A Critical Edition of al-Taʿrīf Bimā Anasat al-Hijramin Maʿālim Dār al-Hijra

Abstract

The aim of this study is to authenticate the attribution of ’’al-Taʿrīf bimā ʾanasat al-hijra min maʿālim dār al-hijra” to its original author, Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Muṭarī (d.741/1340) a well-known historian of Medina. In doing so, this research explores his life and the socio-economic and political conditions of his time with an attempt to locate the significance of this manuscript.
His work is considered to be one of the key sources of the history of Medina throughout several different eras. He witnessed some events which took place in Medina and his work includes a great number of quotations extracted from important missing sources, such as the works of Muḥammad ibn Zabāla and Zubayyr ibn Bakār.
This study describes al-Muṭarī’s life in some detail and investigates the different conditions related to the history of Medina and its topography. At different stages of this study the descriptive approach and historical analysis methods are applied in order to achieve its aim.
After using several methods, the study reveals that the author of the manuscript is indeed Jamāl al-Dīn al-Muṭarī as based on a number of evidences. In addition, this research provides a critical commentary on the significance of language and the contents of the text it self.