WAQIDI, AL-

born 747, Medina, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia] died 823, Baghdad, Iraq in full Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad Ibn 'umar Al-waqidi Arab historian, author of the Kitab al-maghazi, a well-known work on the military campaigns (al-maghazi) of the Prophet Muhammad. As a youth al-Waqidi is said to have been such an authority on the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina that he was guide to the 'Abbasid caliph Harun ar-Rashid during the latter's pilgrimage. Al-Waqidi became a grain dealer but eventually fled to Baghdad to escape his creditors. Yahya ibn Khalid, the vizier there, gave him money and, some reports say, made him qadi (religious judge) of the western district of the city. In 819 al-Waqidi was appointed qadi of Rusafah on the east side by the caliph al-Ma'mun, who was his close friend and later his executor. Al-Waqidi is said to have written about 21 books, largely historical, including histories of the cities of Mecca and Medina. Some works also dealt with the Qur'an (Islamic sacred scripture), fiqh (jurisprudence), and Hadith (tradition). Only the Kitab al-maghazi, a monumental chronology, survives.