Abstract:

The sources of the first period of Islamic History and the authors  who wrote these sources are of great importance. Ibn Ḳutayba is  one of the first authors of Islamic history. He has proved that he was a  versatile author by writing various works on different subjects. Ibn  Ḳutayba’s well-known work on history reveals his place in Islamic Historiography  and his understanding of historiography. The information  he gave about Islamic History, and the evaluations and methods that he  followed, have developed an important perspective in the field of history  and culture. One of the particular aspect that makes Ibn Ḳutayba important  in terms of his historiography is the information that he gave about  the problem of caliphate after the death of the Prophet. His work entitled  al-Imāma wa’s-siyāsa is also of great importance, which gives detailed  information about the conquest of Andalusia, along with important information about the events that took place until the times of ‘Abbasiad caliphs al-Maʾmūn and al-Muʿtaṣim. Various discussions have been put forward on the question of whether al-Imāma wa’s-siyāsa belong to Ibn Ḳutayba or not, and some have claimed that this work does not belong to him. However, in order to be able to find a consistent and accurate approach in this regard, the period of Ibn Ḳutayba’s life, his scientific personality, his works and his method must be known. The subject covered in the present article is the importance of Ibn Ḳutayba’s work, the claims that have been made about the belonging of the book to him. Together with the answers given to those claims, I refer to the historians and their works that are used as a direct source, which do not mention whether this work belongs to Ibn Ḳutayba.

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