The relationship between the sacred element and the historicity in the contemporary Sirah writing: a study on the Sirah writing of Abbas Zaryab Khoei

The years 1960 to 1990 are considered the most prominent period of Sirah writing and rereading the prophet Mohammad's life in the Iranian Shiite society. As thoroughly accepted in the contemporary scientific researches, religion is not a supernatural phenomenon and therefore, the traditional Sirah writing, since has been combined with superstitions or theological opinions, has not met the needs of that period. Consequently, the main focus of most Sirahs of that period was the secularization of religion and specially, Islam. Meanwhile, Zaryab Khoei, in accordance with the needs of the day and by a different approach, has paid a great deal of attention to the writing of the prophet's Sirah. Applying a semantic analysis, this research aims to describe Zaryab’s specific methodology in his book, Sirat o rasul e Allah (life of the messenger of Allah). The findings show Zaryab’s intention to compound two opposing views: the belief in the unchangeable sacred element, and the western historicism. By this localizing method, he has established a specific relation between the sacred historiography and the western historicity. Accepting the divine characteristic of Mohammad's prophecy, he has also used scientific and rational analyses to assess narrations of the Mohammad's life and to criticize and reject some incorrect accounts and superstitions of the Sirah references.