The Biography of Muhammad

by Gregor Schoeler, James E. Montgomery (Foreword), Uwe Vagelpohl (Translator)

This book considers the Arabic biographies of Prophet Muhammad, the earliest of which dates from two centuries after his life. These biographies, prized by Muslims, have been approached in the Western study of Islam from a range of positions. Some scholars reject them entirely, seeing in them products of the Muslim community’s idealisation of its history, while others accept them at face value, reasoning that, if not exact versions of events, the events could not have differed too much from their descriptions. The author revisits the debate and reconsiders several key incidents in the life of the Prophet. By compiling an extensive corpus of materials and comparing them closely, this book analyses the transmission and the contents of the accounts. It shows that by understanding clearly the interaction in early Islam between written and oral modes of transmission, and by the judicious sieving of the accounts, as well as the lines of transmission, we can sometimes reach back to that generation of Muslims who though not themselves witness to the events were younger contemporaries of those who were. Establishing a solid basis for the informed study of Muhammad’s biography and adding to the ongoing debate, this book will appeal to scholars of early Islam, history and theology.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Gregor Schoeler, born in Germany in 1944, is a contemporary non-Muslim Islamic scholar He has served the chair of Islamic studies at the University of Basel since 2009.

Reviews

[Shantia · Rating 3 out of 5]

عنوان كتاب ارتباطي با متن كتاب ندارد. به عبارت ديگه اگر قصد اطلاع از زندگي محمد رو داريد اين كتاب اصلا توصيه نميشه. كل صحبت نويسنده در مورد دو حديث(اقرا و افك) و نتيجه گيري اينكه تاريخ اتفاقات صدر اسلام رو ميشه تا تقريبا ربع آخر قرن نخست هجري با اعتبار و وثاقت زيادي رسوند! و با اينكار ميخواهد اثبات كند نظرات شك گرايانه افراطي به تاريخ صدر اسلام به سر گروهي كوك و كرونه و ونزبرو درست نيست! كتاب مقدمه كوتاه خوبي داره و ترجمه خيلي خوبي داره.
نويسنده سعي كرده نگاه علمي و بدون تعصبي به موضوعات داشته باشه. و شايد بشه در مورد نويسنده گفت كه ايشون راه سوم رو انتخاب كرده! نه راه ونزبرو رو رفته نه راه وات رو! يه راهي رفته كه نه سيخ بسوزه نه كباب!