al-Ihtimam bil-Sira al-Nabawiya bil-Lugha al-Faransiya (Ard wa Tahlil)
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- King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Madinah
al-Ihtimam bil-Sira al-Nabawiya bil-Lugha al-Faransiya (Ard wa Tahlil) (Interest in the Prophetic Biography in the French Language: Presentation and Analysis) is a bibliographical and critical study by the Moroccan scholar Hasan bin Idris Azzouzi, published by the King Fahd Complex for Printing the Holy Quran in Medina . The work surveys and analyzes writings on the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ produced in or translated into the French language, evaluating both Muslim and Western orientalist contributions .
Background and Historical Context
The book begins with an introduction outlining the necessity of addressing foreign-language audiences to convey Islamic history and principles accurately . It highlights the historical ties between France and the Arab-Islamic world, tracing the emergence of French interest in Islam from medieval ecclesiastical polemics—where depictions relied on folklore and polemical myths rather than written sources—to the formal establishment of Arabic chairs and the early modern era . The author notes early French references to the Prophet's life in the works of 17th- and 18th-century writers such as Pierre Bayle, Voltaire, Jean Body, and Henri de Boulainvilliers, leading up to the 19th and 20th centuries when primary Arabic sources became accessible through editions and translations .
Structure and Contents
The book is structured into three main chapters alongside an introductory study and a bibliography:
- Muslim Writings on the Prophetic Biography in French: The first chapter addresses works written or compiled by Muslim scholars, noting that their primary motivations were fulfilling the duty of outreach (da'wah) and providing an authentic alternative to orientalist distortions . The author reviews prominent original works in French, highlighting Muhammad Hamidullah's two-volume Le prophète de l'Islam and his research on the Prophet's diplomatic correspondence , as well as works by Essad Bey and Jamaleddine Bencheikh . It also examines French translations of classical works (such as al-Qadi Iyad's al-Shifa and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's Zad al-Ma'ad), translations of contemporary Islamic studies, and general French-language treatises on Islam by authors like Malek Bennabi, Hamza Boubakeur, and Muhammad Abdullah Draz .
- Orientalist Studies on the Prophetic Biography: The second chapter evaluates the extensive corpus produced by French orientalists, classifying their approaches according to religious, ideological, and secular backgrounds . Azzouzi distinguishes between hostile, biased accounts and more moderate assessments, analyzing authors such as Barthélemy d'Herbelot, Gustave Le Bon, and Émile Dermenghem . This chapter also scrutinizes entries dedicated to the Prophet ﷺ in major reference works, specifically Pierre Larousse's Grand Dictionnaire Universel and the Encyclopaedia of Islam .
- French Coverage of the Biography in Other Fields: The third chapter examines French interest across four additional domains: general French surveys on Islamic history and civilization (such as works by Louis Gardet, Dominique Sourdel, and Claude Cahen) ; French translations of influential non-French orientalist biographies, including books by Tor Andrae and William Montgomery Watt ; doctoral dissertations presented at universities in France and Belgium ; and research articles published in specialized academic journals such as Arabica, Studia Islamica, and the Revue des études islamiques .
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