Publisher : Éditions du Cerf - Paris
Français
Muhammad according to Historians
Co-edited by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (Directeur d’études at EPHE-PSL, Chair of “Exegesis and Theology of Shi’i Islam”) and John Tolan (Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Nantes Université, co-director of the ERC Synergy EuQu).
Published as Le Mahomet des historiens (Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2025, 2 224 p., ISBN 978-2-204-15007-1), Muhammad remains one of the most influential figures in world history, shaping both East and West. Revered by countless faithful but also a target of controversy, he remains, despite the thousands of works devoted to him, largely misunderstood.
While his historical existence is widely accepted, the traditional narrative of his life has always fuelled debate. A veritable scientific revolution is now underway, whose findings had until now remained confined to academic circles.
A world first, this monumental yet accessible work brings together fifty international specialists and offers, in two thousand pages, a complete and critical synthesis of past scholarship and current research on the Prophet of Islam.
An unprecedented scholarly outreach. A bridge between scholarship and the general public. A decisive step towards genuine mutual understanding.
Presentation lecture by the co-editors at the Théologies en dialogue Chair of UCLy: see the trilingual video recording on pluriel.fuce.eu.
Codirigé par Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (directeur d’études à l’EPHE-PSL, chaire « Exégèse et théologie de l’islam shi’ite ») et John Tolan (professeur émérite d’histoire médiévale à Nantes Université, co-directeur de l’ERC Synergy EuQu).
Figure incontournable de l’islam, Mahomet est l’un des personnages les plus marquants de l’histoire de l’humanité, façonnant l’Orient comme l’Occident. Vénéré par des myriades de fidèles, mais aussi cible de controverses, il demeure, malgré les milliers d’ouvrages à son sujet, méconnu.
Si son existence historique est largement admise, le récit traditionnel de sa vie a toujours alimenté les débats. Mais une véritable révolution scientifique est désormais en marche, dont les découvertes sont restées confinées aux cercles académiques. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui.
Première mondiale, ce monument savant et accessible, qui réunit cinquante spécialistes internationaux, offre, en deux mille pages, une synthèse complète et critique des travaux passés et des recherches présentes sur le Prophète de l’islam.
Une entreprise de divulgation scientifique inédite. Un pont jeté entre la science et le grand public. Une avancée décisive pour une connaissance mutuelle authentique et une paix véritable.
Conférence de présentation par les codirecteurs à la Chaire Théologies en dialogue de l’UCLy : voir la captation vidéo trilingue sur pluriel.fuce.eu.
ISBN 978-2-204-15007-1 (coffret 2 volumes).
عمل جماعي ضخم، أشرف عليه محمد علي أمير-معزي (مدير دراسات في المدرسة التطبيقية للدراسات العليا EPHE-PSL، كرسي «التفسير واللاهوت في الإسلام الشيعي») وجون تولان (أستاذ فخري في التاريخ الوسيط بجامعة نانت، ومنسّق مشترك لبرنامج EuQu ضمن ERC Synergy).
يُعدّ النبي محمد من أبرز الشخصيات التي طبعت تاريخ الإنسانية، شرقاً وغرباً. يبقى، رغم آلاف المؤلَّفات التي كُتبت عنه، مجهولاً في كثير من جوانبه؛ بين تبجيل جمهور المؤمنين والجدل السياسي والفكري المتواصل. ورغم أنّ وجوده التاريخي مُقرّ به على نطاق واسع، فإنّ الرواية التقليدية لسيرته ظلّت دائماً موضع نقاش. وثمّة اليوم ثورة علمية حقيقية آخذة في التبلور، ظلّت اكتشافاتها حبيسة الأوساط الأكاديمية.
يجمع هذا العمل، وهو الأوّل من نوعه عالمياً، خمسين متخصّصاً دولياً، ويُقدّم في ألفَي صفحة توليفة شاملة ونقدية للأبحاث السابقة والمعاصرة حول نبيّ الإسلام. مشروعٌ للتعميم العلمي غير مسبوق، وجسرٌ ممدود بين العلم والقرّاء العامّين، وخطوةٌ حاسمة نحو معرفة متبادلة أصيلة وسلام حقيقي.
محاضرة تقديم بصوتَي المحرّرَين المشاركَين ضمن كرسي «لاهوتيات في حوار» بجامعة UCLy: انظر التسجيل بالفيديو على موقع pluriel.fuce.eu.
Le Mahomet des historiens, sous la direction de Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi et John Tolan, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2025, 2 224 p., ISBN 978-2-204-15007-1.
publisher's websiteAuthor(s)
Resources related to
History
publication
The Recognition of a Hummingbird. Essays on Interreligious Dialogue and Missionary Work (2007-2025)
- Rémi Caucanas
Published in May 2026 by PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome), this collection brings together the essays of Rémi Caucanas on interreligious dialogue and missionary wor...
videos
From Lavigerie to PISAI: The Institutional History of the Missionaries of Africa’s Engagement with Islam
Delivered on 21 May 2026 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, this lecture opens the series of conferences marking the institute's centenary (1926-2026). Fr. ...
publication
Maurice Borrmans and the Crisis of Christian-Muslim Dialogue. Islamic studies in Question?
- Florence Javel
In 2025-2026, we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and of the declaration Nostra aetate (28 October 1965). One century earlier, in October 1925, Maurice Borrmans was born ...
videos
Muhammad in Modern Art, by Alice Bombardier
- Alice Bombardier
Lecture given by Alice Bombardier (Professeure agrégée at Sorbonne Université) as part of the Théologies en dialogue Chair of the Faculty of Theology at UCLy, in Lyon, on 25 March 2026. Working ag...
publication
Islam and Muslims. Doctrines, Schools of Thought, and Current Trends
- Michel Younès
Publication date: April 16, 2026. Islam, as a historical, religious, and civilizational reality, is difficult to define. It can be perceived as a form of political governance, an expression of fait...
publication
Canon and Censorship in Islamic Intellectual History
- Amir Dziri
Published in De Gruyter’s series “Islam: Thought, Culture, and Society” (vol. 16, 2026), this collective volume is edited by Mohammad Gharaibeh and Bacem Dziri (Humboldt University of Berlin)...
videos
Maurice Borrmans (1925-2017), an Islamologist Defending Christian-Muslim Dialogue
- Florence Javel
On 19 February 2026, in the Maurice Borrmans Library of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, Florence Javel, who holds a PhD in theology from the Catholic Univer...
videos
Landscape and architecture as occasions of contemplation and of interreligious dialogue in the travel narratives of the Sufi ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...