What are the sources of our knowledge of the life of Muhammad and the early history of the Muslim community? Comment on their value.

... What are the sources of our knowledge of the life of Muhammad and the early history of the Muslim community? Comment on their value. It has been recently estimated that there are 1.100 billion Muslims1 in the world and therefore the scope of a religion that represents about 22% of the world's population must be greatly appreciated. However, the Prophet Muhammad exists not only as an integral part of the major world religion of Islam but also as a highly historical figure, whose character has been shaped by many Islamic sources. They are principally in the form of the hadiths, the traditions, which are biographical works dealing with Muhammad's life. These in turn make up larger works, called suras. The suras and hadiths were written roughly 100 years after Muhammad's death, but accurate oral tradition, characteristic of the time, enabled such works to be reliable sources, and the oldest hadiths available

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