IslamUnderstanding Muhammad: we need a more informed approach
In any terrorist attack by Muslim extremists perpetrated in the name of Islam — such as the recent Charlie Hebdo atrocity — discussions about the Prophet Muhammad, his life, and his teachings come to the fore in Western societies. From the “prophet of peace” to a kind of terrorist antichrist, ideas about who Muhammad was and what he means vary among both Muslims and non-Muslims. There is no similarity between al-Qaeda’s interpretation of Muhammad and the Muhammad of a Sufi Muslim. But how much of this discussion is relevant to understanding the motivations behind Islamic extremism? How can the West understand Muhammad impartially, and what is Muslims’ relationship with Muhammad?
In any terrorist attack by Muslim extremists perpetrated in the name of Islam — such as the recent Charlie Hebdo atrocity — discussions about the Prophet Muhammad, his life, and his teachings come to the fore in Western societies. From the “prophet of peace” to a kind of terrorist antichrist, ideas about who Muhammad was and what he means vary among both Muslims and non-Muslims.
But how much of this discussion is relevant to understanding the motivations behind Islamic extremism? How can the West understand Muhammad impartially, and what is Muslims’ relationship with Muhammad?
How to understand Muhammad
Muhammad is the most influential figure in the history of Islam. However, his life and teachings have remained controversial among Muslims over the centuries. This is due to a lack of sufficient evidence from the period of his life, including his writings and any archaeological remains.
Sources are virtually limited to the Qu’ran and verbal traditions. The Qu’ran offers merely a general view, which is detached from the context, due to the non-chronological order of the verses in the Islamic scripture. Verbal traditions were turned to writing around 150 years after the events.
Muhammad Ibn Ishaq (died 761-770) wrote the first biography of Muhammad (Sirah). He was accused by his contemporaries of lying and expelled from the city of Madinah.
Imam Malik Ibn Anas (711-795), the founder of an Islamic jurisprudential school, along with other scholars of Madinah, believe that Ibn Ishaq’s book is based on false reports fabricated by him, most notably the story of Muhammad commanding an army that killed hundreds of Jewish people of Banu Qurayza.
Contemporary scholars such as Walid N. Arafat and Barakat Ahmad also challenge the story of the massacre of Banu Qurayza due to lack of any other reliable evidence even in Jewish traditions.
The Western understanding of Muhammad remained highly negative until the eighteenth century. But between Henri de Boulainvilliers, who wrote the first fairly positive view of Muhammad (published in 1730), to An Apology for Mohammed and the Koran by John Davenport (published in 1869), a long journey began.
