The Prophet (pbuh) of Islam
Usually in works such as these that contain the writings of different scholars, the editor is required to include brief biographical notes on all the contributors to enable the reader to have some idea about their academic credentials as well as the universities and the think tanks that they belong to
The life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) edited by Uri Rubin is one of the forty-seven volumes of the encyclopedic work undertaken under the series “The formation of the classical Islamic world” by the general editor of this series Lawrence I Conrad. This volume is not a biography of the Prophet (pbuh) rather it is a compilation of the fifteen articles already published in the various journals of research exploring various aspects of his life and prophethood.
This volume is neatly divided into four sections: the first section entitled “Authors of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) biography” contains three researched papers discussing his life as described in the traditions which are known in Arabic as “Sira” (manner of life). The second section entitled “Events in the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)” contains eight articles each studying the specific events in his life. Three of these eight articles look into the Meccan period of his life. For example, MJ Kister’s article “The sons of Hazrat Khadijah (RA)” focuses on the personal life of the Prophet (pbuh) as well as his close relatives. Miklos Muranyi’s piece tries to establish the identity and social status of the Meccans that first converted to Islam. Chapter eight of the book is RB Serjeant’s study of Prophet’s (pbuh) life at Medina with special reference to the document called the “Constitution of Medina” (ahd al-umma) which was meant to strengthen the Muslim community. The other articles touch upon the different aspects of the military conflicts of the Prophet (pbuh) with the Meccans while he was based in the city of Medina. This being the biggest section of the book, there are two more articles that analyse the events that eventually culminated in the fall of Mecca; one of the two by Farrukh B Ali exclusively takes into account the treaty of Al-Hudaybiya.
The third section entitled “The idealised Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)” extends over three chapters. Heribert Busse writes about “isra” and “miraj” ie about Prophet’s (pbuh) nocturnal journey to Masjid al-Aqsa and his ascent to heaven whereas AJ Wensinck surveys the themes in the Quran, “sira” and hadith about Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) status as prophet in relation to the other prophets. The fourth section containing only one paper delves into the interpretations made by the Christians in Arabic and Syriac during the first Abbasid century about the message of Prophet (pbuh).
The interest of the non-Muslims particularly the Jews and the Christians in the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) dates back to almost 9th century AD. One aspect of their enquiry has been to reconstruct his life historically in order to understand the secret of his success
Usually in works such as these that contain the writings of different scholars, the editor is required to include brief biographical notes on all the contributors to enable the reader to have some idea about their academic credentials as well as the universities and the think tanks that they belong to. These bios are missing and this omission reflects on the quality of the editorship of this volume, however, the “Acknowledgements” duly mention the sources from which each article has been taken from. Judging by the names, except one, all the other scholars seem non-Muslims. One is surprised at the amount of interest of the non-Muslims in Islam as a religion and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a person.
The interest of the non-Muslims particularly the Jews and the Christians in the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) dates back to almost 9th century AD. One aspect of their enquiry has been to reconstruct his life historically in order to understand the secret of his success, his contribution to the universal idea of monotheism, etc, whereas the other aspect of their enquiry has been to critically examine his idealised image among the adherents of the faith. The more systematic and in-depth studies on the life of Prophet (pbuh) of the Muslims by the non-Muslims started around the middle of the 19th century in the forms of monographs by authors such as Gustav Weil (1843), William Muir (1861), etc and continues till today, however, these writings were influenced by a generally hostile attitude towards Islam. Several Muslim scholars such as Mohammad Husayn Haykal, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, etc, responded to these non-Muslim works and tried “to restore the authenticity of those parts of the sources rejected by Orientalists.”
In their enquiries, the emphasis of the non-Muslim scholars has been on checking the veracity of the sources such as the various types of the documents including the letters that the Prophet (pbuh) wrote to various leaders, the “Constitution of Medina”, the poetry used in the “sira” and the genealogical details (nasab) mentioned in the “sira” of the different Arab tribes. In addition, they have tried to ascertain the names of the places and the tribes in the military campaigns plus the names of the early converts to Islam, the ones who undertook emigration to Abyssinia and Medina as well as the names of the victims and prisoners in the battles fought in the times of Prophet (pbuh). The corpus of literature about various aspects of the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has steadily grown over the centuries mainly because he has been an ideal model for the entire Muslim community in the world.
The life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
edited by Uri Rubin,
Ashgate Publishing Ltd,
Hampshire,
Britain,
pages 410
