Ibn Askir and Early Islamic History

Ibn Asakir's massive Tarikh madinat Dimashq (TMD) is a veritable gold mine of information for our understanding of the first five and one-half centuries of Islamic history. This book offers important insights on the mechanics of Arabic historiography, in particular on biographical sources from the Middle period. Moreover, two contributions show that Ibn Asakir pursued a political and sectarian agenda within his TMD.