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Suada
I obtained my first degree at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1970. Several years later I moved to the Univeristy of New Brunswick, Canada, to complete an M.A. in Political Science. From th...view moreI obtained my first degree at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1970. Several years later I moved to the Univeristy of New Brunswick, Canada, to complete an M.A. in Political Science. From there I moved to Montreal and obtained a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from McGill University in 1995. Since then I have published several scholarly articles in journals, and encyclopaedias.
My dissertation was based on the traditions compiled by Ibn Ishaq and al Waqidi. Ibn Ishaq has been made available through a translation by Guillaume. The traditions compiled by al-Waqidi closely resemble those compiled by Ibn Ishaq, and Western scholars have accused him of borrowing without acknowledging his debt.
Having studied his work I believe that the genre of his compilation essentially sought the use of recognized traditions. Its mark of originality lay in how those traditions were juxtaposed one after the other and thus interpreted in different ways.
Al-Waqidi was employed by the Abbasid caliph as a qadi or judge and even taught the Caliph's children. His knowledge of traditions regarding the Prophet is well known, and was attested by the fact that he would often act as a guide to pilgrims, informing them of the incidents that took place in different parts of Mecca and Medina. His amanuensis was the well known Ibn Sad who also compiled volumes of tradition which are acknowledged by Islamic scholars to this day. By making avatiable a translation of his work, I hope not merely to have the compiler understood, but also the genre of Maghazi wrting clarified , which I feel has been mistakenly understood as history. This work is not a historical work, but simply an attempt to provide a lucid and meaningful bringing together of the traditions concerning the Prophet and significant passages of the Quran.view less