Sīra
- LAST REVIEWED: 02 July 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0149
- LAST REVIEWED: 02 July 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0149
Introduction
The term sῑra (short for al-sῑra al-nabawiyya, meaning -“the sῑra of the Prophet”) refers to the body of literature devoted to the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Sῑra, as one of the earliest types of literature in the Muslim tradition and as an account of the life of Muhammad, served many tasks, all of which had an impact on the way it was shaped and developed. Sῑra has been predominantly studied as a major source for the life story of Muhammad. Although its value as a historical source has been questioned by modern scholarship, sῑra continues to be used for the purposes of the historical reconstruction of the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam. Some scholars, however, are more interested in understanding the nature of sῑra as a separate genre of Muslim historical and literary tradition in order to gain better understanding of the concerns of early Muslims regarding such important questions as the concept of prophethood and the nature of religious authority and religious law. Although many works have been devoted to the life of Muhammad and its sources, few can be listed under works that deal with sῑra literature itself. The purpose of this entry is to suggest the most important works that belong to the latter category.
General Overviews
There are very few general overviews devoted solely to sῑra, and those listed in this section are mostly individual articles rather than systematic studies on the subject. Kister 1983 and Levi Della Vida 1987 provide overviews of sῑra literature while discussing its most important aspects. Khalidi 1994 and Robinson 2003 discuss sῑra as part of the development of historical writing among Arabs, while Donner 1998 analyzes it within the wider context of sources for the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam. Raven 1997 and Raven 2006 are more detailed studies of sῑra that discuss important aspects of sῑra as a body of literature, its characteristics, and its functions. They also provide information on the most important earliest sources and their authors. Hinds 1996 analyzes the usage of the terms maghāzī and sῑra. In particular, Martin Hinds illustrates the development of sῑra and maghāzī literature based on the way these two terms have been used by the tradition.
Donner, Fred. Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginning of Islamic Historical Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Darwin, 1998.
Attempts to address issues concerning sources for the early history of Islam. Donner discusses various approaches to the study and use of these sources while defining his own approach as critical-descriptive. He also aims to answer the question of why and when Muslims started writing history. Much of these discussions are also relevant for the study of sῑra.
Hinds, Martin. “‘Maghāzῑ’ and ‘Sῑra’ in Early Islamic Scholarship.” In Studies in Early Islamic History. Edited by Martin Hinds, Jere Bacharach, Lawrence Conrad, and Patricia Cone, 188–198. Princeton, NJ: Darwin, 1996.
Seminal study on the relationship between maghāzῑ and sῑra and the way these two terms have been used by the Muslim tradition and modern scholarship. First printed in 1983 in La Vie du Prophète Mahomet (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France).
Khalidi, T. Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Seminal study on the development of historical thought and the written tradition of works on history among the Arabs. Use the index for references to sῑra.
Kister, M. J. “The Sῑrah Literature.” In Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period. Edited by A. F. L. Beeston, T. M. Johnstone, R. B. Serjeant, and G. R. Smith, 352–368. Cambridge History of Arabic Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Important essay on sῑra literature that provides an overview of numerous works of sῑra and their authors and serves as a good introduction to the subject. In particular, Kister lists most of the important compilations and discusses the role of poetry in sῑra and concerns with genealogy and factionalism in sῑra.
Levi Della Vida, George. “Sῑra.” In E. J. Brill’s First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Vol. 7. Edited by Martijn T. Houtsma, 439–443. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1987.
One of the first works devoted to sῑra that serves as a useful introduction to the subject. Levi Della Vida provides a most useful discussion on the meaning and use of the term sῑra. He also discusses the origin and character of sῑra and the emergence of the written sῑra tradition.
Raven, Wim. “Sῑra.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2d ed. Vol. 9. Edited by C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs, and G. Lecomte, 660–664. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1997.
Brief introduction to sῑra that provides an overview of various works of sῑra and their authors. It also covers issues such as the functions of sῑra and the use and quality of poetry in sῑra. For an updated version of the same, see Raven 2006.
