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<metadesc>Traditional Scholars portal summary</metadesc>
<metadesc>Traditional Scholars portal summary</metadesc>{{#seo:
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|title=Early Islamic History
|title=Early Islamic History
|keywords=Islam, Muhammad, Caliphate, Abbassid, Umayyad, Rashidun, Prophetic
|keywords=Islam, Muhammad, Caliphate, Abbassid, Umayyad, Rashidun, Prophetic
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The first centuries of the Islamic Hijri calendar, starting in the CE year 622, were the formative years of the religion. Between the first and third Islamic centuries the Qur'an was written down and codified, the prophet lived and died, the great [[hadith]] collections were gathered, the [[sira]] of the prophet was committed to writing, the great schools of Sunni jurisprudence came to be, and the theology of Islam attained its familiar form. The end of the Abassid period saw the "crystallization" of the Islamic tradition around the Sunnah of the prophet and the Qur'an placed in creation before all time and space after the defeat of the Mu'atazilite heresy. These years thus can be said to cover the formation of the religion of Islam as we know it today.  
The first centuries of the Islamic Hijri calendar, starting in the CE year 622, were the formative years of the religion. Between the first and third Islamic centuries the Qur'an was written down and codified, the prophet lived and died, the great [[hadith]] collections were gathered, the [[sira]] of the prophet was committed to writing, the great schools of Sunni jurisprudence came to be, and the theology of Islam attained its familiar form. The end of the Abbasid period saw the "crystallization" of the Islamic tradition around the Sunnah of the prophet and the Qur'an placed in creation before all time and space after the defeat of the Mu'atazilite heresy. These years thus can be said to cover the formation of the religion of Islam as we know it today (see also [[History of Islamic Thought]]).


==Career of the Prophet==
==Career of the Prophet==
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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Battle of Badr|summary= The battle of Badr was the prophet's first battle and one of his most successful; Muhammad's success here gave faith, both to himself and the movement, and the tradition sees proof of divine aide both in the Qur'an and the sira account of the battle.|description=}} {{PortalArticle|image=|title=The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza|summary= The massacre of the Jewsih tribe of Banu Qurayzah remains one of the most controversial events of the [[sira]] to this day; a great victory for Muhammad and the Muslims, the mercilessness with which he dealt with his Jewish enemies leaves many questions about the character of the prophet.|description=}}{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Scientific Errors in the Quran|summary= Sunni orthodoxy claims that the Qur'an is infallible when it speaks of matters of science, but a close comparison to the scientific undestanding of the text of the Qur'an to modern science shows many revealing mistakes|description=}}  
{{PortalArticle|image=Battle of Badr.jpg|title=Battle of Badr|summary= The battle of Badr was the prophet's first battle and one of his most successful; Muhammad's success here gave faith, both to himself and the movement, and the tradition sees proof of divine aide both in the Qur'an and the sira account of the battle.|description=}} {{PortalArticle|image=Banu_qurayza_massacre.jpg|title=The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza|summary= The massacre of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayzah remains one of the most controversial events of the [[sira]] to this day; a great victory for Muhammad and the Muslims, the mercilessness with which he dealt with his Jewish enemies leaves many questions about the character of the prophet.|description=}}
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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad|summary= Muhammad ordered many people who oppossed him or the Muslim movement to be killed.|description=}} {{PortalArticle|image=|title=List of expeditions of Muhammad|summary= The original title of the works of the sira were the maghaazi|description=}}
{{PortalArticle|image=Poet Killed by the Muslims.jpg|title=List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad|summary= Muhammad ordered many people who oppossed him or the Muslim movement to be killed.|description=}} {{PortalArticle|image=Muhammad Military.jpg|title=List of expeditions of Muhammad|summary= The original title of the works of the sira were the maghaazi مغازي or raids; the career of the prophet from the earliest times was defined by his military adventures.|description=}}
{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)|summary= This special page is a series of resources for the English-speaking student, researcher or reader as opposed to an encyclopedia article. It contains all of the [[surah|suwar]] of the Qur'an along with the associated asbab al-nuzul or "revelational circumstances", explaining how the Islamic tradition sees the circumstances of each revelation.|description=}}
 
