1 & 2) and his Furusiyyat al-Muhammadiyyah .

1 & 2) and his Furusiyyat al-Muhammadiyyah . Books of biography are also not empty of material on this subject, rather, in many instances provide detailed accounts about the commanders of battles and wars and about the companions who had the responsibility of commanding the armies.

Some of these (books) are: Ibn Habib’s al-Muhbir , Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr’s al-Isti’āb fi Ma’rifat al-Ashāb , Ibn Atheer al-Jazari’s Usd al-Ghāba fi Ma’rifat al-Sahābah and Ibn Hajar ‘Asqalāni’s al-Isāba fi Tamyiz al-Sahābah . The Islāmic conquests at the time of the Prophet (S) and the companions were studied by those who came later and the various aspects and details were presented in a well organized fashion by them.

Books of geography and history expound on the conquests within and without the Arabian subcontinent and also talk of the events after the spread of Islām from Madina al-Munawwarah to Damascus, Baghdād, Madā’in, and on the east to India and to Alexandria, Constantinople, Tarablus and Tunis. It could be said that the most important of these works are Ibn Khardāba’s al-Masālik wal-Mamālik [vols.

3,4,5 and 6], Ibn Rusta’s al-A’lāq al-Nafsiyya [Chapter 8] which talks about Madina, Makkah, Haramayn and the southern lands of Arabia. Ibn Faqih’s al-Buldān [Chapter 10 and 11] talks of Makkah and Alexandria while Ya’qubi’s al-Buldān [Chapter 17 and 18] mentions the Maghreb, Baghdad and their historical importance. Balkhi’s Suwar al-Aqāleem is the first book on geography written in Islām and Istakhri’s al-Masālik wal-Mamālik is also the first book that describes the ‘Islāmic World’.

In Ibn Hawqal’s al-Masālik wal-Mamālik [Chapter 3, 4 and 24] the maps of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula have been drawn and the economical and social situation of Libya has also been portrayed. Muqaddasi has also given a description of Palestine and Syria in his Ahsanu al-Taqāseem fi Ma’rifatil Aqāleem [Chapter 32 and 34].

Mas’udi’s al-Tanbih wal-Ashrāf [Chapter 37] speaks of the life of the Prophet (S), battles and expeditions in which he was the commander, military units, horses and mounts, and all that is related to the military transport. Mas’udi’s recording of the ‘Historical Geography of Battles’, is considered an original source whose narrations can be relied upon, however, unfortunately most of his writings are lost.