Books on classes and their importance in Arab-Islamic history

Abstract

The composition on the classes and ranks of people is the oldest chronological division found in Arab-Islamic historical thought. They took care of it and classified important books in it, the classification of which extended to later eras of time. This composition emerged from the idea of ​​documenting the biographies of the Messenger, his companions, the Successors, and the followers of the Successors, which developed in the early part of the century. The second Hijri version, which was linked to the Hadith science’s criticism of the chain of transmission, i.e. jarh and ta’deel, but the purpose of writing it changed later, It no longer served only the science of hadith, but rather it took on other purposes, and it served most of the sciences. Historians, writers, linguists, and all types of people used the organizations that the hadith scholars had invented to organize biographical books since the third century A.H. Thus, classes of jurists, interpreters, readers, writers, ministers, poets, writers, and philosophers appeared. And sages, doctors, grammarians, linguists, and other books of classes. These classifications provided ample information about the beginnings of each science and its development, by studying its men and what they added to this science. The books of classes were the rich record of the religious, scientific, and cultural activities of the Islamic nation. The study relied on several sources, ranging from books on classes, obituaries, biographies, and general history books. Among these sources is the book (Arrangement of Perceptions and Approximation of Paths to Knowing the Notables of the Maliki School) by Judge Iyad (d. 544 AH / 1149 AD).