Islamic doctrine holds as an article of faith that Muhammad, like all prophets, was a man. In his capacity as a man, however, Muhammad is held as having the priveleged to be God's final and sole spokesperson on Earth. As the
Uswa Hasana ("excellent model") and
al-Insan al-Kamil ("the perfect human"), everything Muhammad did was later held to be instructive for all of mankind for all time. Muhammad's family and descendants were also perpetually given priveleged social and spiritual status, especially in the Shi'ite tradition. While historians are generally skeptical of the specific contents of the hadiths, or "narrations" attributed to Muhammad, Islamic doctrine holds that since Muhammad was the final messenger, God must have preserved all facts about his life which would be necessary for our instruction. Thus, the hadith literature must be sufficient and, from an orthodox standpoint, harboring any real or comprehensive skepticism toward this body of literature is not acceptable.
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In the mainstream theology of Sunni Islam, the Prophet Muhammad is known as al-Insān al-Kāmil (lit. "the perfect human") and uswa hasana (lit. "an excellent model"). This is taken to mean that his conduct in all things, from how he prayed, how he conducted himself in business and in war, his sexual relations with his wives, slaves and concubines, and even how he cleaned himself after defecation and urination is an exemplar and model for all humans to follow at all times, regardless of historical circumstance and independent of culture.
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The Ahl al-Bayt, literally "People of the House", is a term used to refer to those persons who are members or descendants of Muhammad's household. These people have a priveleged status in Islamic and especially Shi'ite doctrine. A sahih hadith reports Muhammad to have said, "I have left among you, that which if you hold fast to it, you shall not go astray: The Book of Allah and my family". Traditions of this sort have been variously interpreted by the many sects of Islam.
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The asbab al-nuzul, or Revelational Circumstances, of the Quran refer to the events described in the hadith and early tafsir literature to have compelled various portions of the revelations found in the Quran. Reports regarding the asbab al-nuzul of verses have been used by Islamic exegetes and jurists from early on in Islamic history, especially in making sense of otherwise obscure passages in the Quran. Historians have found this genre of hadith literature to be particularly tendentious.
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Hadith literally translates to mean "talk", but is most commonly used as an Islamic term that refers to the orally-transmitted accounts of Muhammad's life, wherein Muhammad does, says, or tacitly (that is, silently) approves of something. The hadiths, passed down orally before being written down, for the most part, some 150-200 years after Muhammad's death, are second in their religious authority only to the Qur'an and are the basis of most of Islamic doctrine and law.
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Part of Islamic doctrine is the belief that Muhammad was illiterate and uneducated. This coupled with Muhammad's presentation of the Quran to Arabian society is thusly identified as miracle. Historians have contested the plausibility of this doctrine, but have also held it to be irrelevant, since 7th century Arabia was host to an overwhelmingly oral culture where literacy was a niche professional ability and had little to nothing to do with one's poetic abilities.