Filistin Tarih Yazıcılığı Geleneğinde Abdullah Muhlis: Yöntemi ve Tarih Yazımı Alanları
Abdullah Mukhlis in the Tradition of Palestinian Historiography: His Method and Areas of Historical Writing

Summary/Abstract: Abdullah Mukhlis is one of the leading representatives of twentieth-century Palestinian historiography. Educated in the late Ottoman period and witnessing Palestine’s major political ruptures, Mukhlis pursued his historical work along a line that combined scholarly rigor with the aim of strengthening Palestinian identity. This dual sensitivity enabled him to develop an understanding of history that connects text-centered research with local memory and institutional continuity. Within this framework, the study first examines Mukhlis’s identity as a historian and his approach to writing history, focusing on his critical engagement with classical texts, his corrections of chronological and attributional errors, and his use of material cultural evidence such as inscriptions as primary sources. The article then analyzes his contributions to sīra scholarship through Rasāʾil al-Rasūl and Hullat al-Sīra, with particular attention to his work on the letters attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. It also considers his examinations of commentaries on a qasīda composed in praise of the Prophet as a complementary aspect of his sīra research. In addition, the article highlights Mukhlis’s interest in the vizierate literature by examining his critical edition of Ibn al-Sayrafi’s al-Ishara ila man nala al-Wizara. Finally, it addresses his studies on Palestinian history in relation to Jerusalem-centered urban historiography and his biographical compilations devoted to Palestinian scholars. The main aim of this study is to show that Mukhlis’s historiography should be understood not only as an academic enterprise but also as a deliberate discourse directed toward the construction of Palestinian identity and the preservation of institutional memory. The findings suggest that, despite the wide range of his works, the center of gravity of his scholarship remained Palestine. Nevertheless, the loss of his personal library in 1948 disrupted the continuity of this accumulated historical knowledge.

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