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In the late sixteenth-century, the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (r. 1574-1595) commissioned the illustration of the Siyer-i Nebi, a Turkish epic about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The illustrated version was completed in 1595 and contains 814 miniatures like the one shown here. This image shows the Prophet Muhammad in the time of the utopian Medinan ummah standing atop a minbar (pulpit) and delivering a sermon to a congregation of Muslims. It emphasizes the sacral nature of Muhammad’s authority, his successful establishment of the ummah in Medina, and his transformation of the formerly pagan society of the Hijāz into a Godly community of believers.

Mourning the Prophet Muhammad’s Death, 632 CE.

Name: Muhammad on Minbar (pulpit) Addressing the Ummah in Medina

Material: JPEG image (original: gouache on paper)

Size: 748 x 1200 pixels

Date: late 16th century

Place of Origin: Ottoman Empire (Anatolia)

Location: University of Chicago

Source and Registration#: Professor John E. Woods

John Woods

Professor of Iranian and Central Asian History, and of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

Alexander Barna

Outreach Coordinator, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago