Harald Motzki. Reconstruction of a Source of Ibn Ishaq’s Life of the Prophet and Early Qur’an Exegesis: A Study of Early Ibn ‘Abbas Traditions

Abstract

It has been the prevalent idea among orientalists that Islamic historical and religious literature appeared from the early-third century A.H. onwards and reflected the political and religious divisions in the Islamic community. In this book, Motzki goes against this idea and suggests that that early Islamic literature can be dated to the end of the first and the beginning of second centuries A.H. Motzki develops this thesis by studying Ibn ‘Abbas’ traditions that have been considered suspect by the Western researchers for he lived with the Prophet Muhammad for a limited time. He attempts to reconstruct the source of Ibn ‘Abbas and underlines the role of the narrator (rawi) named Muhammad b. Abi Muhammad.