Related Terms
Introduction
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, who received revelation from God contained in the Muslim scripture, the Qur’an (Koran). Questions surrounding the life of Muhammad continue to puzzle some, but it is safe to ascertain that he was the source of inspiration for the development of Islam into a separate monotheistic religion in the seventh to tenth centuries CE and the establishment of many of its practical aspects. The traditional Muslim sources, such as sira (account of the life of Muhammad), collections of hadith s (reports about what the Prophet said or did, usually referred to as “traditions”), commentaries on the Qur’an, and works of history, describe the background of his life as that of the Arab pagan society which had little awareness of and connection with the established monotheistic traditions of the Near East of the seventh century CE. More recent scholarship, however, proposed to view the context of Muhammad’s life as part of what is...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cook, M. (1983). Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hawting, G. (1999). The idea of idolatry and the emergence of Islam: From polemic to history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hawting, G. (2005). The rise of Islam. In Y. Choueiri (Ed.), Blackwell companion to the history of the middle east (pp. 9–27). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Ishaq, I. (2001). Muhammad Ibn Yasar. The life of Muhammad: A translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (trans: Guillaume, A.). Karachi: Oxford University Press.
Kennedy, H. (1986). The prophet and the age of the caliphates: the islamic near east from the sixth to the eleventh century. London: Longman.
Raven, W. (2006). Sira and the Qur’an. In J. D. McAuliffe (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an (Vol. 5, pp. 29–51). Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Rippin, A. (1999). Muslims: Their religious beliefs and practices (Vol. 1, pp. 30–43). London: Rutledge.
Rubin, U. (2005). Muhammad. In J. D. McAuliffe (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an (Vol. 3, pp. 440–458). Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Wansbrough, J. (1978). Sectarian Milieu: Content and composition of Islamic salvation history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Watt, M. W. (1961). Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Miskinzoda, G. (2013). Muhammad, Prophet. In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_730
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_730
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8264-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8265-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law