''Al-Bidayah wa'an-Nihayah'' ( ar, "The Beginning and the End") or ''Tarikh ibn Kathir'' ("Ibn Kathir's ''History''") is a
classic
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
work by the
Sunni scholar
Ibn Kathir.
Overview
Ibn Kathir's work is considered to be one of the most authoritative sources on
Islamic history. A unique aspect of the book is that it not only deals with past events, but also mentions about future events mentioned by
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. The different volumes of the book deal with the beginning of creation and the sending of man upon the earth according to
Islam, the lives of the
Prophets of Islam and the times of the ''
Sahabah'' (Muhammad's companions) up to the 8th century.
[ The last volume records predictions of future events such as signs of the ]day of judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
(''Qiyamah
In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Last Judgment, Judgment Day ( ar, یوم القيامة, Yawm al-qiyāmah, Day of Resurrection or ar, یوم الدین, italic=no, Yawm ad-din, Day of Judgement),
when "all bodies will be resurrected" fr ...
'') when Muslims believe people enter ''Jannah
In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...
'' (heaven) or ''Jahannam
In Islam, the place of punishment for unbelievers and other evildoers in the afterlife, or hell, is an "integral part of Islamic theology", Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p.401 and has "occupied an important place in the Muslim imagi ...
'' (hell).
Popularity
This book is usually used as a reference book for islamic history. Ibn Kathir was able to gather many information with reliable primary sources. This book was translated in English and later, the book was translated into many language.
See also
* List of Sunni books
This is a list of significant books in the doctrines of Sunni Islam. A classical example of an index of Islamic books can be found in Kitāb al-Fihrist of Ibn Al-Nadim.
The Qur'an and its translations (in English)
:# ''The Meaning of the Glorio ...
* Tafsir Ibn Kathir
''Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm'' better known as ''Tafsir Ibn Kathir'' is the tafsir by Ibn Kathir (died 774 AH). It is one of the most famous Islamic books concerned with the science of interpretation of the Quran. It also includes jurisprud ...
* Al‑Sira Al‑Nabawiyya
References
Sunni literature
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