Although he has only dealt in passing with the event of...

Although he has only dealt in passing with the event of Saqifah in the books Murawwij adh-Dhahab and At-Tanbiyyah wa’l-Ashraf , he nevertheless has mentioned the differences of the and the Banu Hashim’s refusal to pay allegiance to Abubakr.[^7] In another part of the first book, Mas‘udi wrote the issue of Fadak[^8] and discussed in detail the events that took place during the caliphate of the Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ) and the martyrdom of Imam al-Hasan ( ‘a ).[^9] He has mentioned the names of the Shi‘ah and their tribes as well as the enemies of the ( ‘a ) in various parts of Murawwij adh-Dhahab .[^10] Also, in the years of the Holy Imams’ ( ‘a ) demise, he has given a short account of their lives.[^11] He has, in particular, detailed the uprisings of the ‘Alawis during the 2nd century hijri .[^12] Biography of the Imams (‘a) Among the books relevant to the life accounts of the Imams ( ‘a ), the book, Al-Irshad , by Shaykh al-Mufid and Tadhkirah al-Khawas by Ibn al-Jawzi occupy (special) importance.

Al-Irshad is the first and most important available Shi‘ah reference authority on the life account of the twelve Imams ( ‘a ). In view of the fact that part of ‘Ali’s ( ‘a ) life overlapped that of the life of the Prophet (S), the life account and conduct { sirah } of the Prophet (S) has also been included in this book, especially his battles in all of which ‘Ali ( ‘a ) had been present, with the exception of the Tabuk expedition.

Concerning the book, it is enough to say that no researcher on the history of Shi‘ism and the biography of the infallible Imams ( ‘a ) is needless of it. The Tadhrikah al-Khawas of Ibn al-Jawzi occupies special importance in the sense that the biography of the Shi‘ah Imams ( ‘a ) has been expressed through the language of a Hanafi and non-Shi‘ah person, but no sort of negligence of the truth and concealment of the reality has taken place.

Books on Revolts and Wars These references deal particularly with the wars that have great importance in the historiography of Muslims. The Waq‘ah as-Siffin of Nasr ibn Mazahim al-Munqari (born 212 AH), which deals with the event and confrontation at Siffin, can be regarded as the oldest among them. This book contains valuable information regarding the correspondence between ‘Ali ( ‘a ) and Mu‘awiyah as well as the various sermons and speeches of the former.