Dated Muslim Texts From 1-72 AH / 622-691 CE: Documentary Evidence For Early Islam
M S M Saifullah & ‘Abdullah David
© Islamic Awareness, All Rights Reserved.
First Composed: 7th January 2007
Last Modified: 26th August 2008
Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
A host of recent publications have challenged the traditional view of the development of Islam. For example, Christoph Luxenberg has attempted to show that the Qur'an was drafted in a mixed Aramaic-Arabic tongue and based upon Christian Aramaic texts, contrary to the traditional view of its composition in Arabic or derived from Arabian religious traditions.[1] On the other hand, Yehuda Nevo argued that the religious beliefs of the early Arabs constituted paganism along with 'a very simple form of monotheism with Judaeo-Christian overtones'.[2] There is no doubt that the study of early Islamic history is contentious among the Western scholars,[3] where agreement about various issues is quite rare. In this kind of a situation, one might expect that the existing documents such as papyri, coins and inscriptions will be taken into account while formulating a hypothesis. Unfortunately, such has not been the case and the result of which is often the proposal of extravagant hypotheses on the origins of Islam.[4] What makes this situation particularly bizarre is that the Western scholars have access to what can be called a treasure-trove of documentary evidence when compared with other major world religions. Judaeo-Christian scholars studying the earliest Christian artefacts are presently unable to call forward even a single item of documentary evidence from the first one hundred years of Christianity and beyond.[5]
Our aim here is quite modest. It is to simply present the corpus of dated Muslim writings along with their contents from 1-72 AH / 622-691 CE. These writings include inscriptions, coins and papyri. By just going through their content, the reader would be able to establish certain landmarks and conclusions. Why the date 72 AH? This is because when we come to the Marwanid period, the dated Islamic texts become much more numerous and with varied content. After this period the citations from the Qur'an also begin to appear.
The list below is based on Robert Hoyland's collection[6] with some additions from our side.
List Of Dated Muslim Texts From 1-72 AH / 622-691 CE
Various demand notices and receipts on papyri (in Greek and Arabic or Greek only), Egypt, 22 AH / December 642 CE onwards.
Opening formulae: bism Allāh / en onomati tou theou ("In the name of God"); bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. ("In the name of Allāh, the Compassionate, the Merciful"); syn theō ("With God").
Papyri ERF No. 552, containing an acknowledgement for receipt of six nomismata by ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umar, concludes kai eirēnē soi apo theou ("And the peace from God be upon you"). Papyri ERF Nos. 552-573 are dated between 22 AH and 57 AH (except for 572, which may be later). For Papyri ERF 558, click here.
Arabic graffito from Qā‘ al-Mu‘tadil, N. W. Arabia (near al-Hijr), 24 AH /
644 CE.
Bism Allāh anā Zuhayr katabt zaman tuwuffiya ‘Umar sanat arba‘ wa-‘ishrīn
In the name of God, I Zuhayr wrote [this] at the time ‘Umar died in the year twenty-four.
Arabic graffito from Wadi Khushayba, S. W. Arabia (near Najrān), 27 AH /
648 CE.
Taraḥḥama Allāh ‘alam Yazīd ibn ‘Abdallāh al-Salūlī wa-kataba fi Jumādā [kadhā] min sanat saba‘ wa-‘ishrīn.
May God have mercy on Yazīd ibn ‘Abdallāh al-Salūlī and he wrote [this] in Jumādā of the year twenty-seven.
Tombstone of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Ibn Khair al-Hajrī, 31 AH / 652 CE.
Bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. hadhā l-qabr li-‘Abd al-Raḥmān Ibn Khair al-Ḥajrī. Allahumma ighfir lahu wadkhulhi fī raḥma minka wa ātinā ma‘ahu. istaghfir lahu idhā qara’a hādha l-kitāb wa-qul amīn. wa-kutiba hādha l-kitāb fī Jumādā al-ākhar min sanat iḥdā wa-thalāthin.
In the name of Allāh, the Compassionate, the Merciful; this tomb belongs to ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Ibn Khair al-Ḥajrī. O Allāh, forgive him and make him enter into Thy mercy and make us go with him. (passer by) When reading this inscription ask pardon for him (the deceased) and say Amen! This inscription was written in Jumādā II of the year thirty-one.
All bear the legend bism Allāh ("In the name of God"), sometimes with additional words in Arabic and Persians.
All bear the legend lillāh ("Unto God").
Arabic inscription on the Darb Zubayda caravan route, 40 AH / 660-661 CE.
Raḥmat Allāh wa barakatuhu ‘alā ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Khālid bin al-‘Ās wa kutiba li-sanat arba‘īn.
