Over the years, numerous biographies have been written about the Prophet Muhammad and have been open to questions, analysis and debate. This is due to the different approaches and perspectives held by different people. The two main approaches are Emic (insider's point of view) and Etic (outsider's point of view), where Emic is "faith sensitive" and Etic is a "critical approach", as described by Clinton Bennett. In this essay I will discuss Bennett's theory of the sensitive and critical approach to faith when studying religion. Next I will explore the debates started by the Emic and Etic sources and what they say about the biographies written about the Prophet Muhammad. The main objective is to focus on two critical areas indicated by Sharifi and Khan, which have been the subject of debate in relation to academic studies on the Prophet Muhammad. These topics will be analyzed and explained through the use of Western biographies taking into consideration good and bad practices. Studying a combination of Bennett's theory and phenomenology theory will help us understand whether there is a way to study religion without debate. Furthermore, it will also demonstrate how religion has been studied over the years and find a way in which religion can be studied through both approaches. First, we will look at Bennett's theory and what he means when he talks about sensitive and critical faith. approach when studying religion. Bennett's theory suggests that to study religions one must take a look at the religion, for example in this essay how to study the religion of Islam, therefore, he says to look at Islam from more than an internal approach but also others Critical approaches must be focused on much more...... middle of paper ...... and on the Prophet Muhammad in general. Works Cited Armstrong, K. (1991) Muhammad: A Western Attempt To Understand Islam, London: Victor Gollancz. Bennett , C. (2010) Studying Islam: the critical issues. London: ContinuumCox, J.L. (2010) An introduction to the phenomenology of religion. London: ContinuumKhan, A.H. (1978) “Muhammad as Object and Subject.” Studies in Religion, 7:4, pp. 275-288, London: Sage.Rippin, A. (1990) Muslims, Volume 1. The Formative Period. London: Routledge.Sharifi, H. (1986) 'A Muslim Assessment of Books on the Life of the Prophet Muhammad' in A.Ashraf, (ed.) Resources for Teaching Islam in British Schools, pp. 25-43. Cambridge: The Islamic Academy. Watt, W. M. (1961). Muhammad: prophet and statesman. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Watt, W. M. (1956).Muhammad A Medinah. Oxford: Oxford University Press