Kitab al-ridda wal-futuh and Kitab al-jamal wa masir A isha wa Ali: A Critical Edition of the Fragments Preserved in the University Library of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

• Author: LECKER, MICHAEL
• Position: Review

Kitab al-ridda wa[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]l-futuh and Kitab al-jamal wa masir [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]A[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] isha wa [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]Ali: A Critical Edition of the Fragments Preserved in the University Library of Imam Muhammad Ibn Sa[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]ud Islamic University in Riyadh Sa[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]udi Arabia. By SAYF b. [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]UMAR AL-TAMIMI, Edited with an introduction and notes by QASIM AL-SAMARRAI. Leiden: SMITSKAMP ORIENTAL ANTIQUARIUM, 1995. Pp. 32 + 407. HFI 125. (A facsimile edition of the same. Pp. 18 + 174 fols. HFI 160. Both together, HFI 245).

Islamic scholarship owes these two handsomely produced volumes to a fortunate discovery by Dr. Qasim al-Samarrai of a manuscript at the University Library of the Muhammad b. Sa[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]ud Islamic University in Riyad. The manuscript includes fragments from two lost works by Sayf b. [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]Umar: a longer fragment belonging to his Kitab al-ridda wa-l-futuh (the title appears in the colophon), and a shorter one which, according to the editor, belongs to Sayf's Kitab al-jamal wa-masir [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]A[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] isha wa-[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]Ali.

Sayf was one of the main sources of Tabari in his Ta[CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]rikh alrusul wa-l-muluk. So how substantial is the contribution of this text? In fact, a large portion of it is not to be found in Tabari: the latter omitted (according to the editor) 89 out of the 196 reports of the first fragment, and more than 28 substantial fragments of the reports which he did adduce. As to the 108 reports of the second fragment, Tabari omitted 33 completely and 8 partially. With the help of the editor's notes I checked the first 100 reports, which make up about thirty percent of the edition: roughly thirty of them were not found in Tabari (although several were found by the editor in other sources). Sayf's texts are indeed a considerable addition to our textual evidence on the early Islamic period. Two examples of the new evidence drawn from this book, both relating to governors who officiated under [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]Uthman b. [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]Affan, will suffice: the appointment of [CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN...