Reconstruction of a Source of Ibn Is?aq’s Life of the Prophet and Early Qur?an Exegesis

This important work is a source-critical study of a group of traditions (a?adith) found in Ibn Is?aq's Biography (Sira) of the prophet Mu?ammad, widely considered one of the most important early historical texts on the Prophet's life. Through a meticulous isnad-cum-matn analysis, the author reveals that Ibn Is?aq relied on Mu?ammad b. Abi Mu?ammad, a hitherto undocumented source of his. Important new light is also shed on problems with Ibn Hisham’s recension of Ibn Is?aq’s Sira.