Ibn ʿAsākir and Early Islamic History

Ibn ʿAsākir’s massive Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq (TMD) is a veritable gold mine of information for our understanding of the first five and one-half centuries of Islamic history. This book offers important insights on the mechanics of Arabic historiography, in particular on biographical sources from the Middle period. Moreover, two contributions show that Ibn ʿAsākir pursued a political and sectarian agenda within his TMD.

1. James E. Lindsay, Ibn ʿAsākir, His Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq and its Usefulness for Understanding Early Islamic History
2. Suleiman A. Mourad, Jesus According to Ibn ʿAsākir
3. Fred M. Donner, 'Uthmān and the Rāshidun Caliphs in Ibn ʿAsākir's Taʾrīkh madīnat Dimashq: a Study in Strategies of Compilation
4. Marianne Engle Cameron, Sayf at First: the Transmission of Sayf ibn 'Umar in al-Tabarī and Ibn ʿAsākir
5. Steven C. Judd, Ibn ʿAsākir's Sources for the Late Umayyad Period
6. Paul M. Cobb, Community versus Contention: Ibn ʿAsākir and ʿAbbāsid Syria

Appendices: Publication History of TMD; Studies Addressing TMD; Major Lacunae in TMD; Pre-Islamic Sacred Biographies in TMD; Muhammad, the Rāshidun, and the Umayyad Caliphs in TMD.