The Historical Methodology of the Qur'an and its Examples in Akhbar al-Tawwal and Tarikh-e Yaqubi

Despite its guiding nature and mission, the Holy Qur'an has presented a comprehensive plan for history with a special perspective, which includes the philosophy of history and the ultimate historical approach to the formal components and rules of the science of history. The historical framework represented in the Holy Qur'an has influenced the worldview and historiography of Muslim historians in various ways. To recognize such a plan, the author of the present study used a descriptive-analytical method to examine the effect of the historical method of the Qur'an and how this method affected the two works of the oldest historical texts of Islam. The first text was Akhbar al-Tawwal of Abu Hanifa Dinawari and the second one was Tarikh-e Yaqubi (the history of Yaqubi). The results of the study showed that in some areas, Yaqubi has been more influenced by the Qur'anic style than Abu Hanifa. These topics included the use of the structure and Qur'anic terms about the history and the benefits and purposes of historicism, causes of the decline of civilizations, and attention to the impact of the individual and society in the process of events. However, it should be noted that in the section on essential tools in historiography, such as observing the remaining works and, of course, the form and expression of historical events, such as the rule of history in history and the preparation of preliminaries, Abu Hanifa was more influenced by the Qur'an than Yaqubi.  

The present study was based on the descriptive-analytical method based on library resources.

As a world-renowned school, the religion of Islam, in various aspects of human life, has presented a clear plan and program, each of which alone can be the subject of research. In the meantime, the main aim of the present study was to examine the Qur'an's view of history and the issues surrounding it. Despite its guiding nature and mission, the Qur'an has presented a comprehensive plan for history with a special perspective, which includes the philosophy of history and the ultimate historical approach to the formal components and rules of the science of history. The historical design and framework represented in the Qur'an have influenced the worldview and historiography of Muslim historians from various aspects. To recognize such a plan, the present article, in a descriptive-analytical way, sought to examine the impact of the historical method of the Qur'an and how it affected the two works of the oldest historical texts of Islam (i.e. Akhbar al-Tawwal of Abu Hanifa Dinawari and Tarikh-e Yaqubi). An attempt was made to compare the historical influence of the historical methodology of the Qur'an between the two ancient historical monuments of the Islamic world. The main concern that led to the selection of the research topic was divided into two areas: 1) identifying the quality of the historiographical method from the Quran's point of view, and 2) discovering examples of this project in reports and historiography of Dinawari and Yaqoubi and comparing them. Regarding the background of the research, it should be noted that no specific and independent research has been found that specifically examines the reports of Akhbar al-Tawwal or the history of Yaqubi from this perspective. Of course, there are articles about these ancient historical monuments, but the goals and methods of their authors are completely different from the main framework of the present study. The present article has been conducted in a descriptive-analytical way. In the Holy Quran, special terms related to history have been used, which can also be seen in the reports of Dinawari’s Akhbar al-Tawwal: One of the terms that the Quran uses in discussing history is stories as well as Naba. By carefully reading the reports of Abu Hanifa Dinawari in the book Akhbar al-Tawwal and the history of Yaqubi, it can be seen that both have used exactly the Qur'anic terms in discussing history. Of course, Yaqubi used these two terms more than Iwanaifah. Additionally, the main purpose of quoting historical news in the Qur'an was to make people think, intending to learn a lesson, as it has been mentioned many times in the Qur'an. Of course, this issue can also be seen in the book of Akhbar al-Tawwal of Abu Hanifa Dinawari, although Yaqubi has been much more influenced by this issue than Abu Hanifa. Exploration tools in history: One of the tools for paying attention to history is listening. The discussion of hearing the past news in Abu Hanifa's Akhbar al-Tawwal was abundant, however, in this section, too, Yaqoubi has mentioned this in more cases, albeit in the section on the history of Islam. Another tool for exploring history is to take a closer look at the remnants of past civilizations. In Akhbar al-Tawwal, some cases showed Abu Hanifa's attention to the remnants of the past, but in the history of Ya'qubi, no evidence of this has been observed. Forms and forms of expression of historical events in the Quran: One of the characteristics of the type of expression of historical events in the Quran is paying attention to the prominent moral characteristics of the characters. In some of his reports, Dinawari has paid special attention to the moral character of historical figures, but Yaqoubi has referred far more to the moral character of historical figures than to Abu Hanifa. Another characteristic of the historical stories of the Qur'an is that sometimes a story begins, but in the middle of the verses, another story is told and then the continuation of the previous story is followed. This feature is well-visible in the historiography of Abu Hanifa Dinawari, in other words, one of the methods of Abu Hanifa in quoting historical reports is this text. Yaghoubi, however, had not such a method in his historiography. Sometimes the Qur'an begins telling a historical story. This kind of introduction can also be seen in Akhbar al-Tawwal. This method was not observed in Tarikh-e Yaqubi. Causes of the degeneration of civilizations: One of the key factors in the weakness and collapse of civilizations, dynasties, and families is oppression. In this regard, Yaqubi has been far more influenced by the Qur'an than Abu Hanifa. Influenced by the Qur'an, Dinawari pointed to the issue of violence and its role in the downfall of civilizations far more so than Yaqoubi. Also, another reason for the decline of civilizations from the Quran's point of view is the moral corruption of the rulers. Yaqubi has been more influenced by the Qur'an than Abu Hanifa and has repeatedly referred to the moral corruption of historical figures.