Kitāb al-Maghāzî Attributed to Mūsā b. ‘Uqba
Mahmut Olgaç, Nuh ArslantaşMÛSÂ B. UKBE’YE ATFEDİLEN KİTÂBÜ’L-MEGĀZÎ
Mahmut Olgaç, Nuh ArslantaşKitāb al-Maghāzî (v. 141/758) Attributed to Mūsā b. ‘Uqba
Mūsā b. ‘Uqba, who is known as one of the active people during the Sīra Era, began to record narratives about Maghāzî later in his life. However, in sources, there are various approaches whether he has got an individual work of his own or not. On one hand, some sources claim that he indeed has his own Maghāzî and add that his work is a reliable source. On the other hand, there are some sources that believe him to simply be an owner of a Maghāzî and also state crucial information about how they benefited from it, how it reached them and how valuable it is. For example, they claim that there are two copies of this work and that they are different from each other. In addition, these sources claim that some of the narratives recorded by Mūsā do not even occur in the Maghāzî. Upon comparing these copies, a few sources note that they have the same writing style; however, the spellings of certain words differ. However, there are still some other sources that do not mention anything about Mūsā b. ‘Uqba’s ownership of a Maghāzî or have rejected the idea as a whole. Therefore, Maghāzî not being mentioned by editors in later times can be seen as an oversight since those who lived closer to the time of Mūsā actually acknowledged it. However, some contemporaries transferred information from Mūsā about the Maghāzî. When all the data about Maghāzî are evaluated together, there is a suggestion that this work was not written by Mūsā himself but rather by two of his students in reference to his lessons. It is unknown whether this writing was done under Mūsā’s supervision or if it came to life on his students’ initiative. But the claim that some of the narratives do not take place in the writing suggests that the students registered their teacher’s lessons based on their own wishes and preferences. It is possible that Mūsā b. ‘Uqba perhaps intervened and wanted some parts removed, but there is no evidence of how he taught his lessons. Still, if this had been the case, it should have been recorded, and since we have not come across such information, we consider this to be a less than likely. Nevertheless, since the notes of the narratives, which are said to take place in the Maghāzî, date back to Zuhrī but not any further, and since other narratives notes go back as far as Prophet Mohammed’s time, there is a possibility that this work is based on Zuhrī’s records about the Maghāzî.
Unfortunately, since the entire work does not exist today, it is only possible to analyze its content from text sources. In this work, we only examine the narratives about Mūsā b. ‘Uqba that are believed to be in the Maghāzî, and it appears that the sources that use the events in the Maghāzî do not convey the information from the Maghāzî itself, which is why even though we are able to confirm that these events take place in the Maghāzî, we are unable to understand the structure of the Maghāzî. Also, as reported by the sources, contradictory information about war dates is found in the Maghāzî. Furthermore, Bayhaqī, who conveys two conflicting ends from Maghāzî, does not point out that there are two different information.
The question of when the Kitāb al- Maghāzî was read maintains its importance. The last person known to utilize the Maghāzî is Sakhawi (d.902/1497). With this in mind, it is possible to say that the work existed until the beginning of the tenth century of Hegira (i.e., end of the fifteenth century AD), but according to Marsden Jones, Diyarbakri used the work and therefore the work reached the tenth century AD. However, if Diyarbakri’s death is considered (990/1582), it is safe to claim that the work almost made it to the eleventh century of Hegira (i.e., end of the sixteenth century AD). However, Jones’ determination of Diyarbakri’s use of Maghāzî is incorrect. Although Diyarbakri used a writing style that gave the impression that he directly made use of the Maghāzî, he expresses in various places that he had reached the Maghāzî through different sources. Haji Khalifa’s (Katip Celebi) “The Maghāzî is the most reliable Maghāzî” statement is nothing more than repetition. Hence, it is obvious that Haji Kahlifa reviewed the Maghāzî through others without actually seeing it as stated above. The shortness of this review on such a vital book strengthens the idea that the Maghāzî is out of reach. Ismail Pasha of Baghdad makes a mistake by saying that the Maghāzî was a printed product. The reason behind this is Eduard Sachau’s mistaking selected parts of the Maghāzî for the entire Maghāzî in 1904. Consequently, we can say that sources in early terms, along with speaking highly of the Maghāzî, used quotations from it as well. However, we still have no data about the Maghāzî from the tenth century of Hegira to date. The Maghāzî being read until later times, being augmented, and being sent to Islamic metropoles is a known fact, so the possibility of the work disappearing is quite unlikely from our point of view. In addition, even in the farthest destination of Islamic geography—Andalusia—two copies of this Maghāzî are reported to have been studied.
Yūsuf Ibn. Muhammed Ibn Omer Ibn. Kādī Shuhbe, about whose life little is known, made a Maghāzî selection that consists of 20 hadīth. Ibn Hadjar, who conveys information about him, does not even mention this selection. Muntehab (Selection), which is the sole work connected to the Maghāzî, was published in 1904 as a German translation, with an introduction by Schau. Some narratives being continuations of earlier ones, the recorded number of narratives in sources being less than determined in the Maghāzî, the ambiguity of how the selection was made and the lack of explanation regarding it, and the existence of a narratives that does not belong to Mūsā b. ‘Uqba are all reasons why the Maghāzî is a closed box for us. Despite all these issues, it is better for the work to exist than not. Moreover, not only do the quotations made in the later terms, but also the direct notifications about this work being read, confirm that the Maghāzî indeed reached all over the Islamic world, and the scholars were aware of it. Still, J. Schacht, in his article on Muntehab, ignores all these problems and writes a thesis titled On Mūsā b. ‘Uqba’s Kitāb al-maghāzî, assuming that it was Mūsā’s Maghāzî. In reference to this, various reviews were done to support the thesis of how the attribution of hadīth became public knowledge and turned into a systematic order from the second century of Hegira onward Gregor Schoeler classifies the reviews and objections of Schacht into four groups and develops his own objections to them.
In conclusion, the complete loss of such a valuable work, of which selected sections are known and have been utilized, is unlikely. The Maghāzî is probably waiting in a library to be published.