Orientalist approaches to the first period Muslim Byzantine relations (In the context of Basic Islamic History Sources)

This study examines early Muslim-Byzantine relations within the framework of orientalist approaches, and aims to reveal the beginning and development processes of Muslim-Byzantine relations, to examine the ways in which orientalists approached these relations, to determine to what extent the narrations they addressed overlap with Islamic historical sources, and to address the type of prophetic image they attempted to present. Our thesis consists of an introduction and two sections. In the introductory section of our thesis, after providing information about the purpose, importance, method, and sources of our research, the concept of Orientalism and its history are briefly discussed. Then, pre-Islamic Arab-Byzantine relations, the wars that lasted for years between Byzantium and Persians, and the first five verses of the Surah Ar-Rum, which was revealed during the Meccan period of the Prophet Muhammad, announcing the victory of the Byzantine Empire as a result of these wars, are discussed. The first section of our study includes the letters that the Prophet Muhammad sent to the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and the rulers of other Byzantine-affiliated states and tribes in order to invite them to Islam. These letters, which are considered the beginning of relations with Byzantium, have been ignored by some orientalists, while others have claimed that they were written for other reasons. The claims of orientalists regarding these letters have been examined, and the extent to which the narratives correspond with Islamic historical sources has been discussed in this section. In the second section of our thesis, the Mutah, Tabuk campaigns and the Usama b. Zayd campaign that took place between the Muslims and the Byzantine Empire have been discussed. The way the Muslim-Byzantine wars are treated in orientalist literature, the efforts to construct a military identity for the Prophet have been analyzed, and the compatibility of these interpretations with historical sources has been evaluated. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of early Islamic-Byzantine relations and the political and military role of the Prophet.