10/02/2026
Every school, scholar & speaker repeats it: the life of Muhammad ﷺ is preserved in the Sīrah of Ibn Ishaq… but where is his manuscript?What if we told you it was compiled by a German Orientalist 1,200 years after the Prophet died using manuscripts from Europe not Arabia?Discover how modern Islamic history was shaped — not by the pen of the early Muslims, but by the hands of 19th-century European editors. Who Really Wrote the Biography of Muhammad?Most of us grew up learning that the Sīrah (biography) of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was written by Ibn Ishaq and passed down by Ibn Hisham. This is the official narrative taught in schools and accepted by tradition. But have you ever asked to see an actual manuscript of Ibn Ishaq’s work?You can’t—because no manuscript of Ibn Ishaq exists.Even the version attributed to Ibn Hisham doesn’t come directly from him. In truth, the earliest full compilation used today was reconstructed by a German orientalist, Heinrich Ferdinand Wüstenfeld who published his Arabic edition of the Sīrah in 1860—that’s over 1,200 years after Muhammad’s death. Muslims, Christians and secular historians alike have unknowingly depended on this European compiler for their understanding of Muhammad’s life.Wüstenfeld didn’t rely on any 8th or 9th-century source. He used six manuscripts dated from the 11th to the 16th century, most of which are housed in European libraries: • Fez, Morocco (1063 CE) – only 25% was used • British Library (1278 CE) • Bodleian Library, Oxford (1300s) • Dublin, Ireland (1300s) • BNF, Paris (1400s) • SOAS, London (1589 CE) – most heavily usedNone of these manuscripts were penned by Ibn Ishaq or Ibn Hisham themselves. So ask yourself: If the first complete biography of the Prophet came over a millennium later, who truly shaped the narrative we call “history”?Time to rethink, research, and relearn. ⸻📖 Primary Source Notes & Factual Citations: 1. Heinrich Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, Das Leben Mohammeds nach Muhammed Ibn Ishâk, Göttingen, 1860 – Arabic edition with German introduction.[Available via archive.org and major academic libraries.] 2. Wüstenfeld’s source notes show he used 6 medieval manuscripts, dating between the 11th and 16th centuries, primarily from: • Fez Manuscript (1063 CE) • British Library MS (1278 CE) • Bodleian Library Oxford (1300s) • Dublin Library (1300s) • BNF Paris (1400s) • SOAS London (1589 CE) 3. The so-called Sīrat Rasūl Allāh is traditionally linked to Ibn Hisham, but most printed versions derive from Wüstenfeld’s 19th-century collation, not any 8th-century preserved source. 4. No known original manuscript exists from Ibn Ishaq (d. 767 CE) or Ibn Hisham (d. 833 CE). 5. For academic analysis, see: • Fred M. Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins (Darwin Press) • Harold Motzki, The Biography of Muhammad: The Issue of the Sources (Brill, 2000)