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===Other articles in this section===
===Other articles in this section===
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*[[Al-Nurayn and Al-Wilaya]]
*[[The Pact of Umar]]
*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[Analysis of the Pact of Umar]]
*[[The Meaning of Qatal]]
*[[Treaty of Hudaybiyyah]]
*[[The Meaning of Islam]]
*[[Medina]]
*[[The Meaning of Consummate]]
*[[Farewell Sermon]]
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*[[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)]]
*[[Mecca]]
*[[Swears and Oaths in the Qur'an and Hadith]]
*[[Battle of Uhud]]
*[[Tadmeen]]
*[[Muhammad's Death]]
*[[Surah]]
*[[Muhammad in History Outside of the Islamic Tradition]]
*[[Contradictions in the Quran]]
*[[Historical Attestation of Muhammad]]
*[[Convenient Revelations]]
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{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]]
*[[Diacritical Marks of the Qur'an]]
*[[Revelation]]
*[[Iltifat]]
*[[Huruf Muqatta'at (Disjointed Letters in the Qur'an)]]
*[[Prophecies in the Quran]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Qur'anic Christology]]
*[[Jibreel (Gabriel) and al-Ruh al-Qudus (the Holy Spirit) in the Qur'an]]
*[[List of Abrogations in the Qur'an]]
*[[Qur'an]]
*[[Naskh (Abrogation)]]
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*[[Zakah and blessing word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[Tongue and sermon word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Sun and light word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Shaytan and angel word count in the Qur'an]]
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*[[Dunya and akhira word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Iman and kufr word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Land to water ratio miracle in the Qur'an]]
*[[Man and woman word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Palindrome in the Quran Sura 74:3]]
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*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[Chronological Order of the Qur'an]]
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==Hadith==
==The Early Caliphates==


Orthodox Sunni and Shi'i Islam see the prophet as [[Uswa Hasana]], the perfect, "complete" man for all times and all cultures. As such the record of the prophet's words and deeds, the hadith, constitute the fundamental building block for Islamic [[fiqh]] in addition to the [[Qur'an]]. The hadith literature is truly vastly, including dozens of volumes by many different muhaddiths or hadith scholars.  
Although not technically part of the "holy history" of Islam which ends with the death of the prophet and the sealing of the holy prophetic example, the years of the [[Rashidun Caliphs]], the Umayyads and the Abassids were absolutely instrumental in the formation of Islam as we now know it. It was during this time that the Uthmanic recension of the Qur'an was canonized and all other versions were annihilated; it was in the early years of the Rashidun caliphs that the word "Muslim" came to define the movement as opposseed to the earlier "believer", and it was under the Umayyads and Abassids that the doctrine of the prophetic example was formulated, the Sunnah was assembled and the place of the caliph in the [[ummah]] was finally fixed.  
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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Sahih Bukhari|summary=Sahih Bukhari is the most esteemed collection of hadith, held second only to the Qur'an itself in the Sunni tradition in terms of authority. Put together by a central Asian scholar over 200 years after the death of the prophet, Sahih Bukhari contains only hadith which receive the highest level of approval from Sunni scholars. |description=}}
{{PortalArticle|image=Dihya.jpg|title=Dihya the Berber Queen (Al-Kaahina)|summary=Dihya was a Berber queen who fiercely resisted the expanding caliphate to her death. |description=}}
{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Sahih|summary= Sahih صحيح or "correct" is the highest level of trustworthiness that the Sunni tradition can assign to a particular hadith.|description=}}
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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Scientific Errors in the Hadith|summary=Like the Qur'an, orthodox Sunni tradition holds that the words of the prophet were unerring on matters of science. Even many "sahih" hadith, though, betray a pre-modern understanding of natural world which clearly falls in line with ancient belief rather than the findings modern science.|description= }}
{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Tawaatur|summary=Tawaatur is a designation given to hadith which are attested to by multiple chains of transmission, called isnaads (asaanid أسانيد in Arabic).|description= }}
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{{PortalArticle|image=Khilafa Map.png|title=Khilafah (Caliphate)|summary= The caliphate, or success state to the prophet, in orthodox Sunni Islam is seen as the continuation of the rule of the prophet of Allah by his viceroy on earth, and is a divinely ordained institution.|description=}}
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===Other articles in this section===
===Other articles in this section===
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*[[Contradictions in the Hadith]]
*[[Early Conversions to Islam]]
*[[Sahih_Muslim]]
*[[Rashidun Caliphs]]
*[[Prophecies in the Hadith]]
*[[Ka'bah]]
*[[Sunan Abu Dawud]]
*[[Khilafah (Caliphate)]]
*[[Mawdu' (Fabricated Hadith)]]
*[[Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman]]
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*[[Ali ibn Abi Talib]]
*[[Uthman ibn Affan]]
*[[Arab Transmission of the Classics]]
*[[Umar ibn al-Khattab]]
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==The Early Caliphate==
==The Formation of the Qur'an and Classical Arabic==