Allah's mercy and blessing be upon ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Khālid bin al-‘Ās, and written in the year forty.
Arabic tax demand notice (entagion) on marble, Andarin, northern Syria, from the time of Mu‘āwiya (40–60 AH / 661–80 CE).
Bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm min al-Layth bin al-Diyāl ‘āmil al-amīr Mu‘āwiya... ‘alā ard Qinnasrīn wa-ahlihi. takfi mukūs min iqlīm...
In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful: from al-Layth ibn al-Diyāl agent of the amīr Mu‘āwiya ... over Qinnasrin and its people. You should meet in full the taxes of the district of...
Arabic inscription on a dam, Medina, Arabia, of Mu‘āwiya, 40–60 AH / 661–80.
Bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm hadhā l-sadd li-‘abd Allāh Mu‘āwiya [kadham] amīr al-mu’minīn Allāhumma baraka [kadhā] lahu fihi rabb alsamawat [kadhā] wa-l-ard banahu [kadhā] Abū Raddād mawlā ‘Abdallāh ibn ‘Abbās bi-ḥawl Allāh wa-quwwatihi wa-qāma ‘alayhi Kathīr ibn al-Ṣalt wa-Abū Mūsā.
In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful, this dam is on behalf of the servant of God Mu‘āwiya commander of the believers. O God, bless him for it, Lord of the heavens and the earth. Abū Raddād client of ‘Abdallāh ibn ‘Abbās built it by the power and strength of God, and Kathīr ibn al-Ṣalt and Abū Mūsā oversaw it.
Greek: abdella Mouaouia amilalmoumnin
Arabic: ‘abd Allāh Mu‘āwiya amīr al-mu’minīn
Five Arab-Sassanian coins of Mu‘āwiya, Darabgird, year 41 AH / 661-62 CE.
On the obverse is written in Persian Maawia amir i-wruishnikan ("Mu‘āwiya, commander of the faithful"), and in Arabic bism Allāh ("In the name of God").
A papyrus, now in the Louvre, bearing an acknowledgment of a debt, dated 42 AH / 662 CE.
The dating formula is sanat qadā’ al-mu’minīn ("the year of the dispensation of the believers").
Greek inscription in the baths of Hammat Gader, 42 AH / 662-63 CE.
In the days of the servant of God Mu‘āwiya, the commander of the faithful (abdalla Maavia amēra almoumenēn), the hot baths of the people there were saved and rebuilt by ‘Abd Allāh son of Abū Hāshim, the governor (Abouasemou symboulou), on the fifth of the month of December, on the second day (of the week), in the 6th year of the indiction, in the year 726 of the colony, according to the arabs (kata Arabas) the 42nd year, for the healing of the sick, under the care of Ioannes, the official of Gadara.
Two Coptic texts on behalf of ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (d. 43 AH / 663 CE) in Pap. BM 1079.
I, Philotheos the ape (village headman, protokometes), son of the late Houri, the man from Tjinela, swear by God Almighty and the well-being of ‘Amr not to have left out any man in our whole village from fourteen years (up) but to have accounted for him to your lordship. I, Ioustos, the komogrammateus (village scribe), swear by God Almighty and the well-being of ‘Amr not to have left out any man in our whole village but to have accounted for him to your lordship.
I, Philotheos, together with Esaias, the apes, and together with Apater the priest, the men from the village of Tjinela, we write, swearing by the name of God and the well-being of ‘Amr not to have left out any man in our village from fourteen years on; if you produce any we have left behind we will put them in our house. Sign of Philotheos the protokometes, he agrees. Sign of Esaias, he agrees. Apater, the humble priest, I agree.
Three Arab-Sassanian coins, Bīshāpūr, years 45 AH / 665 CE and 47 AH / 667 CE.
All bear the legend bism Allāh al-malik ("In the name of God, the King").
All bear the legend bism Allāh rabbī ("In the name of God, my Lord"), sometimes with additional words in Arabic and Persian.
Arabic graffito from Wādī Sabil, 46 AH / 666 CE.
Allahumma ighfir li-‘Abd Allāh ibn Dayrām kutiba li-‘arba‘a layāl khalūn min Muḥarram min sanat sitt wa-arba‘īn.
O Allah grant pardon to ‘Abdalllāh bin Dayrām written when four nights had passed of [the month of] Muḥarram of the year forty-six.
Seven bilingual entagia, Nessana, 54-57 AH / 674-77 CE. Click here to view one of them.
All begin Bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm ("In the name of Allāh, the Compassionate, the Merciful").
