Contenu
This book represents a shift away from the prevalent view that the main value of s¿ra lies in its utility as a historical source for the life of Müammad. It examines the nature and role of s¿ra 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 s¿ra, the book then outlines a number of defining characteristics typical of s¿ra 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'¿n and s¿ra. Particular attention is paid to the question of narrativity and historical discourse as it occurs in s¿ra, and the ability of s¿ra authors to resort to a number of other scholarly disciplines in order to extrapolate further meaning from their source material.