Muhammad

Muslims over the course of history have always taken interest in the minute details of Muhammad's personal life as imitating the Prophet in every conceivable aspect was regarded as a way of piety. While information about the Prophet is found in the sīra literature and in the Qurʾan and the related exegetical literature, the hadith is the main source for the image of Muhammad, minutely depicting his outward appearance, his character, his habits and behavioral patterns and his likes and dislikes. On the other hand, the hadith is not primarily interested in Muhammad as a person, but rather uses his sayings and deeds as a means to understand and define the Muslim moral and legal code. Although it is not unlikely that the hadith contains some authentic statements of or about Muhammad, various external influences such as legal and theological interests, as well as the nature of transmission make it difficult to distinguish such statements from ones that only emerged later or were reshaped in the course of transmission.