ممارسة السيرة النبوية صلى الله عليه وسلم باللغة البنغالية: دراسة تحليلية

The Prophetic Biography in Bengali: An Analytical Study of Its Practice and Transmission

Abstract

This study explores the extensive contributions of Bengali scholars to the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of the Prophetic Biography (Sirah), highlighting Bengali as one of the most influential languages for Islamic scholarship in the Indian subcontinent. Spoken by more than four hundred million people, the majority of whom are Muslims, Bengali has long served as a primary medium through which Islamic teachings—including the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)—have been studied, transmitted, and understood. The roots of Sirah literature in Bengali can be traced to early oral traditions that later evolved into the distinctive genre of Bengali epic poetry (Malhamah) during the Middle Ages, where Arabic, Persian, and Urdu vocabulary was interwoven into local literary expression. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, these works predominantly depicted heroic narratives, battles, and the moral virtues of the Prophet. A significant transformation occurred in the nineteenth century with the emergence of prose Sirah writing in Bengali. This period saw early contributions from non-Muslim authors as well as the first comprehensive Sirah by a Muslim scholar, Sheikh Abdur Rahim (1887), whose work achieved widespread influence. The twentieth century marked an era of unprecedented growth, with a substantial rise in both original compositions and translations of foundational texts from Arabic, Urdu, and Persian. This prolific activity resulted in more than a thousand Bengali publications dedicated to the Sirah, positioning Bengali as the second most productive language—after Arabic—in the global field of Sirah studies.