Sayf ibn Umar

Sayf ibn Umar al-Usayyidi al-Tamimi (Arabic: سيف بن عمر‎) was an early Islamic historian and compiler of reports who lived in Kufa. He wrote Kitāb al-futūh al-kabīr wa 'l-ridda, which is al-Tabari's main source for the Ridda wars and early Muslim conquests. It also contains important information on the structure of early Muslim armies and government. According to al-Dhahabi, Sayf died during the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786-809).[1]

Life

Little is known about Sayf, except that he lived in Kufa and belonged to the tribe of Banu Tamim.[1]

Reliability

The reliability of his hadiths has long been contested.[1]

Since he was the sole transmitter of many of his historical narrations, especially pertaining to the conquest of Iraq, some historians have accused him of fabrication or exaggeration, most notably Julius Wellhausen.[2] His narrations are said to be influenced by the tribal traditions of Banu Tamim.[1] However, he also collected accounts that highlight other tribes.[1]

Recent scholarship suggests that Sayf is more reliable than previously thought.[3][4] W. F. Tucker and Ella Landau-Tasseron note that although Sayf may have been an unscrupulous hadith collector, this should not detract from his general reliability as a transmitter of historical information (akhbārī).[4] Tucker adds that accusations of bias could equally be leveled at other akhbārīs contemporary to Sayf, including the Shi'a historian Abu Mikhnaf.[4] Fuat Sezgin, Albrecht Noth, and Martin Hinds have also challenged Wellhausen's views and placed Sayf on an equal footing with other traditionalists.[5]

Modern Shia views

Shia researcher Arzina Lalani suggests that Sayf is the first person who mentions Abdullah ibn Saba in his writings. His claim that a Yemeni Jew was allegedly a founder of Shia Islam, was picked on by al-Tabari. She states that his account of early Islamic history was heavily influenced by later Sunni historiography.[6]

According to a book called Abdullah bin Saba (عبدالله بن سبا) authored by Shia researcher Murtaza Askari the 12 the most popular Rijali (someone who knows about Ilm al-Rijāl) scholars, believed Sayf was not a reliable transmitter of Hadith. They are as follows: Yahya bin Moein, Al-Nasa'i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Sakan, Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Idris al-Razi Ibn Hibban, Al-Daraqutni, Al-Hakim Nishapuri, Firoozabadi, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Al-Suyuti, and Safi Al din.[7]

It has been recorded in Tahdib al-Kamal, that Yahya bin Moein held this view.[8]

Works
  • Kitāb al-futūh al-kabīr wa 'l-ridda
  • Kitab al-Jamal wa masir Aisha wa Ali. This work deals with the Battle of the Camel. Saif transmitted his report through Shoayb ibn Ibrahim.

Notes
  1. Donner, Fred (1995). "Sayf B. ʿUmar". Encyclopaedia of Islam. 9 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 102–103. ISBN 90-04-10422-4.
  2. History of al-Tabari Vol. 11, The: The Challenge to the Empires A.D. 633-635/A.H. 12-13. SUNY Press. 2015-06-15. p. xvi. ISBN 978-0-7914-9684-8.
  3. Kennedy, Hugh (2010-12-09). The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0-297-86559-9. Medieval and modern historians have suspected that he fabricated some of his accounts, but the most recent scholarship suggests that he is more reliable than previous authors had imagined.
  4. Tucker, William Frederick (2008). Mahdis and millenarians: Shī'ite extremists in early Muslim Iraq. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–12. ISBN 978-0-521-88384-9.
  5. Landau-Tasseron, Ella (January 1990). "Sayf Ibn 'Umar in Medieval and Modern Scholarship". Der Islam. 67: 1–26. doi:10.1515/islm.1990.67.1.1. ISSN 1613-0928.
  6. "Ghadir Khumm - Islamic Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo". Archived from the original on 2017-08-02.
  7. Abdullah bin Saba(عبدالله بن سبا), by Murtaza Askari
  8. Tahdib al-Kamal, Volume 25 page 101

Further reading
  • Landau-Tasseron, Ella (January 1990). "Sayf Ibn 'Umar in Medieval and Modern Scholarship". Der Islam. 67: 1–26. doi:10.1515/islm.1990.67.1.1. ISSN 0021-1818.
  • Linda D. Lau (1978). "Sayf b. 'Umar and the battle of the Camel". Islamic quarterly. 20–23: 103–10.
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