The sira, or life of the prophet, makes up the third cornerstone of Islamic scripture. The sira literature begins with the sirat rasul Allah, or Life of the Apostle of Allah by ibn Ishaq, which has not survived to the current day but which was retained by his student ibn Hisham and also partially in the history of the Islamic polymath [[Tabari]], and continued by other Islamic writers.  
The Qur'an, and with it the classical Arabic language took place during this period. Before the rise of Islam, Arabic did not have one standardized script or grammar, and various dialects were written in various scripts such as Nabatean Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and many others. The writing of the Qur'an coincided with the crystallization of the modern Arabic script, and the history of the Arabic and its script are deeply interwoven with the history of the Qur'an.  


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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Sirat Rasul Allah|summary=The sirat of ibn Ishaq is the earliest Islamic document now extant detailing the life of the prophet Muhammad in chronological order.|description=}}
{{PortalArticle|image=Ancient Mushaf.jpg|title=Textual History of the Qur'an|summary=The Qur'an was never put down to writing as a complete book during the prophet's lifetime, according to the Islamic sources. The impetus to put the Qur'an to writing came from the death of many of the Muslims who had memorized it.|description=}}
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{{PortalArticle|image=Huruf Muqta'a.jpg|title=Huruf Muqatta'at (Disjointed Letters in the Qur'an)|summary=Many of the chapters of the Qur'an begin with mysterious combinations of letters whose function remains unclear to this day.|description=}}




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===Other articles in this section===
===Other articles in this section===
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*[[The History of al-Tabari]]
*[[Arabic]]
*[[The_Farewell_Sermon]]
*[[Arabic letters and diacritics]]
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==Tafsir==
 
The tafsir تفسير literally "explanation" is a genre of Islamic literature which explains the Qur'an, drawing on multiple traditions such as the stories of the Israelis (Israeliyyaat), the hadith and the sira.
 
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{{PortalArticle|image=|title=Tafsir|summary=ِThe tafsir literature is essential to the orthodox Sunni understanding of the Qur'an, and forms a fourth source of scripture for orthodox Sunni Muslims.|description=}}
 
==The Formation of the Qur'an and Classical Arabic==
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</div>
 
==All Articles==
 
{{col-float|width=25em}}
*[[Al-Nurayn and Al-Wilaya]]
*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[The Meaning of Qatal]]
*[[The Meaning of Islam]]
*[[The Meaning of Consummate]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Asbab al-Nuzul (Revelational Circumstances of the Quran)]]
*[[Swears and Oaths in the Qur'an and Hadith]]
*[[Tadmeen]]
*[[Surah]]
*[[Contradictions in the Quran]]
*[[Convenient Revelations]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]]
*[[Diacritical Marks of the Qur'an]]
*[[Diacritical Marks of the Qur'an]]
*[[Revelation]]
*[[Iltifat]]
*[[Huruf Muqatta'at (Disjointed Letters in the Qur'an)]]
*[[Prophecies in the Quran]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Qur'anic Christology]]
*[[Jibreel (Gabriel) and al-Ruh al-Qudus (the Holy Spirit) in the Qur'an]]
*[[List of Abrogations in the Qur'an]]
*[[Qur'an]]
*[[Naskh (Abrogation)]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Zakah and blessing word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[Tongue and sermon word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Sun and light word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Shaytan and angel word count in the Qur'an]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Dunya and akhira word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Iman and kufr word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Land to water ratio miracle in the Qur'an]]
*[[Man and woman word count in the Qur'an]]
*[[Palindrome in the Quran Sura 74:3]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Word Count Miracles in the Qur'an]]
*[[Chronological Order of the Qur'an]]
*[[Contradictions in the Hadith]]
*[[Sahih_Muslim]]
*[[Prophecies in the Hadith]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Sunan Abu Dawud]]
*[[Mawdu' (Fabricated Hadith)]]
*[[Contradictions in the Hadith]]
*[[Sahih_Muslim]]
*[[Prophecies in the Hadith]]
{{col-float-break|width=25em}}
*[[Sunan Abu Dawud]]
*[[Mawdu' (Fabricated Hadith)]]
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*[[Old Hijazi]]
*[[Sana'a Manuscript]]
*[[Spelling Inconsistencies in the Quran]]
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[[Category:Portals]]

