Sira stands for al-sira al-nabawiyya, meaning the biography of Prophet Mu?ammad, and is one of the earliest types of literature in the Muslim tradition, shaping the identity and content of this tradition as it has also developed alongside it. This book represents a shift away from the prevalent view that the main value of sira lies in its utility as a historical source for the life of Mu?ammad. It examines the nature and role of sira as a distinct genre of the Muslim literary and historical tradition and as an independent scholarly discipline. Beginning with a discussion of contemporary scholarship and approaches to the study of sira, the book then outlines a number of defining characteristics typical of sira as a genre, as well as examining the role of the chronological narrative, the textual and functional role of variant reports and the divergences between them, and the centrality of the relationship between the text of the Qur’an and sira. Particular attention is paid to the question of narrativity and historical discourse as it occurs in sira, and the ability of sira authors to resort to a number of other scholarly disciplines in order to extrapolate further meaning from their source material.Taking an interdisciplinary approach to provide a concise and original insight into the nature of sira as a distinct form of literature, this book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the historiography of Islam, and early Islamic history and literature.
