The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 47
I - Early Sources of Sīrat & Islāmic History 47 15 Qāḍī Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm Al-Ma‘rūf bi ibn Khalkān (Died in 681 A. H. ) ِ ضَعَفُوْہ ُ فِی الْحَدِیْث ِ وَتَكَلَّمُوْا فِیْه Research scholars have declared Wāqidī weak and have levelled many objections against him. 1 16 ‘ Allāmah Zarqānī (Died in 1122 A. H. ) ٖ اَلْوَاقِدِی ْ لَا یُحْتَج ُّ بِه اِذَا اِنْفَرَد َ فَكَیْف َ اِذَا َ خَالَف If in the declaration of a statement, Wāqidī stands alone, his narration is not authoritative. Thus, evaluate the weight of his narration in the case that he differs with others. 2 1 These 2 testimonies 3 are given by Muslim research scholars after a thorough investigation. Most of them were contemporaries of Wāqidī. European writers should consider the true level of the historian they hold so dear to their hearts. We do not claim that every narration related by Wāqidī is incorrect. Indeed, a significant portion of his narrations are perhaps true. However, an individual whose level of honesty and justice is as mentioned above, in the case of a narration where he is the only narrator, or if he differs with other narrators, cannot be accepted as authoritative by any intellectual. ِ وَاللّٰه ُ اَعْلَم ُ بِالصَّوَاب. In any case according to our investigation, Muḥammad bin ‘Umar Wāqidī, in spite of being among early historians, is completely unworthy of trust. Moreover, as far as the genuine books of Sīrat are concerned, Ibni Hishām, Ibni Sa‘d and Ibni Jarīr Ṭabarī are the only three early historians upon whom the foundation of the Sīrat and biography of the Holy Prophet sa should be laid. This does not imply that every narration presented by these historians is correct and authentic. A claim of this magnitude cannot be made even in favour of the Muḥaddithīn , let alone historians. Instead, the purpose is to indicate that these three historians in particular, are in essence generally reliable, though at times various narrations could prove to be inaccurate due 1 Wafiyyātul-A‘ayān, By Abū ‘Abbās Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm Al-Ma‘rūf ibni Khalkān, Volume 4, p. 158, Ḥarful-Mīm, “Al-Wāqidī”, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1998) 2 Sharḥul- ‘Allāmaiz-Zarqānī ‘alal- Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah , By Muḥammad bin ‘Abdul-Bāqī Az- Zarqānī, Part 3, p. 162, Qiṣṣatu ‘Ukali wa ‘Urainah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)