A Historical Exploration of the Selected Writing Trends on As-Sīrah An-Nabawiyyah (Prophetic Biography) from the First Century of Islam to the Contemporary Times

Abstract

This research paper seeks to explore trends or tendencies in as-Sīrah an-Nabawiyyah (Prophetic Biography) emphasizing the historical investigation of selected writings on this subject from the first century of Islam until contemporary times. Muslims and others find exemplary qualities in every aspect of the Prophet’s life that inspire them to love him, understand his sayings, and follow his deeds, and accept all his decisions. Also, Muslim scholars rely on the Prophetic Sīrah to understand and explain the Islamic Sources, al-Qur’an and as-Sunnah. Initially, most works on Sīrah focused on the composition of the Prophet’s biography, and subsequently, their writers became interested in recording its events in separate books. This study aims to highlight the writing trends on the Prophetic Sīrah throughout Islamic history, and then, examine selected writings addressing the demands and concerns of their times. This work starts with an introduction, and then, continues the discussion on the literal and technical definition of the Prophetic Sīrah, the phases of its writing trends, firstly, from the first century to the third century, secondly, from the fourth century to the golden age of Orientalism, and, lastly, from nineteenth century to contemporary age. This study arrives at insightful findings that for each age, there has been a trend or tendency in the writing of the Prophetic Sīrah according to the demands and concerns of the time. The researchers propose that the demands of modern-day writing trends on the Prophetic Sīrah include rhetorical (Kalāmī), philosophical (Falsafī), and social (Ijtimā’ī) approaches.