What is Damascus?

Overview

Damascus, al-Sham, is the oldest capital in continuous existence in history. It was the capital of the Umayyads for ninety-six years, and it holds the Umayyad Mosque, the shrines of the Prophet ﷺ's family, and the madrasas of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Asakir. ¹

Disputing the count of raids and sariyas

The maghazi arithmetic disputes: Ibn Ishaq's twenty-six raids versus the twenty-seven that split Wadi'l-Qura from Khaybar; nine pitched battles common to both lists with al-Waqidi adding Wadi'l-Qura and al-Ghaba for eleven; and the sariya counts ranging from thirty-five to al-Waqidi's forty-eight (in al-Tabari's chain) to sixty-six.

At a glance

Overview

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Sources

Disputing the count of raids and sariyas