AN APPRAISAL OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF IMAM AL-TABARI TO THE ISLAMIC HISTORIOGRAPHY

: Tabari's work was a World history or a comprehensive history, covering the history of a vast time frame. He consciously kept a chronological scheme of events in his book. He presented the evidence of historical facts, and tried to remain as much objective as possible. He presented elaborate details on the life of the Prophet (S.A.W). While writing' the history of controversial historical events, he devised a new method of narrating all the conflicting versions and then leaving the judgment to the readers. The aim and objectives of this paper is to examine al Tabari's brief biography and contributions towards historiography being him as a Muslim scholar in a tremendous braches of knowledge including history among others. Analytical method is employed when conducting the research. The paper finds out and ascertained some incessant and essential contributions given by the Al-Tabari to the historiography as well. Last but not the list the paper made recommendations and concluded.


A. Introduction
The advent of Islam had tremendous impact on human thought, and the early Muslim thinkers and scholars greatly contributed to the production of knowledge.One of the branches of knowledge to which the Muslims paid special attention was the discipline of history.The Muslim historians and philosophers of history made great contributions to the discipline.However, before discussing their contributions, it seems pertinent to briefly highlight the Qur'anic concept of history.
Among the later generations after Tabi'un was Abu Ja'far Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari.
He was a notable scholar who contributed a lot to Tafsir literature and Islamic history.Tabari's work is one of the major primary sources for historians.The History commenced with the Creation, followed by accounts regarding the patriarchs, Prophets, and rulers of antiquity.The history of the Sasanian Empire came next.For the period of the Prophet's life, al-Ṭabarī drew upon the extensive researches of 8th-century Madinan scholars.Although pre-Islamic influences are evident in their works, the Madinan perspective of Muslim history evolved as a theocentric (godcentred) universal history of prophecy, culminating in the career of Muhammad and not as a continuum of tribal wars and values.The sources for al-Ṭabarī's History covering the years from the Prophet's death to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750 CE) were short monographs, each treating a major event or the circumstances attending the death of an important person.Al-Ṭabari supplemented this material with historical reports embodied in works on genealogy, poetry, and tribal affairs.Further, details of the early Abbasid period were available to him in a few histories of the caliphs that unfortunately have come down only in the fragments preserved by al-Ṭabari.Almost all of these accounts reflected an Iraqi perspective of the community; coupled with this is al-Ṭabari's scant attention to affairs in Egypt, North Africa, and Muslim Spain, so that his History does not have the secular "universal" outlook sometimes attributed to it.1This paper therefore, intends to examine the biography and works of Abu Ja'far Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari in the field of historiography.

B. Method
The aim and objectives of this paper is to examine al Tabari's brief biography and contributions towards historiography being him as a Muslim scholar in a tremendous braches of knowledge including history among others.Analytical method is employed when conducting the research.Thus this paper use qualitative approach and use various literature to analyze the problem.

The Concept of History in the Glorious Qur'an;
Quran is not primarily a book of history.Being a Book of revelation origin, it is meant for the guidance of human beings.A sizeable portion of Qur'an contains the histories of ancient nations or communities, and the Prophets sent to them.Not only does it tell about the conduct, behavior and the characteristics of the people of these ancient communities, it also informs how and why Allah bestowed His favors upon some of them while some others were destroyed by divine Wrath owing to multiple causes.These causes which led to their decline or annihilation from the face of earth ranged from their arrogance, pride and hunger for power to extravagance, ungratefulness and, above all, injustice.Thus, Qur'an discusses the principles that govern the rise and fall of various groups and communities.It does not attach importance to material superiority and power, rather it is the moral and ethical superiority that is desirable.Moreover, according to Qur'anic principles, disbelief (shirk is not a sufficient ground for divine. 2

Origin of Muslim Tradition of Historiography
The origin of Muslim tradition of historiography can be traced back to the process of compilation of Quran and hadith (sayings and the actions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), b.S70-d.632) collections.During the life-time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), a group of his Companions were designated to record the Qur'anic revelations in written form.However, these texts were scattered, and had not been compiled 3 .Moreover, many Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had also-committed Quran to their memory.The need for the compilation of Quran in a single volume was felt during the reign of Caliph Abu Bakr.(RA; r. 632-34), when many of these Companions, who had memorized Quran, were killed in the Battle of Yamamah fought in 632.Realizing the need to compile Quran, Caliph Abu Bakr (RA) appointed a committee under Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit (RA; d. 45 AH), who was the personal scribe of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for this purpose.Consequently, the Quran was compiled.Later, during the reign of Caliph Uthman bn Affan (RA; r. 644-56), the standard text of Quran was copied' and sent to the conquered territories. 4itially, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had forbidden his Companions to record and write ahadith, as he feared that people would confuse them with the Qur'anic verses.However, after 623 AD (1 Hijrah/AH), he allowed them to write ahadith, and thus, many of his Companions prepared their personal collections of ahadith.Later, the Umayyad Caliph, Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (d.718-20 AD), who is considered to be the fifth pious Caliph by many, ordered the collections of ahadith to be prepared, copied, and sent to the conquered territories 5 .
The early Muslims had a burning desire to preserve the memory of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), including his sayings and actions.They wanted to preserve the knowledge that how he walked and talked, behaved in different situations, acted as a Prophet, as a statesman, as a military commander, as a preacher, as a friend, as a relative, as a father, as a husband, as well as how did he look like, for the posterity.The Qur'an and the hadith collection served as primary sources for writing the history of the early Muslims, particularly the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), called Sirah or Sirat, and the military history called Maghazi 6 .
It is important to note that the development of hadith studies as an independent branch of knowledge among the Muslims greatly contributed to the discipline of history.The early muhaddithin (Traditionists or compilers/teachers of ahadith) developed very elaborate rules for ascertaining the authenticity of ahadith.They also classified the ahadith on the basis of their authenticity.They were not only concerned with the contents of a hadith, they also took into account the conditions in which the ahadith were narrated, as weli as the 'characteristics of their narrators, especially their reliability and trustworthiness.They also developed principles tor internal and external criticism of ahadith in order to assess their authenticity 7 .The Muslim historians derived the principles of research and historical criticism, including the internal and external criticism, from the hadith compilation process.These historians were conscious of the issue of authenticity of their sources, which they critically examined.