Raven, Wim. “Sῑra and the Qurʾān.” In Encyclopaedia of Qurʾān. Vol. 5. Edited by J. D. McAuliffe, 29–51. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2006.
Perhaps the most useful and up-to-date overview of sῑra at present. Although concentrating on the relationship between sῑra and the Qurʾan, it also provides useful insight on all other aspects of sῑra studies.
Robinson, Chase. Islamic Historiography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Seminal work on Islamic historiography, its genres, and issues of studying sources for the study of Islamic history. Provides useful information on various works of sῑra. Most relevant for the study of sῑra are chapters 1, 2, and 7.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abbasid Caliphate
- `Abdolkarim Soroush
- 'Abduh, Muhammad
- Abraham
- Abu Sayyaf Group
- Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP)
- Adoption
- Afghani, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-
- Africa, Islam in
- Afterlife, Heaven, Hell
- Ahmad Khan, Sayyid
- Ahmadiyyah Movement, The
- Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar
- `A'isha
- 'A’isha al-Baʿuniyya
- 'Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib
- al-Ḥallāj, Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr
- Alawis
- Alhambra
- Al-Maʿarrī
- Almohads
- al-Sadiq, Ja`far
- Al-Siddiq, Abu Bakr
- Amin, Nusrat
- Ḥanbalīs
- Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)
- Animals
- Apostasy
- Arab Painting
- Arab Salafism
- Arab Spring
- Arabic Language and Islam
- Arabic Praise Poems
- Archaeology, Islamic
- Architecture
- Art, Islamic
- Ashʿariyya
- Ashura
- Australia, Islam in
- 'Aysha Abd Al-Rahman
- Ayyubids
- Azhar, al-
- Baha'i Faith
- Balkans, Islam in the
- Banna, Hasan al-
- Berbers
- Body
- Bourgiba, Habib
- Britain, Islam and Muslims in
- Caliph and Caliphate
- Caucasus
- Central Asia, Islam in
- Chechnya: History, Society, Conflict
- Christianity, Islam and
- Cinema, Turkish
- Civil Society
- Clash of Civilizations
- David Santillana
- Daʿwa
- Death, Dying, and the Afterlife
- Democracy and Islam
- Deoband Madrasa
- Disabilities, Islam and
- Dome of the Rock
- Dreams and Islam
- Dress and Fashion
- Druze
- Education
- Ethics
- Europe, Islam in
- European Imperialism
- Fahad al-Asker
- Fairuz
- Fana and Baqa
- Farangī Maḥall
- Fatima
- Female Islamic Education Movements
- Finance, Islamic
- Fiqh Al-Aqalliyyat
- Five Pillars of Islam, The
- Gender and Sexuality
- Gender-based Violence and Islam
- Ghadir Khumm
- Ghazali, al-
- Gökalp, Mehmet Ziya
- Gülen, Muhammed Fethullah
- Hadith
- Hadith and Gender
- Hadith Commentary
- Hadith: Shiʿi
- Hamas
- Hanafi School, The
- Hasan
- Hijaz
- Hijaz Railway
- Hilli, al-
- Hip-Hop and Islam
- Historiography
- History of Astronomy and Space Science in the Islamic Worl...
- Hizb al-Nahdah
- Homosexuality
- Human Rights
- Husayn
- Ibadiyya
- Ibn al-ʿArabī
- Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
- Ibn Bâjjah
- Ibn Khaldun
- Ibn Rushd (Averroës)
- Ibn Sīnā
- Ibn Taymiyya
- Ibn Ṭufayl
- Ijtihad
- 'Ilm al-Khilāf / Legal Controversy
- Indonesia, Islam in
- Inheritance
- Inji Efflatoun
- Internet, Islam and the
- Iqbal, Muhammad
- Iran, Islam in
- Iranian Revolution, The
- Islam, Environments and Landscapes in
- Islam in Ethiopia and Eritrea
- Islam, Nature, and the Environment
- Islamic Aesthetics
- Islamic Exegesis, Christians and Christianity in
- Islamic Law and Gender
- Islamic Print Media
- Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
- Islamic Studies, Food in
- Islamic Trends and Movements in Contemporary Sub-Saharan A...
