Biography of Contemporary Muslim Orientalists: A Study and Analysis of Hisham Ja'it's Approach to the Prophet's Biography

Undoubtedly, the biography of the Holy Prophet is one of the most important areas of research that Muslims from the past to the present and even orientalists have dealt with for various purposes. This started from the first century AH and continues until now. The great position of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his unique role in human history have been constantly considered by Islamic and non-Islamic historians, narrators, etc.Hichem Djait, The Tunisian modernist thinker and historian, relying on the approaches of anthropology, the school of anal historiography, relying on the views of orientalists and surrounding the sources of the past with a special method, presented the prophetic biography with a new perspective. In this article, with a descriptive-analytical approach and content analysis, an answer to some basic questions is given; Including: What is the reading of Hisham Ja'it in the field of prophetic biography and his most important achievements in this field? What are the influential people and approaches to his reading and biography?
Hichem Djait (1935 –2021) was a prominent historian and scholar of Islam. Professor Djait was a specialist in Medieval Islamic history, he was member of the International Scientific Institute for the General History of Africa edited by the UNESCO.In the many books he published in Tunisia and France, he mainly deals with various subjects related to Arab-Islamic culture, history and philosophy as well as to the relationship between Islam and modernity and the place of Islam in the contemporary world. Among such publications, one may mention The Great Fitna (or The Great Discord) first published in 1989 and which represents a seminal study and a revolutionary reading of Islamic history following the death of Prophet Muhammad. The Great Fitna is often described by scholars and critics as the most influential reference on the subject. Other works include Europe and Islam (1978), The Revelation, the Quran and the Prophecy (1986), The Crisis of Islamic Culture (2004) and a ground-breaking study entitled The Life of Muhammad first published in French between 2001 and 2007 and released in English in 2012. The three volumes of the latter study which cover the itinerary of the Prophet and the concomitant evolution of Islam are subtitled "Revelation and Prophecy," "Predication in Mecca," and "The Prophet’s Life in Medina and the Triumph of Islam."
Hisham Ja'it wrote a three-volume collection entitled "Fi al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah" in order to dress up from the mythical angles and imaginations of previous biographies about the Prophet (PBUH). He gave a critical approach to the historical and philosophical study of issues related to the nature of the Qur'an, as well as providing a critical historical reading of the Prophet's invitation and policy, monitoring previous biographies and interpreting the structure of Mecca society in the pre-Islamic era and on the eve of emergence. It can be said that Ja'it is one of the leading contemporary Arab historians, who has been able to become a prominent professor in the field of critical historical studies by using the resources of past heritage and new academic approaches. The most important purpose of this study is to pay attention to the influence of different individuals and schools on Hisham Ja'it, which in other scientific works in Persian and Arabic has received less attention. It turned out that Ja'it in his collection relies entirely on the views of Orientalists such as Noldeke, Blascher, Andrea, Montgomery Watt, etc., and Western approaches such as historical anthropology and philology, etc., and analyzes previous prophetic biographies from Passers-by examine them. He considers the Qur'an to be the most reliable contemporary source in the field of critical critical analytical study of the Prophetic tradition. Also, his analytical approach in the discussion of being Amy, the story of Gharrara, Gharaniq, etc. are different from the usual readings of the predecessors. Ja'it examines the issue of the Prophet (PBUH) 's motherhood in a historical process and during the occurrence of the cave incident, and in order to prove that the cave's story is fabricated, he gives a new interpretation of the Prophet (PBUH)' s motherhood