Nihayat al-Ijaz fi Sirat Sakin al-Hijaz
- Author died
- 1290 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Dhakhāʾir
Nihayat al-Ijaz fi Sirat Sakin al-Hijaz (The Ultimate Brevity on the Biography of the Inhabitant of the Hijaz) is a biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ written by the Egyptian scholar and reformer Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (1216–1290 AH / 1801–1873 CE) . It was among the last works composed by al-Tahtawi before his death and stands as one of the earliest modern Egyptian presentations of the prophetic biography (sirah) .
Composition and Publication
When al-Tahtawi planned a multi-volume history of Egypt during the Islamic era, he deemed it necessary to begin with a biography of the Prophet ﷺ treated with a systematic, scholarly method, conceiving this work as the second volume alongside his broader historical study Anwar Tawfiq al-Jalil fi Akhbar Misr wa-Tawthiq Bani Isma'il .
Before appearing as a book, the text was serialized across forty-three issues of the Egyptian educational and literary periodical Rawdat al-Madaris during its third, fourth, and fifth years . Al-Tahtawi passed away in 1290 AH (1873 CE) while completing the final section on state institutions, and the work was published in book form in Cairo shortly thereafter in 1291 AH (1874 CE) . His son, Ali Fahmi Rifa'a, compiled and appended a supplementary synoptic table of the Prophet's military campaigns (ghazawat) to fulfill an intention his father had expressed orally before his demise .
Structure and Contents
In its original periodical serial, the work was arranged into six main chapters (abwab) following a chronological framework from the Prophet's ancestry and birth to his death :
- Chapter 1: From the Prophet's birth and noble lineage to the beginning of his prophetic mission, including discussions on his suckling, guardianship, and the observance of the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid) .
- Chapter 2: The beginning of the prophetic mission at age forty, the call to Islam, the migrations to Abyssinia, and his journey to al-Ta'if .
- Chapters 3–5: The major events of the prophetic career, including the Hijrah to Medina, the battles, treaties, delegations, the Farewell Pilgrimage, and the circumstances of the Prophet's illness and death .
- Chapter 6: Dedicated to governance, public and municipal offices, civic administration, crafts, trades, and legal functions during the era of the Prophet ﷺ .
In modern publishing, the work was edited by Abd al-Rahman Hasan Mahmud and Faruq Hamid Badr (1990), who separated the sixth chapter into a distinct companion volume titled al-Dawlah al-Islamiyyah: Nuzumuha wa-'Ummaluha (The Islamic State: Its Systems and Functionaries) .
Method and Significance
The book bridges traditional Muslim biographical writing and early modern historical narration . While adhering to classical Arabic historical sequences, al-Tahtawi introduced rational analysis when evaluating contested reports or extraordinary events, discussing legal and theological facets explicitly to guide the reader through reasoned conclusions . His emphasis on state administration and societal institutions in early Islam reflected the broader reformist aims of his late intellectual project .
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