Proving Prophecy, Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Literature as Part of the Scholarly Discourse on Prophecy in Islam

Mareike Koertner is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Trinity College. She earned her Ph.D. (2014) in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Yale University. Her research focuses on Prophetic Tradition (Hadith) and Biography (Sira); the intellectual history of medieval Islam, particularly epistemological discourses on prophecy; interface of religious and literary texts; epistemological discourses on prophecy, and interaction and intellectual exchanges between Jews, Christians and Muslims in the medieval Near East.

• AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction1 Historiography, Hagiography, and the Marginalization of Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Literature2 Are Miracles Categorically “Popular”?3 Hagiology as an Analytical Tool1 The Scholar and the Storyteller?—Quṣṣāṣ in Early Islam1 Authenticated and Unauthenticated Approaches2 ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr and the “Authenticated” Traditions3 Wahb b. Munabbih and the “Unauthenticated” Traditions4 Comparative Analysis: The Accounts of the Hijra according to ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr and Wahb b. Munabbih4.1 ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr’s Account of the Hijra4.2 Wahb b. Munabbih’s Account of the Hijra4.3 A Detailed Comparison between the Hijra Accounts of ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr and Wahb b. Munabbih4.4 Miracles in the Corpus of ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr2 Biographies of the Earliest Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Authors1 The First Generation2 The Second Generation3 The Third Generation4 The Fourth Generation5 The Evolution of Early Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Authors3 Methodological and Structural Approaches in dalāʾil al-nubūwa Literature1 Methodologies of Authentication in Early Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Works1.1 Al-Jūzajānī’s “Amārāt al-Nubūwa”1.2 Ibn Saʿd’s “ʿ⁠Alamāt al-nubūwa”1.2.1 The Question of Unauthenticated Materials in Ibn Saʿd’s Ṭabaqāt1.2.1 Muḥammad’s Encounter with Umm Maʿbad1.2.2 Muḥammad’s Encounter with Surāqa1.2.3 The Cobweb and the Pigeon1.2.2 “Popular” Materials in Ibn Saʿd’s Chapters on the Signs of Prophecy2 Methodologies of Authentication in Later Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Works2.1 al-Khargūshī’s Sharaf al-Nabī2.2 Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa2.3 Al-Bayhaqī’s Dalāʾil al-nubūwa3 Structure and Arrangement of Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Works3.1 Ibn Saʿd’s “ʿAlamāt al-Nubūwa”3.2 Al-Khargūshī’s Sharaf al-Nabī3.3 Abū Nuʿāym al-Iṣfahānī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa3.4 Al-Bayhaqī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa4 Content Analysis of Early Extant Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Works1 Maʿmar b. Rāshid’s “Bāb al-Nubūwa”2 Ibn Saʿd’s “ʿ⁠Alamāt al-Nubūwa”2.1 Announcement or Prediction of Prophecy2.1.1 Monotheistic Predictions2.1.2 Previous Prophets2.1.3 Predictions by Pagans2.2 Water- and/or Food-Related “Miracles”2.3 Natural Phenomena2.4 Events in the Prophet’s Childhood2.5 States of the Prophet2.6 Interactions with the Divine2.7 Hidden Knowledge2.8 Material Transformation and Healing3 Al-Bukhārī’s “ʿ⁠Alāmāt al-Nubūwa fī l-Islām”4 al-Jūzajānī’s “Amārāt al-Nubūwa”4.1 Food-Related Incidents as “Proofs of Prophecy”4.2 The Prophet’s Character as “Proof of Prophecy”4.3 Light as “Proof of Prophecy”4.4 Interactions with the Divine5 al-Tirmidhī’s “Bāb mā jāʾ fī ayāt Nubūwa al-Nabī wa-mā qad khaṣṣa Allāh bihi”5.1 Food/Water Related Incidents5.2 Natural Phenomena5 Ibn Saʿd’s “Proofs of Prophecy” and Its Intellectual Landscape1 Political and Religious Impulses on the Notion of Prophecy2 Christian-Muslim Encounters in the Early ʿ⁠Abbāsid Period3 Analysis: Approaches to Christian Apologetic Literature3.1 Christians Addressing Muḥammad’s Prophetic Status and Islam’s Role in Sacred History3.2 Islam as a Vehicle for Muḥammad’s Personal Gain or Immoral Behavior3.3 Miracles4 Ibn Saʿd and Christian Apologetics5 Muslim Discourse on Pre-Qurʾānic Annunciations of Muḥammad5.1 The Kitāb al-Maghāzī of Ibn Isḥāq (d. 150/767)6 Recurring Themes in Later Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Literature1 Al-Khargūshī’s Sharaf al-nabī2 Abū Nuʿ⁠aym al-Iṣfahānī’s Dalāʾil al-nubūwa3 Al-Bayhaqī’s Dalāʾil al-nubūwa4 Theology in Later Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa Works4.1 Theology in Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa4.2 Theology in al-Bayhaqī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubūwa5 ConclusionEpilogue: Dalāʾil al-nubūwa and the Promise of Comparative HagiologyAppendix: A Detailed Comparison between ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr and Wahb b. MunabbihBibliographyIndex