THE PROPHET
- Abu-l-Qasim Muhammad ibn 'Abd-Allah
- Al-Amin, 'The Trustworthy'
- 570 CE - 632 CE
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"We know far less about Muhammad than was once supposed. One the face of it, the
documentation transmitted among Muslims about his life is rich and detailed, but
we have learned to mistrust most of it. Indeed,. the most respected early Muslim
scholars themselves pointed out it's untrustworthiness." (Hodgson, p.160)
Muhammad as Prophet and
Statesman by W. Montgomery Watt
The Prophet's Mosque by
'Abd al-Haqq [Ed]
The Night Journey from
the Noble Sanctuary Guide |
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Biographies of the Prophet (aws) such as that written by
Martin Lings represent a contemporary historical-empirical approach to the
Prophet's life, in contrast to mytho-classical works, such as
Ibn Ishaq's
Sirat Rasul Allah. In Lings' exposition, Muhammad
is a vivid, recognisably human, historical figure.
Ibn Kathir's
Sirat -un-Nabi, in distinction, includes mythical
elements, such as the story of the Iguana testifying to the Prophet's
credentials. Rather than marginalising mythical aspects of Muhammad's
life, perhaps we should be seek to demythologize them in a way which admits
their human relevance...
"The real purpose of myth is not to present an objective picture of the world as
it is, but to express man's understanding of himself in the world in which he
lives. Myth should be interpreted not cosmologically, but anthropologically, or
better still, existentially." (Rudolph Bultmann, New
Testament and Mythology, 1941, p.10)
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: Reaffirming Myth
