al-Sira al-Nabawiyya Bayn al-Athar al-Marwiyya wa al-Ayat al-Quraniyya
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- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya Bayn al-Athar al-Marwiyya wa al-Ayat al-Quraniyya
al-Sira al-Nabawiyya Bayn al-Athar al-Marwiyya wa al-Ayat al-Quraniyya (The Prophetic Biography Between Narrated Traditions and Quranic Verses) is an academic study on the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ written by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad ibn Mustafa al-Dubaysi . The work was originally prepared and submitted as a doctoral dissertation in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University, under the supervision of Professor Iffat al-Sharqawi .
Purpose and Methodology
The work provides a textual and comparative study juxtaposing traditional historical narrations (al-āthār al-marwiyya) with the Quranic text (al-āyāt al-qurʾāniyya) . Al-Dubaysi presents the Quran as the primary, most authoritative, and descriptive textual foundation for understanding the Prophetic life .
His analytical method involves examining texts rhetorically, linguistically, and chronologically (taking into account the distinction between Meccan and Medinan revelations), comparing the events and descriptions in the Quran with those recorded in traditional biographical sources, and drawing parallels with stories of previous prophets . The book also engages critically with Western scholarship on the sīra, systematically debating the methodologies and claims of Orientalists, most notably W. Montgomery Watt .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction, three main chapters, and a conclusion :
- Chapter One: Focuses on the portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ across the Quran, divided into three sections: Quranic praise of the Prophet, the rights granted and established for him in the Quran (such as obedience and invoking blessings), and his theological infallibility (ʿiṣmah) .
- Chapter Two: Examines the Meccan period across three sections: the period from his birth to his commissioning (including his lineage, upbringing, marriage to Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, and the rebuilding of the Kaaba), the heralds of his prophethood in previous scriptures and traditions, and the beginning of revelation, early public preaching, and subsequent persecution . It incorporates critical discussions of Watt's interpretations of these early events .
- Chapter Three: Covers the Medinan phase, divided into three sections: the foundational institutions of the nascent community (the construction of the Prophet's Mosque, the establishment of brotherhood between the Emigrants and the Helpers, and the Constitution of Medina), the events surrounding the Battle of Badr compared between biographical narratives and the Quran, and a dedicated critique of Watt's analyses regarding the battle .
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