Introduction
Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (Arabic: أبو محمد عبدالمالك بن هشام), or Ibn Hisham edited the biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq. Ibn Ishaq's work is lost and is now only known in the recensions of Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari. He was also said to have mastered Arabic philology in a way which only Sibawayh had.
Ibn Hisham has been said to have grown up in Basra and moved afterwards to Egypt, while others have narrated that his family was descended from Basra but he himself was born in Old Cairo. Either way, it is in Egypt where he gained a name as a grammarian and student of language and history. His family was of Himyarite origin, though some narrators trace him to Mu'afir ibn Ya'far, while others say he is a Dhuhli.
Works
- As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah, an edited (though not copied) version of Ibn Ishaq's original work. It is now considered one of the classic works on the biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
- He also wrote a work on South Arabian antiquities: Kitab al-Tijan li ma'rifati muluk al-zaman (Book of Crowns in knowing kings of the age)
- Mahmood ul-Hasan, Ibn Al-At̲h̲ir: An Arab Historian : a Critical Analysis of His Tarikh-al-kamil and Tarikh-al-atabeca, pg. 71. New Delhi: Northern Book Center, 2005. ISBN 9788172111540
- Antonie Wessels, A Modern Arabic Biography of Muḥammad: A Critical Study of Muḥammad Ḥusayn , pg. 1. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1972.
- Ira M. Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies, pg. 18. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 9780521779333