(Ebook) The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (editor); Sean W. Anthony (editor); M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (editor) ISBN 9780814729298, 0814729290

(Ebook) The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (editor); Sean W. Anthony (editor); M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (editor) ISBN 9780814729298, 0814729290

The Expeditions is one of theoldest biographies of the Prophet Muhammad to survive into the modern era. Itsprimary author, Ma'mar ibn Rashid (714-770 AD/96-153 AH), was a prominentscholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning inprophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qur'an. Thisfascinating foundational seminal work contains stories handed down by Ma'mar tohis most prominent pupil, 'Abd al-Razzaq of Sana'a, relating Muhammad’s earlylife and prophetic career as well as the adventures and tribulations of hisearliest followers during their conquest of the Near East.Editedfrom a sole surviving manuscript, the Arabic text offers numerous improvedreadings over those of previous editions, including detailed notes on thetext’s transmission and variants as found in later works. This new translation,which renders the original into readable, modern English for the first time, isaccompanied by numerous annotations elucidating the cultural, religious andhistorical contexts of the events and individuals described within its pages.TheExpeditions representsan important testimony to the earliest Muslims’ memory of the lives of Muhammadand his companions, and is an indispensable text for gaining insight into thehistorical biography of both the Prophet and the rise of the Islamic empire.