Boldly applying historical ways of knowing to the study of nascent Islam in RE

Abstract An examination of Religious Education (RE) textbooks reveals that when pupils are taught about the history of Makkah, the life of Muhammad, the Quran, and the emergence of Islam, the content is often presented as a straightforward narrative based on Islamic tradition. This approach typically lacks critical engagement and overlooks alternative scholarly perspectives. Notably, historians such as Patricia Crone and Michael Cook in the 1970s, and more recently Tom Holland, have raised significant questions about the historical reliability of these traditional accounts. Their work suggests that the origins of Islam are more complex and contested than commonly portrayed. This paper argues that a Religion and Worldviews approach to RE should encourage the use of historical ways of knowing —including critical historical methods, tools of analysis, and engagement with diverse scholarly viewpoints. It contends that pupils should be equipped to interrogate sources, assess evidence, and understand the nature of historical inquiry as applied to religious narratives. Through an analysis of current RE textbooks and a review of critical scholarship, this paper highlights the lack of criticality in existing materials. It proposes that educators can and should boldly introduce pupils to these historical methods, fostering a more informed, nuanced, and academically rigorous understanding of the early development of Islam.