A Historical Approach to Explain the Reason Why of Differences of the First Biographers` Reports: A survey of Mubāhalah in Ibni Hishām`s Sīrih

The importance of a critical look at the primary sources in history and biography and addressing its strengths and weaknesses with regard to research references seems necessary. The reflection of the biographies of the Prophet (PBUH) on the historical studies, considering its relation to the policy and beliefs of the audience, is far more important than the narration of history in other parts of it. This article, studying historical sources in an analytical and descriptive manner, has sought to find and explain the reason why of not reporting the event of Mubāhalah in the works of some early biographers as well as the discrepancies between Ibn Hamshām and other historians` reports of Mubāhalah. It seems that the causes of discrepancy in the year that Mubāhalah took place may be counted as: the claim of the Prophet's silence in answering the questions of the representatives of Najrān, the deletion of the name of Ahl al-Bayt (AS); and incomplete report of that very event in Ibn Hishām's biography may be caused by lack of biographers` attention, the influence of rulers of the time on recording the events, and religious and theological orientations in narration.