Disputed issues in early Islamic history

There are a number of uncertainties and disputed issues in the early history of Islam.

Most of these disputes can be traced to Shi'a-Sunni disagreements. Shi'a often argue that history has been distorted to further a Banu Umayyad agenda.^[1] In many cases, complications with the historiography of early Islam have also resulted in lack of consensus within denominations of Islam.

List of disputed issues

The uncertainties include:

• The date of birth of Muhammad^[2]
• The date of Muhammad's death^[2]
• The age at which Khadija married Muhammad (25–40 years)
• The date of birth of Fatimah (±10 years)^[3][4]
• The marriage in which three of Khadija's three daughters were born^[5]
• The number of marriages Khadija was in before marrying Muhammad
• The prohibition of Nikah Mut'ah
• Date of birth of Aisha
• Identity of the second wife of Muhammad (Sawda bint Zamʿa or Aisha)
• Disputes over the identity of the "Umm Khulthum" that married Umar (bint Ali, Bint Abu Bakr or a third)
• The existence of Fatimah's third son, Muhsin ibn Ali
• The nomination of Ali Ibn Abi Talib as first caliph by Muhammad in Ghadir-e Khum^[6] & Dawat ZulAsheera^[7]
• Mohammad's inheritance and the dispute on the land of Fadak & Khaybar
• Burial place of Fatimah

See also

• Timeline of Islamic history
• History of Islam

Further reading

• Qur'an and History — a Disputed Relationship: Some Reflections on Qur'anic History and History in the Qur'an / القرآن والتاريخ: علاقة موضع جدل Angelika Neuwirth and ٲنجليکا نيوورث. Journal of Qur'anic Studies. Vol. 5, No. 1 (2003), pp. 1–18. Edinburgh University Press.
• Tayeb El-Hibri, Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs. Columbia University Press, 2010.
• Jóhann Páll Árnason, Civilizations in Dispute: Historical Questions and Theoretical Traditions. BRILL, Jan 1, 2003.
• Régis Blachère, The problem of Muhammad - test critical biography of the founder of Islam, a volume of 135 pages, University Press of France, Paris, 1952.

Citations and notes

1. Some 20th-century Shia scholars have protested the conversion of history into mythology. Prominent critics include: Morteza Motahhari (Meaning of 'Ashura: Misrepresentations & Distortions, 'Ashura - History and Popular Legend and 'Ashura - Misrepresentations and Distortions), Abbas Qomi, author of Nafas al-Mahmoum (Nafasul Mahmoom), and Sayyid Abd-al-Razzaq Al-Muqarram, author of Maqtalul-Husayn (Ḥusayn Ibn ʿAlī, Al, Encyclopedia of Religion)
2. The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity by Scott Fitzgerald Johnson (edited). "The historical Muhammad and the Qur'an".
3. Fatima ['a] The Gracious http://www.al-islam.org/gracious/7.htm
4. There are differences of opinion on the exact date of her birth, but the widely accepted view is that she was born five years before the first Quranic revelations, during the time of the rebuilding of the Kaaba in 605, although this does imply she was over 18 at the time of her marriage, which was unusual in Arabia.(See MSN Encarta article on Fatimah and Encyclopædia Britannica) Twelver Shia sources, however, state that she was born either two or five years after the first Qur'anic revelations, but that timeline would imply her mother was over fifty at the time of her birth.
5. For more, see Genealogy of Khadija's daughters.
6. Hadith of the pond of Khumm
7. First invitation of Islam by Mohammad to his close relatives

External links

• Early Troubles in Muslim History, Shia articles at shiabook.blogspot