The Place of the Islamic Maghre b Scholars in Writing the Local Histories of Mecca and Medina

The two cities of Mecca and Medina, due to their sanctity and importance to Muslims, are the subjects of many local histories during the Islamic period. Among the many works produced in this field, one can find significant local histories written by the scholars and authors originally from the Islamic Maghreb. With a brief review of the historical course of the local historiographies of Mecca and Medina, this article tries to introduce in detail the local histories written by the originally Maghreb historians such as Al-ʻIqd al-thamīn and Shifāʼ al-gharām by Taqi al-Din Fasi (from the local histories of Mecca), Nasihat al-Mushavir by Ibn Farhun, and Bahjat al-nufūs wa al-asrār by Marjani (from the local histories of Medina) to show the role and place of the scholars of the Islamic Maghreb in writing the local histories of these two holy cities of Muslims.