On Early Islamic Histortiography: Abu Isma'il al-Azdi and His Futuh al-sham

The present paper examines the Futuh al-sham (Conquests of Syria) attributed to Abu Isma'il al-Azdi, in an attempt to establish its authenticity, date, & provenance. Several historical sources confirm the authorship of this work & demonstrate that al-Azdi's text highlights the similarity between the reports given by him & those attributed to other narrators of his time. Their common early source is likely to be Abu Mikhnaf al-Azdi (d. 157/774), an early narrator from Kufa with proto-Shi'ite sympathies. Adapted from the source document