Biography and History-1

Contents

1. The meaning and subject of the biography

a. Existing basic biography books

b.Resources

c. Historical consciousness and importance

2. Prophethood (duty of prophethood)

a. Attributes of the Prophets

b. Mursal, Prophet, Concepts of the Messenger

c. Prophets mentioned in the Holy Quran and important stories about them

3. The political, economic and religious situation of the world before Islam

A. Powerful states (Roman Empire, Persians)

B. Others

C. Ignorant life and its characteristics

a. Traditions, customs and family life

b. Formation and function of dar'un Nedve

c. Commercial life and fairs

d. Beliefs

Sample questions and answers

SIERRA

The life story of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):

“Siyer” is the plural form of the Arabic word “sîre” and is used to describe the life of the Prophet (pbuh). Over time, the books that tell about the life of the Prophet (pbuh) from his birth to his death, including his family tree, birth, childhood, youth, prophethood, events that took place in Mecca and Medina, and the wars that took place, have been called “Siyer-i Nebî”, “es-Siretü'n-Nabawiyye” or simply “Siyer”.

There is the word "Meghazi" which is frequently used together with the biography and contains the meanings of war, place of war, war story. The same name is also given to the books that narrate the wars of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

As can be understood from the explanations, biography has a more general meaning, while maghazi has a narrower meaning. However, these two names have often been confused and used to refer to each other. Some maghazi-type works, like biography sources, talk about the life of the Prophet (pbuh) in its entirety and their writings resemble such maghazi books and biography-type works. However, mostly maghazi-type works deal primarily with the wars of the Prophet.

The biography has entered the Hadith in one respect and the Islamic history in another respect. Indeed, the biography requires the knowledge of the Hadith, which tells about the sayings and actions of the Prophet (pbuh); it also forms a part of the Islamic history as it provides information about every stage of his life.

As a matter of fact, most of the Islamic scholars have dealt with the history of Islam as a whole, starting from the biography, and in their works, they have narrated the events related to the history of Islam, starting from the life of the Prophet (pbuh) - or even before that - until the period in which they lived.

Among the sources of the biography, the Quran, which has not been subject to any damage or distortion since its revelation, ranks first. When there are verses and signs in the Quran about any event, there is no need to look for another source. The second place in the sources belongs to the hadiths. In particular, information about the life of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina can be found in all its details in the hadiths. These two sources are indispensable sources for the biography, as they are for every branch of Islamic sciences. The place of the narrations from the Companions is very important among the sources of the biography. The narrations of this distinguished community, who verbally conveyed what they saw and heard from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to the next generation, were put forward as written documents from the Umayyad period onwards, and these constituted the source for the first books of the biography and the Maghazi.

After continuing as an oral transmission for a while, the biography of the Prophet began to be compiled. The first biography to be compiled was Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 122/739). There are four works in the field of biography that have achieved great fame in Islamic history. They are called “Biography of the Prophet” (The Four Most Famous Biography). These are; “As-Siratu'n-Nabawiya” by Ibn Hisham; “Uyunul-Eser” by Ibn Sayyidin-Nas; “Sebilul-Hedyi wa'r-Rashad” by Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Dimaschik and “Insânul-Uyün” by Ali b. Burhaneddin al-Halabi.[1]

Consciousness of History

History is the only field that gives Muslims the opportunity to express themselves concretely, to look at all aspects of daily life, and to analyze man and his tendencies, especially in terms of its close relationship with the real world. The roots of this are based on the Quran's interpretation of history. The political path accepted in the Quran is rather the historical method. Therefore, the preliminary provisions are explained by referring to examples from the history of Arabia and the surrounding countries.

The Quran sometimes generalizes the reasons for the decline of nations without attributing them to the governments in power and says, “Allah does not change or corrupt a nation until it changes its own spiritual state.” As with the human race, which is the essence of the state, nations also rise and fall. And once that nation’s social disease becomes incurable, it dies, just like a human being, following a predetermined law and giving way to a new and stronger Race. And this is the order of the universe.

As can be seen, from a historical perspective, the Quran draws attention to the development and change of societies and touches upon the existence of some laws related to this. Some researchers say that the Quran brings a method to history, which until then had consisted of narrations and stories, and puts history in a scientific perspective. In this way, a relationship is established between events and it is understood that some lessons should be learned from the past. The theme of “Travel through the earth and examine the works of past peoples, and take heed from the miserable states of those who have gone astray” is a subject expressed in many Quranic verses.[2] Nizamuddin Demir