The Men Of Madina Kitab At Tabaqat Al Kabir By Muhammad Ibn Sad, English Translation
The Kitab at-Tabaqat by Abu ‘Abdullah Muh ammad ibn Sa’d is
one of the earliest collections of biographical details of the early
Muslim s, extending from th e Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him p eace, to lbn Sa ‘d’s own time (he lived from 1481764 to 230/845
or 2361770) . Volume 8, which d ea ls exclusively with women, was
published as The Women of Madin a. Thi s present translation covers
Volume 7, which deal s with the Companions, Tabi’un and subsequent
generations of the peopl e of knowledge in Basra , Baghdad ,
Khura san, Syria and Egypt. The p eo ple of Kufa are found in Volume
6 and the people of Madina in Volume 5, as yet untran slated.
The Companions are me ntion ed first in each locality, and then the
next generation, the Tabi ‘un, and then the following generations. The
scope of Ibn Sa’d covers the time of the Ra s hidun khalif s, th e
U mayyads and the ‘Abbas ids, and so so me brie f comments about
Islamic hi story are necessary in order to put the eve nts and individu-
als mentioned into perspective , and to mak e th e eve nt s and com-
me nts described more comprehensible, particularly in view of the
fact th at not much material is ava il ab le on the Umayyad period!
Book s on Islam tend to concentrate on e ither th e Prophet, peace
be upon him , and the ma jor Companions, or to dea l with the prob-
le ms of modern times. Why , it mi g ht be asked, is it so important to
lea rn about the lives of th e Muslim s during th e first two centuries
after th e Prophet ‘s d ea th , a pe ri od of hi s to ry which is so often
ig nored ?
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