MUHAMMAD AS A HISTORICAL FIGURE IN THE RUSSIAN SCIENCE OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY (on the example of “Essays …” by M.N. Petrov)
Authors: Ahmadiev Farit N. , Vostrikov Igor V. , Sharafutdinov Gennadiy R. 
Published: July 2023

Purpose. To consider the experience of the first in the Russian science of universal history invoking the topic of the Islamic world formation in Arabia at the beginning of the VII century.

The article presents the results of studying the classic problem for historical science – the role of personality in history. In our case, the Prophet Muhammad acts as such a character in the context of the “prophet – hero”, as he is considered by some European historians in the middle of the XIX century (T. Carlyle, V. Irving). In contrast, in European orientalism, another opinion is formed about the historical role of the Prophet Muhammad. Its essence lies in complete denial of recognizing for this character any significant role in world history. At best, he is recognized for the merit of creating the Arab state built on new Islamic foundations (A. Sprenger). The purpose of our study is to determine the extent of scientific independence in assessment carried out by the domestic researcher M.N. Petrov, given by him to the Prophet Muhammad. This assessment was made by the author in the book “Essays from Universal History”, published in 1868, i.e. much later than the mentioned studies of European authors. It is obvious to us that M.N. Petrov, relying, of course, on European orientalism, managed to make a number of completely independent conclusions, most importantly, for the first time to include the character of Muhammad in a number of historical personalities in the Russian science of universal history. This is perhaps the obvious result of our research.

Materials and methods. The peculiarity in the topic of Islam history for the Russian science of universal history at the beginning of the second half of the XIX century is almost complete absence of domestic developments. This explains why the Russian authors studied actively the experience of European orientalism in the first half – middle of the XIX century, which already had a number of first-class works. In compliance with this, the article actively uses the works of Bokle, Sprenger, Carlyle, etc. as “attracted” material. The research methods are descriptive, comparative-historiographical and biographical ones.

In his “Essay …” M.N. Petrov refers to the experience of European orientalism, mainly to the work of the German historian Sprenger “The Life and Teachings of Muhammad”. But in the “Essay …” the works of other European historians are also mentioned: Renan, Saint-Hilaire, Weyl and others. At the same time, M.N. Petrov’s “Essay…” is not at all a historiographical review of European orientalism on the topic of Islam history.

Scientific novelty. This is the first example of invoking the beginning of Islamic studies in the Russian historical science with the involvement of extensive historiographical material.

This is an independent research work, which largely complements and clarifies the opinion of European historians. By “synthesizing the methods of history, psychology and natural science,” the Russian historian leads his reader to understand the decisive role of the natural and climatic conditions of Arabia in the formation of a special inner world of the Arabs, the main feature of which is a natural tendency to monotheism and fatalism.

Study results. The results of the study are, in our opinion, that the “Essay …” by M.N. Petrov, being one of the first studies of the biographical genre in Russian medieval studies of the beginning of the second half of the XIX century, laid the foundation for a very popular method later, which is based on the study of the “biographical” topic in the Russian science of history. This gives the opportunity to create a more complete picture of the Russian historiography history by involving in its circulation “forgotten” and “half-forgotten” works of Russian researchers of the XIX century.

In the center of our attention was one of the historical “Essays” of Kharkov University Professor, Mikhail Nazarovich Petrov (1826-1887). In it, he tells about the beginning of the Islamic world formation in Arabia, the formation of an Islamic community, transformation of Muhammad, an “ordinary Quraysh merchant,” into a prophet of the new faith. The author emphasizes that for centuries this figure was regarded as a kind of “supernatural being” and only since the middle of the XIX century through the efforts of European orientalism, Muhammad turns into a real historical person. Turning to the history of the early Islam and the biography of the prophet, the Kharkov historian, in fact, becomes the discoverer of this topic for the Russian reader.

The Russian historian M.N. Petrov managed to make a number of independent generalizations in his biographical “Essay …” about the personality of Muhammad and “include” the character of the Prophet Muhammad and the history of Islam in the research field of the Russian science of universal history.

Conclusions. Of particular interest is the author’s attempt to interpret how an “ordinary Quraysh merchant” managed to go from an ordinary person to a prophet recognized by all the Arabs. In this case, the author touches upon the topic of “hero” and “the heroic in history”, which is relevant for European historical science in the middle of the XIX century, posed by the English historian Carlyle, who referred Muhammad to the “prophets-heroes”. Petrov, following Sprenger, does not agree with this opinion and consistently pursues the idea of Muhammad’s turning from a prophet at the time of Islam establishment into a politician and a ruler who lost his “prophetic sincerity” and became a “bloodthirsty despot” and “power lover”, i.e. the idea of Muhammad’s evolution into an “antihero”.