A Critical Study of the Early Historiography of the Life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Christians with a View to the Words of the Martyr Leader

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. student of Al-Mustafi Qur'an and Orientalists Foreign student of Ali bin Musa al-Reza Institute, peace be upon him

2 Assistant Professor, Quran and Oriental Studies Department

Abstract

The study of the historiography of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from the perspective of non-Muslim sources, especially Christians, is considered one of the most complex areas in Western Islamic studies. Although Muslims systematically began compiling the Prophet's biography from the second century of the Hijra, at the same time or even before some of these works, Christian writers from the East and Byzantium presented their first narratives about the Prophet Muhammad. These texts were not based on neutral historiographical motivations but were shaped within the framework of theological disputes, doctrinal defenses, and political-imperial rivalries. Therefore, rather than reflecting historical reality, they are products of a biased portrayal of Islam and its Prophet, which are considered anti-history. This paper, using a descriptive-analytical method, defines anti-history and discusses its occurrence by Christianity against Islam. Through a comparative process with the prophetic biography and focusing on the words of the martyr leader, it examines examples of the anti-historical attacks by Christian writers. The result of this paper indicates that the first writings about the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Christianity were not historical but anti-historical, presented as primary sources for understanding Islam by Christianity. These works have been one of the significant factors in establishing Islamophobia over the successive centuries. The martyr leader identifies the reason for the distortion of the Prophet Muhammad's biography and image as a response to the clear and eloquent message of the divine messenger,

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History

  • Receive Date: 30 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 15 July 2026
  • Accept Date: 16 May 2026

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