Refracting Orientalism: Prophet Muhammad, Empathy and Biography Writing

Developments in the fields of narratology that investigate empathy in literary and non-literary sources have come in handy for the study of biographies of Prophet Muhammad written by Western scholars aiming at bridgebuilding rather than stoking cultural binarism. Suzanne Keen argues convincingly that authors of biography may aim at avoiding the bias towards characters from outgroups through, “Strategic empathizing” which, “works by calling upon familiarity; it attempts to transcend differences in order to deflect biased reactions to characters from outgroups. It can also rely on representations of universal human experiences to connect through shared feelings” (20). The empathetic tendency is clear in the biographies of Prophet Muhammad written by Hazelton and Armstrong which emphasize with the Prophet’s common humanity as well as situate him as a historical figure deeply entangled in human affairs. Hazleton and Armstrong had in mind the orientalism and negativity that are associated with the Prophet’s character and name.