ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Introduction to the Science of Tafsir of the Quran Part 12: Understanding of the Early History of Islam The meaning of the ‘early history of Islam’ are those events which took place after the official appointment of the (‘s) – specifically that which occurred after the migration to Madinah as a [significant] portion of the verses of the Qur`an were revealed after this event.

Thus, amongst all of these events, having knowledge of the history of the battles and expeditions which were carried out is very effective in offering commentary on some of the verses of the Qur`an. There are numerous verses in regards to events such as the Battles of Badr, Uhud, Ahzab; the event of Bani Mustalaq; the peace treaty of Hudaybiyyah; the victory over the city of Makkah (Fathul Makkah), the tribe of Bani Nadhir and the Jewish nation.

Thus, having a comprehensive knowledge of the history of these events which have been discussed in the Qur`an in their own particular way also acts as a clear source for understanding the verses of the Qur`an which are related to the battles, expeditions and other events and this issue is one of those which is clear and understandable for all commentators of the Qur`an.

In this regard, one must refer to the authentic and true historical accounts, which have been written by the impartial and nonaligned historians. Through employing a systematic and methodical process, the correct historical accounts must be separated from the unauthentic reports. Of course, within the books of history and biography, there are unfounded reports and narrations which are not in line with our Islamic beliefs, nor are they congruent with the verses of the Qur`an.

Thus for the researcher who possesses awareness of the principles of history, he would be able to differentiate between the truth and falsehood (in these historical reports). In this regard, we can recommend the following books: as-Sirah of Ibne Hisham, Murujul Dhahab of al-Masudi, Imtiaul Asma of al-Maqrizi and al-Kamil by Ibne Athir. However, it must be understood that we can not accept the entire content of these books.

Rather as can be seen, some of them contain issues which have absolutely no foundation and go against both the intellect and the narrated proofs!