Modern Approaches in Sirah Writing Against the Writings of Orientalists

Abstract

This article highlights the significance of Orientalism in regard with the Modern Approaches and Methodologies in sirah Writing. The sirah writers of the modern era did consider the global developments of the twentieth century and complied sirah in a method which provided guidance in connection with these rapid changes and conditions. The study primarily focuses on the opinions of the authors of the selected books of sirah written in recent past regarding the all-important issue of orientalism. The research gives an Introduction to the modern approaches and methodologies in sirah writing as well. The study covers the subject matters of the inception of orientalism, its history and significance in modern times. The research highlights the approach of the orientalists towards Qur’ān, Hadith and Sirah. The selected books for this research written in recent past in Arabic, English and Urdu are Fiqh Al Sirah by Muhammad Al Ghazālī, Fiqh Al Sirah by Muhammad Sa’īd Ramaḍān Al Būtī, The Spirit of Islam by Sayīd Amīr ‘Alī, Muhammad A Biography of Prophet by Karen Armstrong, Muḥāḍrāt e Sirah by Maḥmūd Aḥmad Ghāz,ῑ Sirah Al Nabī by ‘Allāmah Shiblī Nu’mānī, Aṣaḥ Al Sῑyar by ‘Abdul Raūf Dānāpūrī, Ḍīā Al Nabī by Pīr Muḥammad Karam Shāh, Raḥmatullil'ālamīn by Qāḍī Muhammad Sulymān Manṣūrpūrī,  Sīrat e Sarware ‘Alam, Abūl A‘lā Mūdūdī and Muḥammad Rasūlallāh by Sayed Muhammad Miyan.