ABSTRACT
Similar to the history of mawlid observance, the history of mawlid texts extends beyond the documented beginning of the mawlid celebration under the Fatimid dynasty. While the mawlid genre as a literary form appropriate for recitation on the occasion of the Prophet’s birth appears relatively late, works thematically focused on the Prophet’s birth and youth emerge far earlier. Although evidence is scant (and the earliest relevant works are not preserved), it would seem that scholarly works in this genre originated among Imami Shi‘ites, and that the first holy birth thus commemorated may not have been that of the Prophet. A book entitled Mawlid amir al-mu’minin (“The birth of the Commander of the Faithful,” that is, ‘Ali ibn abi Talib) is attributed to one Wahb ibn Wahb ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Zam‘a, Abu’l-Bukhturi (200 AH/815 CE), a Medinian judge who is credited with a number of works in the area of akhbar (historical reports), fada’il (material on the extraordinary qualities of important religious figures), and genealogy.1 His authorship of the mawlid work is mentioned by two authors of the fifth-century AH, the Shi‘ite biographer al-Najashi (d. 450 AH/1058 CE) and the Sunni al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH/1071 CE).2 The content of the book is suggested by the longer title cited by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, “The birth of ‘Ali ibn abi Talib, his growing up, the beginning of his faith, and his marriage to Fatima” (Kitab mawlid ‘Ali ibn abi Talib wa-nash’ihi wa-bad’ imanihi wa-tazwijihi Fatima). Based on the title, the work must have been a devotional biography emphasizing the First Imam’s birth and youth. This distinctive thematic focus, which diverges sharply from a more conventional emphasis on ‘Ali’s martial prowess and his adult role as the Prophet’s legatee and successor, anticipates the model that would prevail in later mawlid texts about the Prophet Muhammad. Like this early mawlid of ‘Ali, as we will see, such works often culminate in the marriage of their youthful protagonist and exclude his most important adult accomplishments.
