In this new biography of Muhammad—now available for the first time in English—eminent Dutch scholar of Islamic Studies Hans Jansen examines the original Arabic accounts of Muhammad's life to uncover both the historical facts about the life of the Prophet and the intent of the authors of the earliest Muslim chroniclers. Following the earliest biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq (as edited later by Ibn Hisham), Jansen examines the stories told about Muhammad during his life first in Mecca and then in Medina. Jansen calls attention to the gap of more than a century between the events of Muhammad's life (d. 632) and the first record of these events (c. 750), questioning the reliability of Ibn Ishaq's account and other Muslim chroniclers who relied on Ibn Ishaq's writings.

The author poses the following questions: How much of this early biography is legend and hearsay? What historical facts can be gleaned from later embellishments? Did Ibn Ishaq and his later editor, Ibn Hisham, intend to write objective history or were they more interested in compiling popular stories to fit a religious agenda?

Jansen comes to the conclusion that, like the gospel writers who penned the first accounts of the life of Jesus, Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham were more interested in creating a portrait of an inspired prophet of God than in writing an objective history of events in the life of Muhammad.

This important new account of the founder of Islam is thoroughly researched yet accessibly written. Both scholars of Islam and laypersons with an interest in history and religion will find this work to be of great value.