Latest revision as of 02:31, 20 November 2023


The first centuries of the Islamic Hijri calendar, starting in the CE year 622, were the formative years of the religion. Between the first and third Islamic centuries the Qur'an was written down and codified, the prophet lived and died, the great hadith collections were gathered, the sira of the prophet was committed to writing, the great schools of Sunni jurisprudence came to be, and the theology of Islam attained its familiar form. The end of the Abbasid period saw the "crystallization" of the Islamic tradition around the Sunnah of the prophet and the Qur'an placed in creation before all time and space after the defeat of the Mu'atazilite heresy. These years thus can be said to cover the formation of the religion of Islam as we know it today (see also History of Islamic Thought).

Career of the Prophet

The career of the prophet forms the basis of his Sunnah, as such his doings are of utmost importance to the latter generations of believers. Muhammad also shows up in the non-Islamic history of the region, though surprisingly not where we might expect him to be from the Islamic narrative.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The battle of Badr was the prophet's first battle and one of his most successful; Muhammad's success here gave faith, both to himself and the movement, and the tradition sees proof of divine aide both in the Qur'an and the sira account of the battle.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The massacre of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayzah remains one of the most controversial events of the sira to this day; a great victory for Muhammad and the Muslims, the mercilessness with which he dealt with his Jewish enemies leaves many questions about the character of the prophet.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Muhammad ordered many people who oppossed him or the Muslim movement to be killed.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The original title of the works of the sira were the maghaazi مغازي or raids; the career of the prophet from the earliest times was defined by his military adventures.


Other articles in this section

The Early Caliphates

Although not technically part of the "holy history" of Islam which ends with the death of the prophet and the sealing of the holy prophetic example, the years of the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyads and the Abassids were absolutely instrumental in the formation of Islam as we now know it. It was during this time that the Uthmanic recension of the Qur'an was canonized and all other versions were annihilated; it was in the early years of the Rashidun caliphs that the word "Muslim" came to define the movement as opposseed to the earlier "believer", and it was under the Umayyads and Abassids that the doctrine of the prophetic example was formulated, the Sunnah was assembled and the place of the caliph in the ummah was finally fixed.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Dihya was a Berber queen who fiercely resisted the expanding caliphate to her death.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The caliphate, or success state to the prophet, in orthodox Sunni Islam is seen as the continuation of the rule of the prophet of Allah by his viceroy on earth, and is a divinely ordained institution.

Other articles in this section

The Formation of the Qur'an and Classical Arabic

The Qur'an, and with it the classical Arabic language took place during this period. Before the rise of Islam, Arabic did not have one standardized script or grammar, and various dialects were written in various scripts such as Nabatean Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and many others. The writing of the Qur'an coincided with the crystallization of the modern Arabic script, and the history of the Arabic and its script are deeply interwoven with the history of the Qur'an.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

The Qur'an was never put down to writing as a complete book during the prophet's lifetime, according to the Islamic sources. The impetus to put the Qur'an to writing came from the death of many of the Muslims who had memorized it.

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination

Many of the chapters of the Qur'an begin with mysterious combinations of letters whose function remains unclear to this day.


Other articles in this section