Overview of Prominent Sīrah Writings of Modern Period

Abstract

The tradition of Sīrah writing goes back to the very generation of companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS). The very first Sīrah works that appeared distinct from the hadith works, however, did not deal with complete biography of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS), rather they addresses aspects of his socio-political life and organisation of the government during the Medinan period. This aspect of Sīrah writing came to be known in history as Maghazi. Though a bit later when comprehensive biographies of the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) were compiled al-Maghazi were also incorporated in the Sīrah  works, socio-political aspect of the Prophet’s life especially his conduct was entities of his time remained focus of various Sīrah works. A large number Sīrah works have been written by scholars from different perspectives highlighting different dimensions of it both in the past and in the contemporary times. This review article attempts to examine and review the prominent Sīrah works of modern period.