SAQIFAT BANI SA`IDAH CONFERENCE A CRITICAL ANALYTICAL STUDY OF EARLY ISLAMIC NARRATIVES
The study deals with the narratives al-Saqifa conference according to six historians lived in the third and fourth centuries A.H/ ninth and tenth A.D, they are: Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar (d. 151 A.H/ 768 A.D), "Al-Sira Al-Nabawiya", Ibn Sa`ed, Muhammad ibn Manee` al-Zuhri (died 230 A.H/ 845 A.D), "Al-Ṭabaqat al-Kubra", ,Al-Balaḏeri, Ahmad ibn Jaber (died: 279A.H/892 A.D), "Ansab al-’Ashraf", Al-Ya‘qubi, Ahmad ibn Abi Ya‘qub in wahab ibn Wadih (died: 284 A.H/ 897 A.D), "Tarikh al-Ya‘qubi", the book of "Al-Imama wa Al-Siyas", to anonymous author (from the middle of the third century A.H), Al-Ṭabari, Abu Ja‘far Muḥammad ibn Jarir (died: 310 A.H/923 A.D); "Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk. The five sources of the study were chosen because they are considered among the early and important of Islamic historical sources, and their date back to different periods. In addition, they are distributed between different Muslims sects, such as Suni and Shite. The study adopts the historical method, by presenting the narratives of these historians about al-Saqifa conference and studing and analyzing their narratives and dimensions they contain which enable to know their points of view.
Keywords: Al-Saqifa Conference, Election, Pledge of Allegiance.