The Battle of Muʾtah in Byzantine and Eastern Christian Accounts

A Comparative Study in light of Islamic Accounts

Abstract

The Battle of Mu'tah has received attention among historians of the Prophet's biography (Sira) due to its special importance in transforming the relationship between the early Muslim state in Medina and the Byzantine Empire into a new political and military reality. However, Christian historians needed more time to comprehend the context and significance of this battle in the course of Muslim-Byzantine relations until "Theophanes the Confessor," the most notable Byzantian historian who tackled the early Islamic-Byzantine relations, wrote a detailed account about it a century and half after. Though important this late account is, it raises three fundamental questions. The first question is how Christian historians dealt with the initial military clash between Muslims and Byzantines until the Byzantine narrative was formed, as represented in Theophanes the Confessor's account. The second question investigates the aspects of agreement and areas of disagreements between this account its Islamic counterpart which fully explained it in detail. The primary sources of the Byzantine accounts represent another significant issue, as they were contemporary to this battle in terms of chronology, geography, and thematic relevance. However, the loss of some of some of these sources and the fragmentary nature of the remaining others make their examination a serious challenge, which the present study has to address by re-evaluating those chronicles written since the 7th century CE / 1st century AH.