A Critical Reading of Ibn Ḥabīb’s Works, focusing on Al-Munammaq and Al-Muḥabbar

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Shahla Bakhtiari ¹
• Roya Mashmouli Pilehroud ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of History, Literature Faculty, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

² MA graduate, History of Islam, Department of History, Literature Faculty, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

10.22067/jhistory.2022.76811.1137

Abstract

Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb is a third century A.H./ninth century A.D. historian, whose two prominent works, Al-Munammaq fi’l ʾAkhbār Quraysh and Al-Muḥabbar, are useful sources in the study of the history of pre-Islamic and Islamic eras.
The present study aims at critically analyzing the author’s opinion and his two great works. The critical approach towards Ibn Ḥabīb (as a Muslim narrator) and his works (as remarkable works in the history of Jāhilīyyah and Islam) help us in understanding his methods in the historiography of Islam.
Research shows that Ibn Ḥabīb explores and provides reports from Jāhilī traditions like Munāfirih and Jār in the history of Jāhilīyyah.  He was especially meticulous in recording the names of people and their lineages, tools, and animals (like horses). In this regard, Ibn Ḥabīb provides reports that cannot be found elsewhere.  
Some of the weaknesses of these two works are a lack of organization and cohesion in compiling the Reports, as well as a summarized narration. The most important point regarding Ibn Ḥabīb’s historiography is his trustworthiness and his providing the chain of isnād. This is especially true regarding the history of Jāhilīyyah, where most information has been recorded with citations to Ibn Ḥabīb’s own teacher, Ibn Hishām.
Eventually, the writers of this article, based on an analysis of the content of his works, deny the commonly held belief that Ibn Ḥabīb was a Shīʿā Muslim.

Keywords

• bibliography
• Ibn Ḥabīb
• Al-Munammaq
• Al-Muḥabbar
• pre-Islamic history
• Quraysh

Main Subjects

• History of Islam

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