Ḥanafī Biographical Dictionaries: A Survey

Abstract

This paper deals with biographical dictionaries-one of the main genres in Muslim historiography. The first part involves some theoretical considerations related to biographical dictionaries. This includes definition and classification of this type of literature. In addition, this paper dismisses the claim forwarded by some Orientalists that this genre was initiated by Traditionalists so that they could pass themselves off as 'genuine' scholars to the exclusion of all others. While the Orientalists' claim may have some weight, this study contends that biographical dictionaries have been primarily motivated by the Islamic conception of historiography, i.e. the preservation of the memory of previous scholars so that later Muslim generations could emulate their deeds. The second part surveys five Ḥanafī biographical dictionaries within the framework of the questions of motive, method, selectivity, and the issue of factual information and subjective evaluation. The survey confirms the hypothesis that the composition of biographical dictionaries was genuinely inspired by religious considerations. The paper also examines the linkage among these different dictionaries, and derives several important conclusions there from. Lastly, the paper analyzes the content of the surveyed dictionaries and relates it to the theoretical considerations discussed in the first part.