All bear the legend: Bism Allāh rabb al-ḥukm ("In the name of God, the Lord of judgement").
Arabic graffito on the Darb Zubayda caravan route, 56 AH / 676 CE.
Allahumma ighfir li-Hadya ibn Alī ibn Hinayda wa-kutiba li-sanat sitt wa-khamsīn.
O God, forgive Hadya ibn Alī ibn Hinayda, written in the year fifty-six.
Inscription on the dam built by Caliph Mu‘āwiya, 58 AH / 678 CE.
Hadhā l-sadd li-‘abd Allāh Mu‘āwiya amīr al-mu’minīn banahu ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ṣakhr bidhn Allāh li-sanat thaman wa khamsīn. Allahumma ighfir li-‘Abd Allāh Mu‘āwiya amīr al-mu’minīn wa-thabbithu w-unṣurhu wa matti‘ l-mu’minīn bihi. kataba ‘Amr ibn Ḥabbāb.
This dam [belongs] to servant of God Mu‘āwiya, commander of the believers. ‘Abdullāh b. Ṣakhr built it with the permission of Allāh, in the year fifty-eight. O Allāh, pardon servant of God Mu‘āwiya, commander of the believers, and strengthen him, and make him victorious, and grant the commander of the believers the enjoyment of it. ‘Amr b. Habbāb wrote [it].
Coin of Yazīd I, no place, year 1 (61 AH / 681 CE).
Obverse has the standard profile of Khusrau II and bears his name; reversal has usual Sassanian iconography (fire altar, stars and crescents etc.), but in the margin is written in Persian "Year one of Yazīd".
Arabic graffito near Karbala in Iraq, 64 AH / 683-684 CE.
Bism Allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. Allāh wa-kabbir kabīran wa-l-ḥamd lillāh kathīran. wa subḥān Allāh bukratan wa-asīlan wa-laylan tawīlan Allahumma rabb Jibrīl wa-Mīkā’īl wa Isrāfīl ighfir li-? ibn Yazīd al-As‘adī mā taqaddama min dhanbihi wa-mā ta'akhkhara wa-li-man qāla amīn amīn rabb al-‘ālamīn. wa-ktbt hādha l-kitāb fī Shawwāl min sanat arba‘ wa-sittīn.
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Allah is the greatest Great. May Allah be abundantly thanked and May Allah be praised morning and evening. O Lord of Gabriel, Michael and Isrāfīl, forgive Layth (?) Ibn Yazid al-As‘adi his early sins and the ones that followed and (forgive) whoever says Amīn. Amīn, O Lord of the worlds. I wrote this inscription in (the month of) Shawwāl in the year sixty-four.
A tiraz inscription from the time of Marwan I, 64-65 AH / 683-85 CE.
[‘Abd] Allāh Marwān amīr al-mu’[min]īn mimmā amr.... fī tirāz ifrīqīyya.
[The servant of] God, Marwān, Commander of the Faithful. Of what was ordered... in the tirāz of Ifrīqīyya.
The legend is bism Allāh al-‘azīz ("In the name of God, the Great").
Two Arab-Sassanian coins of the governer ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Bīshāpūr, 66 AH and 67 AH.
The legend is bism Allāh Muḥammad rasūl Allāh ("In the name of God, Muḥammad is the messenger of God").
An Arab-Sassanian coin of Mus‘ab ibn al-Zubayr, Basra, 66 AH (?) / 685-86 CE.
The legend is muṣ‘ab ḥasbuhu Allāh ("Muṣ‘ab, God is his sufficiency").
Bilingual Greek–Arabic papyrus, release from labour contact, from Nessana, southern Palestine, 67 AH / 687 CE.
Payment of money to release person from employ of al-Aswad ibn ‘Adī, who then returned part of the payment as alms: ṣadaqa ‘alayhi bi echarisato.
All have the legend lillāh al-ḥamd ("Unto God be praise").
Inscription on a bridge in Fustat by the governor ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Marwān, 69 AH / 688-89 CE.
Hādhihi l-qantara amara bihā ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Marwān al-amīr. Allahumma bārik lahu fī amrihi kullihi wa-thabbit sultānahu ‘alā mā tardā wa-aqarra ‘aynahu fī nafsihi wa-ḥashamihi amīn. wa-qāma bi-binā'ihā Sa‘d Abū ‘Uthmān wa-kataba ‘Abd al-Raḥmān fī Ṣafar sanat tis‘ wa sittīn.
This bridge was commissioned by the governor ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Marwān. O God, bless him in his affairs, strengthen his rule as You see fit and cheer him himself and his entourage, amīn. Sa‘d Abū ‘Uthmān undertook the building of it, and ‘Abd al-Raḥmān wrote [this] in Ṣafar of the year sixty-nine.
