Ibn Abd Al-Ber Al-Andalusi's Narration and Compilation Endeavors in the Biographical Dictionaries of the Companions in the Fifth Islamic Century/ Eleventh Century CE

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate Ibn Abd Al-Ber Al-Qurtubi ‘s efforts as one of the most prominent scholars of Al-Andalus in the fifth Islamic century, making significant contributions to various fields of knowledge, including the science of understanding the Companions. His efforts were manifested in narrating the biographical dictionaries of the Eastern Companions that entered Al-Andalus, and in the compilation of the book The Comprehensive Book on Knowing the Companions. The study is divided into an introduction and two sections. The first section describes Ibn Abd Al-Ber's efforts in narrating the biographical dictionaries of the Companions in Al-Andalus. The second section discusses his endeavors in compilation within the biographical dictionaries of the Companions. The historical critical analytical approach was employed. The key findings showed that Ibn Abd Al-Ber was the first Andalusian scholar to be classified in the biographical dictionaries of the Companions, leaving the door open for other scholars to continue the classification. He was also the first scholar to innovate a new historical approach in the compilation of Al-Isti'ab Book, combining documenting the narrations with critique and analysis, by relying on various resources.