Master thesis discussing Italian Orientalism in the Prophet’s biography

    Master dissertation by the researcher Abbas Qasim Atiya Al-Miryani entitled Italian Orientalism into Prophetic Biography “Francesco Gabrielli in his Book Muhammad and the Islamic Conquests as a Model” was examined.

   Writing Prophetic biography is essential for it is the first to be written about in historical records.  Such studies were not limited to Muslim historians only, but they were dealt with by Oriental specialised studies on a large scale. These writings were either just or blasphemous since each writer has his own interpretation and analysis of the historical event of the admirable biography.

    The study dealt with the Italian school, which is considered as one of the first oriental schools that were interested in studying Prophetic biography for several reasons, as its proximity to the Arab region. Moreover, Italy was the home of the Catholic Church that had control over most of Europe in the Middle Ages. And, it was the initiator that encouraged the study of Arab-Islamic history in order to know Islamic religion and be able to respond.

   In view of the few writings that tackled Italian Orientalism with research and study, and the fact that the Orientalist Gabrieli's book “Muhammad and the Islamic Conquests” contained multiple and contradictory information and opinions at the same time about the biography of the Messenger of God (Peace be upon him and his family), the topic deserve study and response. In addition, there is no independent and specialized academic study that dealt with the prophetic biography in the writings of Francesco Gabrielli.

   The dissertation came up with several recommendations, including examining such studies to refute the suspicions about the Prophetic biography undertaken by these Oriental writings.