Arabic inscription in a bronze can, 69 AH / 688-89 CE.
mimmā ‘umila bi-l-Baṣra sanat tisa‘ wa sittīn barakah min san‘ah ibn Yazīd.
Made in Basra in year sixty-nine, "barakah", crafted by Ibn Yazīd.
An Arab-Sassanian coin of the Kharijite rebel Qatarī ibn al-Fujā'a, Bīshāpūr, 69 AH / 688-89 CE. A coin of Qatarī ibn al-Fujā'a from 75 AH / 694-695 CE is shown here.
It bears the typically Kharijite slogan lā ḥukm illā lillāh ("Judgement belongs to God alone"), prefixed with bism Allāh. And written in Persian: "Servant of God, Ktri, commander of the faithful".
An Arab-Sassanian coin of the Umayyad governer of Basra Khālid ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Bīshāpūr, 71 AH / 690-91 CE.
The legend is bism Allāh Muḥammad rasūl Allāh ("In the name of God, Muḥammad is the messenger of God").
Tombstone Of ‘Abāssa Bint Juraij, 71 AH / 691
CE.
In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Compassionate. The greatest calamity of the people of Islām (ahl al-Islām) is that which has fallen them on the death of Muhammad the Prophet; may Allāh grant him peace. This is the tomb of ‘Abāssa daughter of Juraij (?), son of (?). May clemency, forgiveness and satisfaction of Allāh be on her. She died on Monday, fourteen days having elapsed from Dhul-Qa‘dah of the year seventy-one, confessing that there is no god but Allāh alone without partner and that Muḥammad is His servant and His apostle, may Allāh grant him peace.
References
[1] C. Luxenberg, Die syro-aramäische Lesart des Koran: Ein Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung der Koransprache, 2000, Das Arabische Book: Berlin.
[2] Y. Nevo & J. Koren, Crossroads To Islam: The Origins Of The Arab Religion And The Arab State, 2003, Prometheus Books: New York, pp. 10-11. Also see their earlier works Y. D. Nevo, "Towards A Prehistory Of Islam", Jerusalem Studies In Arabic And Islam, 1994, Volume 17, pp. 108-141; J. Koren & Y. Nevo, "Methodological Approaches To Islamic Studies", 1991, Der Islam, Volume 68, pp. 87-107.
[3] The most commonly quoted controversial Western scholars who attempted to reconstruct the early Islamic history are Patricia Crone and Michael Cook (Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, 1977, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge) and John Wansbrough (Qur’anic Studies: Sources & Methods Of Scriptural Interpretation, 1977, Oxford University Press; idem., The Sectarian Milieu: Content & Composition Of Islamic Salvation History, 1978, Oxford University Press).
[4] Even those sober publications which do make extensive use of the early dated corpus of evidence can inadvertently ignore some vital pieces of evidence. For example, whilst commending Beatrice Gruendler’s thorough use of the early dated Arabic texts in her volume The Development Of The Arabic Scripts: From The Nabatean Era To The First Islamic Century According To Dated Texts [1993, Harvard Semitic Series No. 43, Scholars Press: Atlanta (GA)], Healey and Rex-Smith note that vital pieces of paleographic evidence are still absent. Specifically, with regard to coins, glass weights and stamps they lament, “for how much longer will these essential pieces of palaeographic evidence be forgotten?” See J. F. Healey and G. Rex-Smith, “Beatrice Gruendler, The Development Of The Arabic Scripts: From The Nabatean Era To The First Islamic Century According To Dated Texts”, Journal Of Semitic Studies, 1995, Volume XL, No. 1, p. 177.
[5] L. W. Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts And Christian Origins, 2006, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids (MI), pp. 2-4. The earliest extant Christian inscriptions are from the third century CE. The earliest extant example of a Christian Church is from the third century CE. Hurtado says [p. 3]:
… Among these pre-Constantinian manuscripts, a small but growing number are dated as early as the second century, and these second-century manuscripts now constitute the earliest extant artifacts of Christianity.
[6] R. Hoyland, Seeing Islam As Others Saw It: A Survey And Evaluation Of Christian, Jewish And Zoroastrian Writings On Early Islam, 1997, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam - 13, The Darwin Press, Inc.: Princeton (NJ), pp. 688-695; More recently, he has added some more sources to this corpus, see R. Hoyland, "New Documentary Texts And The Early Islamic State", Bulletin Of The School Of Oriental And African Studies, 2006, Volume 69, No. 3, pp. 411-416.
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