Pitfalls in Historiography

A historian:

• needs a comprehensive knowledge of present conditions in all these respects.
• must compare similarities or differences between the present and the past (or distantly located) conditions
• must know the causes of the similarities in certain cases and of the differences in others
• must be aware of:
  • the differing origins and beginnings of different dynasties and religious groups
  • the reasons and incentives that brought them into being
  • the circumstances and history of the persons who supported them.

His goal must be to:

• have complete knowledge of the reasons for every happening
• be acquainted with the origin of every event.

Then, he must check transmitted information with the basic principles he knows. If it fulfills their requirements, it is sound.

Otherwise, the historian must consider it as spurious and dispense with it.

This is why historiography was highly considered by the ancients, so much so that at-Tabari, al-Bukhari, and, before them, Ibn Ishaq and other Muslim religious scholars, chose to occupy themselves with it.

Most scholars, however, forgot this secret of historiography. This caused it to become a stupid occupation.

The ordinary people and scholars who had no firm foundation of knowledge, considered it a simple matter to study and know history, to delve into it and sponge on it.

Strays got into the flock, bits of shell were mixed with the nut, truth was adulterated with lies.

A hidden pitfall in historiography is disregard for the fact that conditions within the nations and races change with the change of periods and the passing of days.

This is a sore affliction and is deeply hidden, becoming noticeable only after a long time, so that rarely do more than a few individuals become aware of it.

This is as follows.

The condition of the world and of nations, their customs and sects, does not persist in the same form or in a constant manner. There are differences according to days and periods, and changes from one condition to another. This is the case with individuals, times, and cities, and, in the same manner,it happens in connection with regions and districts, periods and dynasties.

The old Persian nations, the Syrians, the Nabataeans, the Tubba’s, the Israelites, and the Copts, all once existed. They all had their own particular institutions in respect of dynastic and territorial arrangements, their own politics, crafts, languages, technical terminologies, as well as their own ways of dealing with their fellow men and handling their cultural institutions.

Their historical relics testify to that.

They were succeeded by the later Persians, the Byzantines, and the Arabs. The old institutions changed and former customs were transformed, either into something very similar, or into something distinct and altogether different.

Then, there came Islam with the Mudar dynasty. Again, all institutions underwent another change, and for the most part assumed the forms that are still familiar at the present time as the result of their transmission from one generation to the next.

Then, the days of Arab rule were over. The early generations who had cemented Arab might and founded the realm of the Arabs, were gone. The power was seized by others, by non-Arabs like the Turks in the east, the Berbers in the west, and the European Christians in the north.

With their passing, entire nations ceased to exist, and institutions and customs changed. Their glory was forgotten, and their power no longer heeded.

The widely accepted reason for changes in institutions and customs is the fact that the customs of each race depend on the customs of its ruler. As the proverb says: “The common people follow the religion of the ruler.”

When politically ambitious men overcome the ruling dynasty and seize power, they inevitably have recourse to the customs of their predecessors and adopt most of them. At the same time, they do not neglect the customs of their own race.

This leads to some discrepancies between the customs of the (new) ruling dynasty and the customs of the old race. The new power, in turn, is succeeded by another dynasty, and customs are further mixed with those of the new dynasty. More discrepancies come in, and the discrepancy between the new dynasty and the first one is much greater (than that between the second and the first one).

Gradual increase in the degree of discrepancy continues. The eventual result is an altogether distinct (set of customs and institutions). As long as there is this continued succession of different races to royal authority and government, discrepancies in customs and institutions will not cease to occur.

Analogical reasoning and comparison are well known to human nature. They are not safe from error. Together with forgetfulness and negligence, they sway man from his purpose and divert him from his goal. Often, someone who has learned a good deal of past history remains unaware of the changes that conditions have undergone. Without a moment’s hesitation, he applies his knowledge (of the present) to the historical information and measures the historical information by the things he has observed with his own eyes, although the difference between the two is great.

Consequently, he falls into an abyss of error.

This may be illustrated by what the historians report concerning the circumstances of Al-Hajjaj. 164 They state that his father was a schoolteacher. At the present time, teaching is a craft and serves to make a living. It is a far cry from the pride of group feeling. Teachers are weak, indigent, and rootless.

Many weak professional men and artisans who work for a living aspire to positions for which they are not fit but which they believe to be within their reach.

They are misled by their desires.

They do not realize that what they desire is impossible for men like them to attain. They do not realize that they are professional men and artisans who work for a living.

They do not know that at the beginning of Islam and during the Umayyad and ‘Abbasid dynasties, teaching was different.

Scholarship was not a craft back then. It was transmitting statements that people had from Muhammad.

The teaching of religious matters were done by oral transmission.

The teachers of the Quran and the Prophet’s Sunnah were the persons:

• of noble descent, and those
• who shared in the group feeling of the ruling dynasty

These directed the affairs of Islam.

They did so as one transmits traditions, not as one gives professional instruction.

They were not deterred by censure coming from pride, nor were they restrained by criticism coming from arrogance.

This is attested by the fact that the Prophet sent the most important of the men around him with his embassies to the Arabs, in order to teach them the norms of Islam and the religious laws he brought.

He sent his 10 companions and others after them on this mission.

Then, Islam became firmly established and securely rooted. Far-off nations accepted Islam at the hands of the Muslims. With the passing of time, the situation of Islam changed. Many new laws were evolved from the (basic) texts as the result of numerous and unending developments.

A fixed norm was required to keep (the process) free from error. Scholarship came to be a habit. 166 For its acquisition, study was required.

Thus, scholarship developed into a craft and profession.

The men who controlled the group feeling now occupied themselves with directing the affairs of royal and governmental authority. The cultivation of scholarship was entrusted to others. Thus, scholarship became a profession that served to make a living.

Men who lived in luxury and were in control of the government were too proud to do any teaching. Teaching came to be an occupation restricted to weak individuals.

As a result, its practitioners came to be despised by the men who controlled the group feeling and the government.

Now, Yusuf, the father of al-Hajjaj, was one of the lords and nobles of the Thaqif, well known for their share in the Arab group feeling and for their rivalry with the nobility of the Quraysh.

Al-Hajjaj’s teaching of the Qur’an was not what teaching of the Qur’an is at this time, namely, a profession that serves to make a living. His teaching was teaching as it was practiced at the beginning of Islam and as we have just described it.