IBN ISHAQ

in full Muhammad Ibn Ishaq Ibn Yasar Ibn Khiyar born c. 704, , Medina, Arabia died 767, Baghdad Arab biographer of the Prophet Muhammad whose book, in a recension by Ibn Hisham, is one of the most important sources on the Prophet's life. Ibn Ishaq was the grandson of an Arab prisoner captured by Muslim troops in Iraq and brought to Medina, where he was freed after accepting Islam. Ibn Ishaq's father and two uncles collected and transmitted information about the Prophet in Medina, and Ibn Ishaq soon became an authority on the Prophet's campaigns. He studied in Alexandria and subsequently moved to Iraq, where he lived in the Jazirah and Hirah regions, and finally in Baghdad. Informants met on these travels furnished him with much of the information for his Sirah, or life, of Muhammad. Ibn Hisham, who died some 60 years after Ibn Ishaq, made the revision through which it is known today (complete Eng. trans. by A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, 1955, and partial trans. by Edward Rehatsek as edited by Michael Edwardes, The Life of Muhammad Apostle of Allah, 1964). This extensive biography covers Muhammad's genealogy and birth, the beginning of his mission and of the revelation of the Qur'an, his migration to Medina and campaigns of conquest, and concludes with his death. Citations from the Sirah also appear in the works of Arabic historians such as at-Tabari. Ibn Ishaq was criticized by some Muslim scholars, including the theologian and jurist Malik ibn Anas. Ibn Hanbal accepted Ibn Ishaq as an authority for the campaigns but not for traditions about the Prophet having legal force, on the grounds that he was not always exact enough in naming his authorities.