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Jihad in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions
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→Compared with the sῑra-maghāzī literature
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====Compared with the sῑra-maghāzī literature==== | ====Compared with the sῑra-maghāzī literature==== | ||
The Islamic sῑra-maghāzī literature (biographical/expedition narratives) present a picture of forceful conquest or aggressive expeditions towards the end of Muhammad's career or after his death. External sources on early Islam suggest a traumatic experience - in particular Shophronius (d. 639 CE) wrote in 636/637 disparingly of Saracen raids bringing death, plunder, and the destruction of fields, villages and churches, while Thomas the Presbyter (fl. 640 CE) wrote of the "Arabs of Muhammad" defeating the Romans in 632 CE, killing 4000 Palestinian villagers and ravaging the whole region.<ref>Robert Hoyland, '' Seeing Islam As Others Saw It'', Princeton: The Darwin Press, pp. 72-73, 120</ref> It is also worth noting that according to others, archaelogical evidence suggests a less destructive picture. | |||
In his book ''Muhammad and the Empires of faith'' Sean Anthony argues that while the Quran is the primary source, approached cautiously, there is also some value for the study of early Islamic history in the sῑra-maghāzī material. He argues that the initial, formative compilation of this material took impulse from the late Umayyad court (late 7th/early 8th century CE). The corpus of traditions existed independently of the court, but their formation into sῑra-maghāzī works was a product of political intervention. Anthony contends that "the rhetoric of empire in Late Antiquity profoundly shaped this corpus".<ref>Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 175-6</ref> | In his book ''Muhammad and the Empires of faith'' Sean Anthony argues that while the Quran is the primary source, approached cautiously, there is also some value for the study of early Islamic history in the sῑra-maghāzī material. He argues that the initial, formative compilation of this material took impulse from the late Umayyad court (late 7th/early 8th century CE). The corpus of traditions existed independently of the court, but their formation into sῑra-maghāzī works was a product of political intervention. Anthony contends that "the rhetoric of empire in Late Antiquity profoundly shaped this corpus".<ref>Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 175-6</ref> | ||