Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah ibn Abī ʿAyyāsh al-Asadi al-Miṭraqī (; d. 758/759 CE), known with his honorific as Mūsā ibn ʿUqba (), was an early Medinan

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and traditionalist, pupil of Zuhri, and was a freed slave of the family of Zubair.

Imam Malik Malik ibn Anas (; –795) also known as Imam Malik was an Arab Islamic scholar and traditionalist who is the eponym of the Maliki school, one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.Schacht, J., "Mālik b. Anas", in: ''En ...

was his pupil in this art and was full of praise of him, and was also an expert on maghāzī, the

military expeditions A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

Sīrah Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya (), commonly shortened to Sīrah and translated as prophetic biography, are the traditional biographies of the Islamic prophet Muhammad written by Muslim historians, from which, in addition to the Qurʾān and ''ḥadīth ...

. He wrote a Maghāzī which was lost after 14th century but rediscovered in 2021 when a manuscript was found.

Biography

Musa Ibn Uqba was a Muslim

and

, born in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. He was the youngest of three brothers, the others being Muhammad and Ibrahim. His lineage is traced back to Miṭraq, a historical region in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Musa's date of birth is not explicitly mentioned in any biographical works. However, he is recorded to have performed

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

in the year 68 AH/687–688 CE. Based on this, some biographers estimate him to be born around 55 AH/675 CE. He was from the freedman (''mawālī'') of the family of

Zubayr ibn al-Awwam Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi (; ) was an Arab Muslim commander in the service of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs Abu Bakr () and Umar () who played a leading role in the Ridda Wars, Ridda wars against rebel tribes in ...

. By virtue of this, Musa was affiliated with the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe, specifically with sub-clan of

Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah Banu Asad () is an Arab tribe, descended from Asad ibn Khuzayma. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous and influential tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have burie ...

. Opinions regarding the identity of the person who manumitted Mūsā or his family are divided. According to some, Zubayr freed Musa’s maternal grandfather, Abū Ḥabībah. Others opine that Musa was himself the freedman of Umm Khalid, the wife of Zubayr. Due to him being a freedman of the family of Zubayr, he could afford proximity of Zubayr's son Urwah, and his grandson's Hishām, Yaḥyā,ʿĀmir, and Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar, from whom he learned

. His ''Kunya'' Abu Muhammad and he also used to issue ''Fatwas''. Musa had a high standing amongst the residents of Medina and he held own teaching circle in

Prophet's Mosque The Prophet's Mosque () is the List of the oldest mosques, second mosque built by the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second List of large mosques, la ...

. 202 Hadith are narrated from him in ''Kutub al-Sittah''. During the reign of Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (), he participated in many military expeditions against

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

alongside

Salim ibn Abd Allah Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was a well known narrator of hadith (sayings of Muhammad), many of which he related first hand from either his father, Abd Allah ibn Umar (died 693), or his grandfather, the caliph Umar (r ...

. He passed away in Medina, in the year 141 AH/758–759.

Works

''Maghazi Musa Ibn Uqba''

He composed one of the earliest

books, ''Kitāb al-maghāzī'' or better known as Maghazi Musa Ibn Uqba. It was praised by early Muslims including

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

Yahya ibn Ma'in Yahya ibn Ma'in (; 774-847) was a classical Islamic scholar in the field of hadith. He was a close friend of Ahmad ibn Hanbal for much of his life. Ibn Ma'in is known to have spent all of his inheritance on seeking hadith to the extent he becam ...

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

, as well as later Muslims such as

Al-Bayhaqi Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Khusrawjirdī al-Bayhaqī (, 994–1066), also known as Imām al-Bayhaqī, was a Sunni scholar widely known for being the foremost leading hadith master in his age, leading authority in th ...

Al-Dhahabi Shams ad-Dīn adh-Dhahabī (), also known as Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qāymāẓ ibn ʿAbdillāh at-Turkumānī al-Fāriqī ad-Dimashqī (5 October 1274 – 3 February 1348) was an Atharism, Athari ...

and

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...

who heavily relied upon and quoted his work. However, the entire work became lost after the 14th century, or 17th century according to a more conservative opinion. The last person known to have had access to the book was

Al-Sakhawi Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwī (, 1428/831 AH – 1497/902 AH) was a reputable Shafi‘i Muslim hadith scholar and historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an ...

(). However, according to

Marsden Jones John Marsden Beaumont Jones (20 December 1920 – 11 June 1992), known as Marsden Jones, was an emeritus professor and the founder and first director of the Center for Arabic Studies at the American University in Cairo. His special interests ...

, Diyarbakri () also had access to it, but this claim is disputed, as his works may only give a false impression of him having direct access to the book. The only surviving portion were 18 reports compiled by Ibn Qāḍī Shuhbah () from various sections of the Maghāzī. In September 2021, the book was rediscovered when two manuscripts (MS 14032, MS 14033) were found in National Library of Tunisia. It contained approximately two-thirds of the book, beginning from change in

Qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

Farewell Pilgrimage The Farewell Pilgrimage () refers to the one Hajj pilgrimage that Muhammad performed in the Islamic year 10 AH, following the Conquest of Mecca. Muslims believe that verse 22:27 of the Quran brought about the intent to perform Hajj in Muhammad tha ...

. The rest of the work still remains undiscovered. In 2023, the book was published for the first time by Bashīr Binʿaṭiyyah Publications in Fez, Morocco. An English Translation was published in 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musa ibn Uqba 758 deaths 8th-century historians of the medieval Islamic world 8th-century Arabic-language writers 7th-century Arab people 8th-century Arab people Tabi‘un Muslim scholars 670 births