This book aims to demonstrate that the accounts that feature Muammads grandfather in Ibn Ishaqs Sra are the product of narrative engineering. Through a narrative sequence in which Abd al-Muttalib is the hero, several intriguing episodes follow one another in a causal manner and lead to the birth of a future prophet. Articulated with a historical anthropology, the narrative analysis reveals that the Sra is the heir to the royal literature of the ancient Near East. Using motifs and themes from the culture of the Fertile Crescent, the Sra makes Abd al-Muttalib a royal figure in the service of legitimising the Abbasid dynasty, heir par excellence to Ishmael and restorer of the Abrahamic covenant.

Cet ouvrage entend dmontrer que les rcits qui mettent en scne le grand-pre de Muammad dans la Sra dIbn Ishaq sont le produit dune ingnierie narrative. travers une squence narrative dont Abd al-Muttalib est le hros, plusieurs pisodes intriguants senchainent dune manire causale et aboutissent la naissance dun futur prophte. Articule une anthropologie historique, lanalyse narrative rvle que la Sra est lhritire de la littrature royale du Proche-Orient ancien. partir de motifs et de thmatiques issus de la culture du croissant fertile, la Sra fait de Abd al-Muttalib une figure royale au service de la lgitimation de la dynastie abbasside, hritier par excellence dIsmal et restaurateur de lalliance abrahamique.