An Appraisal of Jewish History: Analysis of Ibn e Kathīr’s Approach

Abstract

The paper focuses on the contribution of Ibn e Kathīr as a historian in general and a historian of Jewish and biblical history in particular. Though Ibn e Kathīr has remarkable contribution in various fields of Islamic sciences including Tafsīr, Hadith and sciences of Hadith, his contribution to the world history namely al bidayah wa al nihayah reveals yet another dimension of his scholarly figure as an historian. In this paper an attempt has been made to appreciate and evaluate the Jewish and the biblical history as presented by Ibn e Kathīr. It is the view of the authors that besides the specialized works of al Milal wa al Nihal the encyclopediac histories or the world histories are also sources for studying other religions from an Islamic perspective. Thus, in case of Ibn e kathīr it has been concluded that he has dealt with the Jewish history through the Quran and Sunnah perspective while he also relies on the biblical narratives for rebuilding the Jewish past. However, his treatment of the Jewish sources is nuanced by his Tafsīri or exegete lense where he looks upon these as Isra‘eliyāt.