilt and asked for the Scripture to be presented to him, upon which his request was refused until he purified himself which he eventually did and then he read the verse of Ta-Ha himself and shuddered with fear of God as he felt as though the words were addressed to him and thus he came to Islam. My point is that if you’re unaware of the stronger narrations then you’ll come away with a skewed version though in its essence it is true but certain details are different to how they are reported by other narrators.

There are stories with which many will have familiarity, for example, it is related on the authority of al-Zuhrī that when Abū Bakr designated 'Umar as his successor and the people were adamant that 'Umar would be harsh in his rule, they asked Abū Bakr how he would account for this decision to God and he replied, “...This is what I will say when I meet Him: ‘I designated the best of your people to rule over them!’”. Another example is when al-Zuhrī narrates from ‘Urwah ibn Zubayr (d. 94/713) who narrates from ‘Ā’ishah bint Abī Bakr (d. 57/678) that during the final illness of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) he addressed the people saying, “One of God’s servants has been given a choice between the life of this world and that of the Hereafter, and he has chosen to be with his Lord!.” Abū Bakr surmised that the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) was referring to himself and wept. “Be at ease” said the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) and later he would say, “Close the doors of the mosque that face the street except the door of Abū Bakr, may God have mercy on him, for in my view, I know of no other man among the Companions who has so greatly aided me as has Abū Bakr”. You may well recognise many other stories and even some narrations found in hadith collections like Sahih Bukhārī such as the story of Heraclius.

However, not all of this work makes for comfortable reading. The prime example is the story of 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muʿāwiyah ibn ʾAbī Sufyān (d. 60/680). You will not be accompanied by a background to this conflict and without historical context it is impossible to comprehend what led to and what preceded one of the darkest episodes in Islam. And even then it doesn’t paint a good picture of Muʿāwiyah but this surprisingly extends to al-Hasan ibn 'Alī (d. 50/670) too when it is claimed that he wished “to gain for himself whatever wealth he could procure from Muʿāwiyah and only then to join the community in solidarity and pledge his allegiance.” This is untrue as he was caliph for six months and gave up this position for the sake of unity and as his grandfather, the Messenger of God (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) prophesised, he would bring peace between two Muslim factions which he did by relinquishing his position as caliph. It was not motivated by wealth as he led an ascetic life; moreover, he had the keys to the wealth of the world at his disposable hence one ought to have a strong foundation prior to reading these narrations. There are many other odd stories which require clarification (for me personally from learned scholars), for example when Abū Bakr became caliph, it is said that Abū Sufyān ibn Harb (d. 32/652) came to 'Alī and said, “The lowliest of households of the Quraysh have seized power to rule over all of you. By God, I will fill the city with horses and men!” 'Alī replied, “I have said before that you remain an enemy to Islam and its people. This brings no harm to Islam and its people and, indeed, we regard Abū Bakr as worthy.” Did Abū Sufyān oppose the caliphate of Abū Bakr? Did 'Alī see Abū Sufyān as an enemy? I don’t believe so as it would have been found in many more books.

This may (I’m not sure) boil down to the Shi'i inclinations of ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-San’ānī as far as the story of 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Muʿāwiyah ibn ʾAbī Sufyān is concerned. This usage of the term “Shi'i” should be viewed in its historical context and should be differentiated from the modern day understanding of the term Shi’a which is the equivalent to the term Rāfiḍah (those who reject) in the time of al-San’ānī who was not among the Rāfiḍah. He did not reject the caliphate of the first three caliphs (Abū Bakr as-Șiddīq, ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattāb and ʻUthmān ibn ʻAffān) neither did he curse them or defile the Mother of the Believers as some Shi’a do today, rather the meaning of the term that he was a Shi'i is that he preferred 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib to ʻUthmān ibn ʻAffān (which some Companions and Successors did too) and/or that he was anti-Umayyad. There is a story in this work which supports my previous assertion as the narration states that ‘Umar, upon granting authority to the six members of the Shura, said, “If only they were to entrust the rule to little baldy (i.e. 'Alī), he could lead them along the True Path”. It should be noted that ‘Abd al-Razzāq himself had negative views of the Rāfiḍah and it is worth mentioning that Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) narrated from him in his Ṣaḥīḥ and said, “When ‘Abd al-Razzāq reports hadith, reading from what he has written, then what he reports is more authentic” as his memory is said to have become weak when he became old, that is not to take anything away from his scholarly credentials which are amid the top rank. It is also worth noting that among his teachers were Mālik ibn Anas, Abū Amr al-Awza‘i (d. 157/774) and Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778) and his most famous student was Ahmad ibn Hanbāl (d.241/855).

Overall this is an excellent addition to your library and it is an important early work. It is enjoyable and though it contains some narrations at odds with Islamic theology (i.e. the narration that “his flesh decays like any other person’s” by al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib) and Islamic history (i.e. the narration that “he married women and divorced” by al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib), it is nonetheless a valuable source of information. I wouldn’t recommend this text until you have read other biographies of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) as this is of the maghāzī genre rather than a traditional biography. You should familiarise yourself with the well known narrations first and then read this as it isn’t an introductory work, added to the fact that it has some events missing (i.e. it jumps from the Hijrah to Medina to six years later to the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah). It also includes welcomed post-Prophetic events which again I would advise familiarising yourself with prior to reading this work. In general, this is an interesting and informative work. I finished it within a couple of days as it is a fascinating historical text. The translation includes the Arabic parallel to the English for those that are interested. Sean W. Anthony adds a timeline for the dates and events of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam) given according to al-Zuhrī’s calculations as well as a map of Arabia and the Near East in the 7th Century and one of Mecca and Medina during the time of the Prophet (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallam). The book doesn’t have footnotes in the actual body of the translation but includes them as notes at the end of the work which some may find helpful in explaining some matters which the actual work stays silent on. It includes a “Glossary of Names, Places and Terms” as well as a “Genealogical Table of the Quraysh of Mecca”. The translator has done an admirable job in translating this in to English and it is worth purchasing if you have any interest in the early history of Islam.

