Sīrah

Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya (Arabic: السيرة النبوية), commonly shortened to Sīrah and translated as prophetic biography, are the traditional biographies of the Islamic prophet Muhammad written by Muslim historians, from which, in addition to the Qurʾān and ḥadīth literature, most historical information about his life and the early history of Islam is derived.

The main feature of the information that formed the basis of early historiography in Islam was that this information emerged as the irregular products of storytellers (qāṣṣ, pl. quṣṣāṣ) -they were quite prestigious then-^[2] without details.^[3] At the same time the study of the earliest periods in Islamic history is made difficult by a lack of sources.^[4] While the narratives were initially in the form of a kind of heroic epics called magāzī,^[5] details were added later, edited and transformed into sirah compilations.^[6]^[7] From the very beginning, the process of creating the image of the Prophet as a warrior hero supported by divine help is seen as fitting the ideal hero typology and current needs during the military collapses experienced by the Umayyads. Muhammad's position gradually rose from his military stature to that of the sole and central figure in narratives who received divine assistance, in parallel with the rise in the value of the hadiths attributed to Muhammad in Islamic lawmaking although it wasn't like that in the beginning.^[8]

The stories were written in the form of “founding conquest stories” based on nostalgia for the golden age then. Humphrey, quoted by Antoine Borrut, explains that the stories related to this period were created according to a pact-betrayal-redemption principle.^[9] Western historians describe the purpose of these early biographies as largely to convey a message, rather than to strictly and accurately record history.^[10] Lawrence Conrad examines the early sirah books and sees that the dates of Muhammad's birth span a period of up to 85 years. Conrad defines this as "the fluidity (evolutionary process) continued even in the written period."^[11]

^ Abbott, Nabia (1967). Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri: Qur'anic Commentary and Tradition. Vol. 2. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.
^ They do not seem, however, to have been more prone to fabrications than other scholars of the early period. This deduction stems from the over-whelmingly positive reputation of the quṣṣāṣ in the early period.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004335523_008
^ Most Islamic history was transmitted orally until after the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate.Vansina (1985)
^ Donner 2010, p. 628.
^ The earliest sources we have on the life of Muḥammad are the maghāzī, but they are far from being a consistent literary genre because they encompass a mix of different types of texts: lists of martyrs, poetry, Qurʾānic explanations, anecdotes resembling those found in the Bible, and of course accounts of military expeditions.https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004466739_005
^ Cite error: The named reference EQ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Crone, Patricia (1987). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 223. ISBN 9780691054803. If one storyteller should happen to mention a raid, the next storyteller would know the date of this raid, while the third would know everything that an audience might wish to hear about.
^ Armstrong, Lyall R. (2017). "6 Conclusion". The Quṣṣāṣ of Early Islam. pp. 277–283. doi:10.1163/9789004335523_008. ISBN 978-90-04-33552-3.
^ Borrut A., "From Arabia to the Empire - conquest and caliphal construction in early Islam", in The Historians' Quran , vol. 1 , 2019, pp. 249-289
^ Lecker, Michael (2010), Brockopp, Jonathan E. (ed.), "Glimpses of Muḥammad's Medinan decade", The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, pp. 61–80, doi:10.1017/ccol9780521886079.004, ISBN 978-0-521-88607-9
^ Conrad (June 1987). "Abraham and Muhammad: Some Observations Apropos of Chronology and Literary topoi in the Early Arabic Historical Tradition". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 50 (2): 239. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00049016

[1] Abbott, Nabia (1967). Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri: Qur'anic Commentary and Tradition. Vol. 2. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press.

[2] They do not seem, however, to have been more prone to fabrications than other scholars of the early period. This deduction stems from the over-whelmingly positive reputation of the quṣṣāṣ in the early period.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004335523_008

[3] Most Islamic history was transmitted orally until after the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate.Vansina (1985)

[FOOTNOTEDonner2010628-4] Donner 2010, p. 628.

[5] The earliest sources we have on the life of Muḥammad are the maghāzī, but they are far from being a consistent literary genre because they encompass a mix of different types of texts: lists of martyrs, poetry, Qurʾānic explanations, anecdotes resembling those found in the Bible, and of course accounts of military expeditions.https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004466739_005

[EQ-6] Cite error: The named reference EQ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Crone-1987-223-7] Crone, Patricia (1987). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 223. ISBN 9780691054803. If one storyteller should happen to mention a raid, the next storyteller would know the date of this raid, while the third would know everything that an audience might wish to hear about.

[8] Armstrong, Lyall R. (2017). "6 Conclusion". The Quṣṣāṣ of Early Islam. pp. 277–283. doi:10.1163/9789004335523_008. ISBN 978-90-04-33552-3.

[9] Borrut A., "From Arabia to the Empire - conquest and caliphal construction in early Islam", in The Historians' Quran , vol. 1 , 2019, pp. 249-289

[10] Lecker, Michael (2010), Brockopp, Jonathan E. (ed.), "Glimpses of Muḥammad's Medinan decade", The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad, Cambridge University Press, pp. 61–80, doi:10.1017/ccol9780521886079.004, ISBN 978-0-521-88607-9

[11] Conrad (June 1987). "Abraham and Muhammad: Some Observations Apropos of Chronology and Literary topoi in the Early Arabic Historical Tradition". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 50 (2): 239. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00049016

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]