Routledge Narratives of the Life of Muhammad: Redefining sira literature (Routledge Studies in Classical Islam)

Sīra stands for al-sīra al-nabawiyya, meaning the biography of Prophet Muḥammad, and is one of the earliest types of literature in the Muslim tradition, shaping the identity and content of this tradition as it has also developed alongside it. This book represents a shift away from the prevalent view that the main value of sīra lies in its utility as a historical source for the life of Muḥammad. It examines the nature and role of sīra as a distinct genre of the Muslim literary and historical tradition and as an independent scholarly discipline. Beginning with a discussion of contemporary scholarship and approaches to the study of sīra, the book then outlines a number of defining characteristics typical of sīra as a genre, as well as examining the role of the chronological narrative, the textual and functional role of variant reports and the divergences between them, and the centrality of the relationship between the text of the Qur’ān and sīra. Particular attention is paid to the question of narrativity and historical discourse as it occurs in sīra, and the ability of sīra authors to resort to a number of other scholarly disciplines in order to extrapolate further meaning from their source material. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to provide a concise and original insight into the nature of sīra as a distinct form of literature, this book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the historiography of Islam, and early Islamic history and literature.