[Mohamad Ballan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully edited, translated and annotated by Dr. Sean Anthony. This book is one of the earliest biographies of the Prophet, being composed/compiled around 760 A.D. or so. One of the most interesting features is that, unlike Ibn Hisham's (d. 833) biography of the Prophet, it lacks a coherent, overarching narrative. Instead, it is a fragmentary (at times almost chaotic) collection of narrations of various events between the biography of 'Abd al-Muttalib (d.578), the Prophet's grandfather, to the seizure of the caliphate by Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan (d. 680) in 661 A.D. It does not follow any clear chronology but instead jumps back and forth through time to narrate different events. The main authority in the text is Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 741), the renowned hadith scholar.

The text provides readers with a rare perspective into how Muslims in the 700s understood the origins of their faith and community. Aside from the obvious focus on military expeditions (hence the title, "al-Maghazi), it is, in fact, two themes that dominate much of the narrative (especially in the latter part of the text): "fitna" (civil strife or internal turmoil) and "jama'ah" (community and unity). The succession dispute to the Prophet, centering around the events of Saqifa and its aftermath, is covered in some detail, as are the Islamic conquests, the Battle of the Camel and the struggle between 'Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) and Mu'awiya. Although the narrative provided is essentially proto-Sunni, it is notable that the Companions of the Prophet are represented as fallible human beings, prone to error and conflict, rather than the saint-like individuals that would come to dominate their representation in the hagiographical literature in subsequent centuries. Perhaps the two most intriguing figures represented in the narrative are al-'Abbas b. 'Abd al-Muttalib (d. 653), the uncle of the Prophet and the progenitor of the Abbasid dynasty (who would dominate the Islamic world after 750 A.D.), and Abd Allah b. 'Umar (d. 693, the brother-in-law of the Prophet and the son of the second caliph.

This book is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in early Islamic history and historiography, and is especially highly recommended for specialists in the field. The introduction and annotations are particularly useful. The author appended a very useful genealogical chart at the end (for those who may find all the names and interrelationships of the various figures in the text confusing), and also included a decent bibliography for those looking to research further into the matter. The index and glossary are also very helpful.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone interested in how early Muslims viewed Muhammad should take the time to read this book. So much of modern histories of Islam are built from historians grappling with the competing narratives and conflicting accounts surrounding the faiths origins. This is one of the first accounts I have read that was written by early members of the faith. The structure of Narratives was different than I expected, but made sense considering the importance of the Hadith and the Sunnah in Islamic theology. The notes and introduction also are so incredibly helpful. I happily recommend this book to any interested in Muhammad's life. I would add that if you don't know much about Islam, I would start with a modern historians work on the life of Muhammad before attempting to tackle The Expeditions.

[Amélie Pfister]

King of the circumcised FR

[Zizi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really beautiful book. It has the English translation on one side and the Arabic on the other, with easily-readable endnotes at the close of each section. The text is quite short, covering "highlights" of Muhammad's life and military career, but it's also really insightful and useful. Comparing this to another early biography--say, Sirat Rasul Allah, li-Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham: Al-fatrah al-Makkiyah : tahlil naqdi lil-nass--you can see how much of the story of Muhammad's life has remained the same from very early times, while picking out little details here and there that deviate from the story we're all familiar with. As an example, there's a variant of the story of the monk Bahira in here, where the monk is a rabbi instead.

I enjoyed the author's commentary in the notes and found that he pointed out details I'd missed or would have never noticed, without being overly-academic or obnoxious about it. Great book for someone who wants to read a sira without launching into the thousand-page ones.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be read with a profoundly explanatory commentary (sharh) or with a scholar ('alim) to better contextualise certain passages which might be difficult to grasp for individuals of our era. Otherwise it could led to an anachronistic approach, and to a projection (wahm) of present ideas that are held to be normative (also in its ethical sense), to this early source of Islamic literature on the expeditions (al-maghazi).

[Syed Nouman Hasany · Rating 5 out of 5]

The importance of Ma'mar ibn Rashid's book can be understood by the fact that it is among the two earliest biographies of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) which have survived to our time - the other being Ibn Is'haq's. Sean's translation reads fluidly, and his footnotes are almost always quite insightful. Compared to Ibn Is'haq, this book is relatively short, and as such, makes for both a comfortable and enjoyable reading.

[Kian H. Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical translation of an early Islamic source
The best point was that the genuine Arabic text was included in the book and surely awesome endnotes too.

[Noorhaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It will take at least one re-read to begin to understand the depth and complexity of this text and its subject matter. If you want to learn about the life and lessons of the last Messenger of God, this may not be the best place to start, but it is a wonderful resource to enrich your knowledge of the prophet and the age and culture in which he lived.

[Badrul Aini Sha'ari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manuskrip sirah Rasulullah oleh Ma'mar ibn Rashid, murid kepada Ibn Syihab al-Zuhri dan guru kepada 'Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani beserta terjemahan Inggeris yang diletakkan bersebelahan dengan teks asal.

Bagus untuk belajar laras dan gaya bahasa Arab klasik dan teknik terjemahan Arab - Inggeris.

[Lulu]

c. 760


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siyer...