Abstract:
This research thesis looks at the different approaches that medieval and modern Western scholars have adopted when attempting to write on the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that have been collected in ‘ The Quest of the Historical Muhammad ’, a partisan work compiled by the editor hiding behind the nom de plume of Ibn Warraq. It considers the sources of Sirah and the different methodologies that have been devised for assessing their authenticity. The main reason behind the change in the modern period Sirah literature is the impact of the post-renaissance experiment of the West on the Sirah literature, beginning from the mid-19th century. In order to correctly understand the change in the Sirah literature, it is necessary to explain the chance which occurred in the West and how this change transformed the understanding of religion and prophecy. In this context, the discussion on the historical Jesus comes to the fore. When examined, it can be seen that there are some resemblances between the arguments and the findings of the Historical Jesus Quest and the modern period Sirah literature. It has been endeavored to examine critically the Orientalistic viewpoint of applying the modern approaches i.e. Revisionism, Principal of Higher Criticism, Western Historical Critical Methodology and such other techniques to the origins or sources of Sirah by comparing them to the Islamic Critical Methodology. Some drawbacks, conflicts and illusions in Western study of Sirah and their elucidations in the light of modern trends are mentioned in order to comprehend properly the modern Orientalism on Sirah . Finally, suggestions are given for how Muslim scholars might take the study of the Sirah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺon solid grounds in the future.
