Barakat Ahmad
Encyclopedia
Syed Barakat Ahmad was a scholar and Indian
diplomat. He had a doctorate in Arab history from the American University of Beirut
and a doctorate in literature
from the University of Tehran
. Ahmad was also the First Secretary of the Indian High Commission in Australia, High Commissioner to the West Indies, and an adviser to the Indian delegation to the United Nations. He also served as rapporteur to the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid and was a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Ahmad died in 1988 as a result of an advanced stage of cancer
of the bladder.
and execution of Banu Qurayza
.
The earliest surviving biography of Muhammad are recension of Ibn Ishaq
's (d. 768) "Life of the Apostle of God". Ahmad argues that Muslim historians and Orientalists have failed to take into account that Ibn Ishaq's book, written some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death during the Abbasid Caliphate, was strongly influenced by the environment in which it was written. Ahmad accepts Ibn Ishaq as a sincere historian, he states that "a historian is very much part of his time. He cannot isolate himself from the climate of opinion in which he breathes." and argues that "Ibn Ishaq's view regarding Muhammad's relation with the Jews were strongly influenced by his own reaction to Jewish life under the Abbasids".
Ahmad further argues that the account given by Ibn Ishaq cannot possibly be accurate, as, for example, states that the beheading and burial of 600-900 men would have been physically too colossal an undertaking for a small city like Medina,. He also writes that the corpses would have constituted an obvious menace to public health.
To support his thesis, Ahmad also points to Jewish sources' silence about the incidents.
Harold Kasimow, in a 1982 review for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion wrote:
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
diplomat. He had a doctorate in Arab history from the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
and a doctorate in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
from the University of Tehran
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is Iran's oldest university. Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in the country, and is consistently selected as the first choice of many applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian...
. Ahmad was also the First Secretary of the Indian High Commission in Australia, High Commissioner to the West Indies, and an adviser to the Indian delegation to the United Nations. He also served as rapporteur to the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid and was a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Ahmad died in 1988 as a result of an advanced stage of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
of the bladder.
Hypothesis regarding Muhammad and the Jews of Medina
Ahmad says that to the best of his knowledge, he is the first Muslim scholar to deal with the Jews of Yathrib in the spirit of independent study and research. In "Muhammad and the Jews: A Re-examination", he questions the validity of the accepted accounts of Muhammad's expulsion of Banu QaynuqaBanu Qaynuqa
The Banu Qaynuqa was one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia...
and execution of Banu Qurayza
Banu Qurayza
The Banu Qurayza were a Jewish tribe which lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Yathrib , until the 7th century, when their conflict with Muhammad led to their demise, after the Invasion of Banu Qurayza, took place in the Dhul Qa‘dah, 5 A.H i.e. in February/March, 627 AD...
.
The earliest surviving biography of Muhammad are recension of Ibn Ishaq
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
's (d. 768) "Life of the Apostle of God". Ahmad argues that Muslim historians and Orientalists have failed to take into account that Ibn Ishaq's book, written some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death during the Abbasid Caliphate, was strongly influenced by the environment in which it was written. Ahmad accepts Ibn Ishaq as a sincere historian, he states that "a historian is very much part of his time. He cannot isolate himself from the climate of opinion in which he breathes." and argues that "Ibn Ishaq's view regarding Muhammad's relation with the Jews were strongly influenced by his own reaction to Jewish life under the Abbasids".
Ahmad further argues that the account given by Ibn Ishaq cannot possibly be accurate, as, for example, states that the beheading and burial of 600-900 men would have been physically too colossal an undertaking for a small city like Medina,. He also writes that the corpses would have constituted an obvious menace to public health.
To support his thesis, Ahmad also points to Jewish sources' silence about the incidents.
Harold Kasimow, in a 1982 review for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion wrote:
Dr. Ahmad has carefully considered all the early Islamic sources and the Jewish writings dealing with the period...Although I was not totally convinced by the evidence presented, there were moments during my reading when Dr. Ahmad did create doubt in my mind about the accuracy of the traditional history of the time. And that, after all, was his intent.
Reviews of his Thesis
- Lasker, Daniel J., review: Muhammad and the Jews: A Reexamination, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 19:4 (Fall, 1982): 826.
- M.J. Kister, “The Massacre of the Banu Qurayza: A Re-examination of a Tradition” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and IslamJerusalem Studies in Arabic and IslamJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam is a peer reviewed, international academic journal devoted to the study of classical Islam, Islamic religious thought, Arabic language and literature, the origins of Islamic institutions, and the interaction between Islam and other civilizations. The founding...
8 (1986):61-96. - Leon Nemoy, Barakat Ahmad's "Muhammad and the Jews", The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Ser., Vol. 72, No. 4. (Apr., 1982), pp. 324-326.
- Harold Kasimow, Muhammad and the Jews: A Re-Examination, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 50, No. 1. (Mar., 1982), pp. 157-158.