Abu al-Arab

Muḥammad ibn Tamīm ibn Tamām al-Tamīmī (Arabic: محمد بن تميم بن تمام التميمي; died 945) more commonly known as Abu al-Arab (أبو العرب; lit. 'Father of the Arabs') was a 10th-century Arab Muslim historian, poet, traditionist and faqih of the Maliki school.^[1] His most celebrated work is Tabaqat 'Ulama Ifriqiya (lit. 'Classes of Scholars of Ifriqiya') which include numerous scholars of his time.

Biography

Abu al-Arab year of birth is unknown, though he most probably was born between 864 and 873 in the city of Kayrawan, the cultural center of Ifriqiya (corresponds to modern-day Tunisia), at the time was under the control of the Fatimid Caliphate. He belonged to a noble Arab family of governors. His great-grandfather held the governorship of Tunis and he also successfully managed to seize control of Kayrawan in the year 799.^[1] Abu al-Arab studied under a number of scholars who were themselves took knowledge from the renowned Kayrawani jurist Sahnun (d. 854/55), and he wrote a detailed account of Sahnun's life.^[2] Sequentially, Abu al-Arab devoted his time to teaching in Kayrawan, his most notable student was Ibn Abi Zayd al-Kayrawani (d. 996).^[1] Abu al-Arab participated in Abu Yazid's revolt against the Fatimids, eventually he was imprisoned. Few years later, he died in 945.^[1]

Works

According to al-Zirkili, Abu al-Arab works consist of 3,000 books which are mostly lost.^[3]

• Tabaqat 'Ulama Ifriqiya (طبقات علماء إفريقية; Classes of Scholars of Ifriqiya)
• 'Ibad Ifriqiya (عباد إفريقية; People of Ifriqiya)
• Kitab al-Tarikh (كتاب التاريخ; Book of History) in seventeen volumes.
• Manaqib Bani Tamim (مناقب بني تميم; Merits of Bani Tamim)
• Al-Mihan (المحن; Adversities)
• Fada'il Malik (فضائل مالك; Merits of Malik)
• Manaqib Sahnun (مناقب سحنون; Merits of Sahnun)
• Mawt al-'Ulama (موت العلماء; Death of Scholars) in two volumes.

See also

• List of pre-modern Arab scientists and scholars

References