- Islamophobia
- Japan, Islam in
- Jesus
- Jewish-Muslim Relations
- Jihad
- Jilani, `Abd al-Qadir al (Gilani)
- Ka`aba
- Karbala in Shiʿi Ritual
- Khaled Al Siddiq
- Kharijites
- Kharijites and Contemporary Scholarship, The
- Khatami, Muhammad
- Khomeini, Ruhollah Mousavi
- Kurds, The
- Law, Islamic Criminal
- Literature and Muslim Women
- Malcolm X
- Malikis
- Maḥmūd Gāvān
- Marriage
- Martyrdom (Shahada)
- Mary in Islam
- Mawdudi, Sayyid Abuʾl-Aʾla
- Medina
- Medina, The Constitution of
- Method in the Study of Islam
- Middle East and North Africa, Islam in
- Mihna
- Miskawayh
- Modern and Contemporary Egyptian Art
- Modernism
- Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
- Moses
- Māturīdī
- Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī
- Muhammad
- Muhammad, Elijah
- Muhammad, Tomb of
- Muharram
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Muslim Nonviolence
- Muslim Pilgrimage Traditions in West Africa
- Muslim Television Preachers
- Mutʿa
- Mu`tazilites
- Nana Asma'u bint Usman ‘dan Fodio
- Nation of Islam
- Nationalism
- Nigeria, Islam in
- Nizar Qabbani
- North America, Islam in
- Nursi, Said
- On the History of the Book in Islamic Studies
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation
- Orientalism and Islam
- Ottoman Empire, Islam in the
- Ottoman Empire, Millet System in the
- Ottoman Women
- Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper in Islamic Studies
- PAS
- People of the Book
- Philippines, Islam in the
- Philosophy, Islamic
- Pilgrimage and Religious Travel
- Political Islam
- Political Theory, Islamic
- Post-Ottoman Syria, Islam in
- Pre-Islamic Arabia/The Jahiliyya
- Principles of Law
- Progressive Muslim Thought, Progressive Islam and
- Purity
- Qaeda, al-
- Qaradawi, Yusuf al-
- Qur'an
- Qurʾan and Contemporary Analysis
- Qurʾan and Context
- Qutb, Sayyid
- Razi, Fakhr al-Din al-
- Reformist Muslims in Contemporary America
- Russia, Islam in
- Sadra, Mulla
- Safavids
- Sahara, The Kunta of the
- Salafism
- Sarekat Islam
- Science and Medicine
- Shafi`is
- Shari`a (Islamic Law)
- Shari'ati, Ali
- Shaṭṭārīya
- Shaykhism
- Shiʿa, Ismaʿili
- Shiʿa, Twelver
- Shi`i Islam
- Shi‘I Shrine Cities
- Shi'i Tafsir, Twelver
- Sociology and Anthropology
- South Asia, Islam in
- Southeast Asia, Islam in
- Spain, Muslim
- Sīra
- Sufism
- Sufism in the United States
- Suhrawardī, Shihāb al-Dīn
- Sukarno
- Sunna
- Sunni Islam
- Tabari, -al
- Tablighi Jamaʿat
- Tafsir
- Tafsir, Women and
- Taha, Mahmūd Muhammad
- Taliban
- Tanzīh and Tashbīh in Classical Islamic Theological Though...
- The Babi Movement
- The Barelvī School of Thought
- The Nizari Ismailis of the Persianate World
- Theology
- Turabi, Hassan al-
- Turkey, Islam in
- Turkish Language, Literature, and Islam
- Twelver Shi'ism in Modern India
- Twelver Shi'ism in Pakistan
- Umayyads, The
- Wahhabism
- Women in Islam
- Yemen, Islam in
- Zaydiyya