The Life of Muhammad by Muhammad ibn Ishaq is a hagiographical biography that serves to uplift the prophet Muhammad to his highest point. The author begins with the prophet’s childhood where he was described as the most perfect of children. As a child he was the perfect child who had the best character, lineage, mannerisms all while being protected. From birth God protected the prophet from the bad things in life. Heathenness was the most mentioned of the protections, which means he was protected from all who weren’t Christians or Jews. It then went on to vet Khadija who would go on to be the wife of the Prophet. Khadija was described as a daughter of a merchant of a family with the greatest of dignities. After the story of Khadija the author skips ahead to the now 40-year-old prophet who was sent compassion to evangelize to all men by God. The prophet is then given a covenant between he and God to testify the “truth” to all monotheistic religions. On a walk the prophet took the angel Gabriel who had the gift of grace for him visited him. Further on the prophet was described as pleasing God for spending time in solitude and walking around the Ka’ba a number of times. The prophet is then given a number of miraculous encounters with God and Gabriel that consist of dream visions at night and mountain visions in the day. All of these leave him with “words upon his heart” From here on Khadija is seen supporting her husband in any way she can, mainly with encouragement.
Throughout the entire writing the prophet is raised to a holy state. He isn’t considered perfect but is regarded as the best of men. For his child hood God protects him. As an adult the prophet is called an apostle of God by the author, which puts him up there with the Christian apostles. The entire writing serves to give authority to the prophet. Besides his goodness as a person the prophet is mostly described as being a true pleaser of God and a true holy man.
Christians are first mentioned in the introduction to Khadija. She is said to have a Christian cousin what Khadija’s slave told her. The slave told her that a Christian monk had seen 2 angels shading the prophet that means he is truly the prophet of God. In this case Christians are seen as supporters of the claim of the prophet being who he claimed to be. This would serve as a case of authority to the other Christians in the region by saying that a monk of their own had vetted Muhammad as being a true prophet. Judeo-Christians are then set but god to be the target of the prophet’s evangelism that makes them of importance to the writer. Also, the writer includes the prophet as an apostle that would help give him authority over Christians in the surrounding regions.
An isnad is the listing of the chain of authority that a story comes to the author. In this writing the author traces the authority to a mix of eyewitnesses and of those who heard the story from another. In many cases it is passed from generation to generation. One such case has the chain through a man who had “ a retentive memory.” The lists of authority are sometimes short and other times rely solely on one’s memories.
Throughout the entire writing the prophet is raised to a holy state. He isn’t considered perfect but is regarded as the best of men. For his child hood God protects him. As an adult the prophet is called an apostle of God by the author, which puts him up there with the Christian apostles. The entire writing serves to give authority to the prophet. Besides his goodness as a person the prophet is mostly described as being a true pleaser of God and a true holy man.
Christians are first mentioned in the introduction to Khadija. She is said to have a Christian cousin what Khadija’s slave told her. The slave told her that a Christian monk had seen 2 angels shading the prophet that means he is truly the prophet of God. In this case Christians are seen as supporters of the claim of the prophet being who he claimed to be. This would serve as a case of authority to the other Christians in the region by saying that a monk of their own had vetted Muhammad as being a true prophet. Judeo-Christians are then set but god to be the target of the prophet’s evangelism that makes them of importance to the writer. Also, the writer includes the prophet as an apostle that would help give him authority over Christians in the surrounding regions.
An isnad is the listing of the chain of authority that a story comes to the author. In this writing the author traces the authority to a mix of eyewitnesses and of those who heard the story from another. In many cases it is passed from generation to generation. One such case has the chain through a man who had “ a retentive memory.” The lists of authority are sometimes short and other times rely solely on one’s memories.