MOHAMMED. THE FIRST FOUR CALIPHS. (cont.)

Bibliography on Mohammed and his Successors

Sources. – For the history of Mohammed these are – (1) the Koran; (2) the theological historical tradition or Hadith. The latter is chronologically arranged in the biographies, of which those of Ibn Ishak and of Wakidi are the oldest and most important. Ibn Ishak’s work in its complete form is now to be found only in Ibn Hisham’s revision (ed. Wustenfeld), but large and numerous fragments of the original are given by Tabari (ed. De Jong). Of Wakidi the Kitab al-Maghazi, i.e. the history of Mohammed in Medina, is still extant (abridged German translation by Wellhausen, 1882); his collection for the earlier period are known to us through the work of Ibn Sa’d his secretary (Tabakat, unedited). The Hadith is set forth more systematically, according to subjects, in the great collections of tradition by Malik b. Anas, Bokhari, Moslim, etc. (Bulak editions). A subsidiary authority is the humanistic tradition of the Odaba, with which they poetry may be reckoned. The principal collections of this class are the Kitab al-Aghani (Bulak-edition) and the Kamil (ed. Wright). For the period after Mohammed the most important work is the Chronicle of Tabari (Leyden edition); the history of the conquest is treated briefly after the best authorities by Beladhori (ed. De Goeje, 1866).





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