Brief biography of Imam al-Tabari
Muhammad bin Jarir bin Kathir bin Ghalid Abu Ja'far al-Tabari was born in Amol, Tabaristan, in the year 225 A.H/ 838 CE.This birthplace is a mountainous territory in Persia near the Caspian Sea.He was both beautiful and articulate. 8Al-Tabari died in the year 320A.H/ 923CE after living for 85 years and was buried in Baghdad.Despite the fact that his death was not publicly publicized, a sizable audience attended his funeral.For several months, different persons on his grave observed requiem prayers on a daily and nightly basis.Intellectuals and religious people mourned him deeply. 9u Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Persian scholar, historian and exegete of the Qur'an from Tabaristan, modern Mazandaran in Iran.Even if today he's better known for his expertise in Islamic sciences (Qur'anic commentary and law) or history, he has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath.He wrote on such subjects as poetry, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine. 10 the ninth century A.C, Islamic learning was at its peak.Muslim scholars and scientists excelled in their learning and achievements in different fields.Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari surpassed them all.Learned in hadith literature, he also studied many other subjects to further his knowledge of the Glorious Qur'an and the religion of Islam.During the end of his days,

His Works
Ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a scholar in several subjects, including Qur'anic sciences, Hadith, history, and jurisprudence.He knew some biographies and published a popular book on the history of nations and emperors.Al-Tabari, a prolific writer in a variety of subjects, was proven beyond question by some of his pupils by estimating the leaves he used to write every day for eighty-five years.Based on the discovery, the forty leaves he wrote amount to eighty pages, as he wrote both the front and back of the leaves.Among the topics he addressed in his literature were Fiqh, Hadith, Tafsir, Nahw Lugah, and 'Arud.He is claimed to have outperformed other writers in those fields.Also in recitation he wrote a book of eighteen volumes.Below is the list of some of his major  16 He was also the author of many books; the most famous of them was his Tafsir of the Glorious Qur'an and the other was his encyclopedia on Islamic history.

Contributions of Al-Tabari to Islamic Historiography
Abu Ja'afar ibn Jarir al-Tabari is considered as one of the distinguished interpreter and historian in Islamic history.He is known for his two books "Tafsir al-Tabari", and "The history of al-Tabari."17

The Great Historian
At-Tabari was 65 years old when he returned to Baghdad.He continued to teach the students that came to him in search of knowledge.At the same time, he was eager to begin work on another writing project. 18bari defined history as a science not as an art as some modern historians proclaimed.He categorized history as a science because of his accurate historical methodology, which consisted of chain criticism that "put it more or less on scientific basis."This approach was re-confirmed in the words of Iqbal who said, "Accuracy in recording facts, which constitute the material of history, is an indispensable condition of history as a science. 19" The success of his Commentary of the Glorious Qur'an encouraged him to undertake another encyclopedic work.This time he decided to write an encyclopedia on the History of Islam.Before starting on the project, he spent a good deal of time in its planning and preparation.His students and friends were also enthusiastic about this new project and promised to extend all help that he required from them. 20nly in the end of the last century that modern scholars pieced together his work so that it could be studies by students in modern time. 27

D. Conclusion
The paper discusses many aspects of Abu Ja'afar Muhammad Ibn Jarir al-Tabari's biography, including his childhood, education (he received his education at Ray in Baghdad, he learned the Qur'an by heart at the age of seven, and he enjoyed writing, reciting, and participating in poetic exchanges), personal characteristics, and scholar ship.The paper also covers his publications and his extensive books on history, where he published about forty volumes on various aspects of Islamic Studies and finally brought up his ideas on the development of history, among others.3. Muslim researchers should try as much as possible to continue writing in order to refute westerner's writers who are malign and rancorous to Islam by writing authentic books, papers, thesis and dissertations and disseminate in the society.

E. Recommendations 1 .
Muslims should pay extra attention to the Islamic history being it very essential to the people of Islam 2. Muslims should shun away from using the books westerners and concentrate to the Muslim historians in order to have accurate and meritorious history of Islam especially from the books of great, gigantic and titanic Mufassir and historian Ibn Jarir al-Tabari .