Seerah Discourses in Medieval Christian Account of “The History of Sebeos”: A Research Study

Abstract

In the Umayyad and Abbasid times, due to expansion of Islamic rule, and conversion of great numbers of non-Muslims to Islam, a number of extra-Islamic accounts about Islam floated at the surface of medieval literary milieu. Among them is “The History of Sebeos”, also known as “The History of Heraclius”, which hold accounts about Islam and the Holy Prophet of Islam(P.B.U.H.).

The scope of this article is to take a glance of statements of the said “History”, for which verses from the Bible, and the Holy Qur’an, along with narrations from Ahadith and Seerah literature have been taken as data along with the said writing and studied using an elaborative research methodology. The statements regarding the Seerah of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) have been analyzed in the light of classical Seerah sources, to search and elaborate the authenticity and validity of the discourses of the said writing. The article ends with the conclusion that the statements and discourses about the Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) described in the said writing are  somewhat in accordance with the Seerah, although having few shadows over the authenticity of it to rely upon solely. While it has been recommended for further research, that, not only similar studies be conducted analyzing other medieval writings, containing statements and discourses about Seerah of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.), but also, the methodology, motives and impacts of these writings be elaborated, so that it may be helpful to understand the whole scenario which gave rise to the genre of extra-Islamic Seerah sources, to implement its outcome in present day dialogue with non-Muslims of the world, introducing the Seerah of The Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) to the respective religious communities in an academic way.