Michael Fishbein, trans.
Albany: SUNY Press, 1991.
ISBN: 0-7914-3150-9

These 200 pages of The History: Vol. 8 by al-Tabarî (839-923 A.D.) now available in English translation (completed under the auspices of UNESCO because it does indeed "constitute part of the single most important universal history produced in the world of Islam") cover a period which roughly extends from 626-630 A.D. They tell of significant events during the Prophet's life such as the battle of the Trench and the expedition against the Banû Qurayza (5 A.H.), the Prophet's lesser pilgrimage and the story of al-Hudaybiya (6 A.H.), the expedition to Khaybar and the lesser pilgrimage of fulfillment (7 A.H.), and the taking of Mecca ten nights before the end of Ramadân (8 A.H.).
As the events unfold various situations give rise to practices of the Prophet which establish the guidelines for the conduct of the Muslims: Muhammad marries Zaynab, the divorced wife of his adopted son Zayd, because he is attracted to her, establishing once and for all that the position of an adopted son is not the same as that of a blood relative; during the Peace of Hudaybiya, Muhammad upholds his promise not to provide refuge to new converts among the Quraysh, but breaks it when they turn out to be women, because Muslim women must not marry non-Muslim men. During the pilgrimage of fulfillment Muhammad takes to wife Maymûnah bt. al-Hârith, but does not consummate his marriage with her, thereby defining what exactly was permitted to those in a state of ritual purity.
Much of what al-Tabarî narrates is brought to us through the traditions of Ibn Ishâq (704-767 A.D.) and al-Wâqidî (747-823 A.D.) whose biographical compilations are known to us as maghâzî and/or sîra. These very same compilers were condemned by scholarly muhaddithûn, such as Ahmad b. Hanbal and Imâm Bukhârî, as liars whose traditions are lacking in trustworthiness. It is ironic therefore that al- Tabarî should include these traditions within a compilation which he entitles "Ta'rîkh al-rusul wa'l-mulûk". It is possible that the issue that preoccupied al-Tabarî was chronology, ta'rîkh. Yet chronology must have been a tricky issue given that the Arabs followed a lunar calendar but intercalated extra months to keep the seasons in phase, a practice which was stopped around the year 10 A.H. by the Muslims. Moreover the hijra calendar was instituted only during the caliphate of `Umar b. al-Khattâb (p.xxii).
Al-Tabarî also brings to light information that is not obvious in the recensions of his two main sources (Ibn Ishâq and al-Wâqidî) that are available to us today. Here I refer in particular to three issues: the fact that the Prophet married the coptic woman Mâriyah who was sent to him as a gift by al-Muqawqis, the patriarch of Alexandria (p.131); that Muhammad made peace with the Zoroastrians in return for the payment of a jizya or poll tax, while insisting that their sacrifices should not be eaten, and that one should not marry their women (p.142), a ruling which seems to go against the Qur'ânic prescription of tolerance for the ahl al-Kitâb alone. That the Prophet permitted the eating of the flesh of a dead whale, which indeed he himself takes a taste of (p.148), is another act which seems to reject Qur'ânic decree.
Fishbein's translation is not only based on the manuscript edited by M. J. deGoeje as are all the translations of this series, but also uses the edition of Muhammad Abû al-Fadl Ibrâhîm, indicating the differences between the two manuscripts when they occur--an act for which I believe he deserves commendation. He also indicates the parallel passages that occur in Ibn Hishâm's recension of Ibn Ishâq, al-Wâqidî, Ibn Sa`d's Tabaqât and al-Balâdurî's Ansâb al-Ashrâf.