Chapter 1 : Reconstructing The Prophet's Biography Flashcards
What is the significance of the Seerah
- Studying the life of Prophet Muhammad is important for both Muslims and Non Muslims alike
For Non Muslims
- He is the founder of one of the world’s major religion with over 1.5 billion adherents
- Michael Hart ( Astrophysicist, Author and Researcher ) has a book titled “ The 100 : A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History “ in which he ranks The Prophet as number 1 and mentions the following about The Prophet :-
” My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels … Of humble origins, Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world’s great religions and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, 13 centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The majority of the persons in this book had the advantage of being born and raised in centers of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal nations. Muhammad, however was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca in Southern Arabia, at that time a backward area of the world far from the centers of trade, art and learning “
- Additionally, Mahatma Gandhi said the following about The Prophet :-
” I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self effacement of the The Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. “
- Edward Gibbon ( English Historian ) also said the following of Prophet Muhammad :-
” The greatest success of Muhammad’s life was affected by sheer moral force without the stroke of a sword. “
For Muslims
- Studying the life of The Prophet is an essential prerequisite to understanding the message of the Quran because The Prophet is the primary addressee of revelation
- The Seerah gives the Quran context and serves as the colourful backdrop of the Quranic Narrative
- For Muslims, studying the life of The Prophet is to study the life of the most beloved Servant of God, a man who was the embodiment of human perfection
- There are > 50 verses in the Quran where God commands us to follow the example of The Prophet :-
” In The Messenger of Allah there is certainly for you a good exemplar, for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah greatly “
- Al Quran ( 33 : 21 )
” Certainly Allah conferred ( His ) favoure upon the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His signs and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error. “
- Al Quran ( 3 : 164 )
- Prophets of the past gave the glad tidings of the advent of The Final Messenger of God
- The Quran quotes Jesus as saying :-
” And [ Mention ] when Jesus, Son of Mary said ‘ O Children of Israel, Indeed I am the Messenger of God to you confirming what came before me of The Torah and bringing good tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad ‘. But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said ‘’ This is obvious magic ‘. “
- Al Quran ( 61 : 6 )
-Many of The Prophets hoped to receive the honour of having the Final Messenger of God be from their progeny
- This honour was conferred upon Abraham and Ismail :-
” I am the [ Fulfillment of the ] prayer of Abraham which he recited while raising the foundations of the House ‘ Our Lord, raise amongs them an apostle from among them, who should recite to them Your Signs and teach them The Book and Wisdom and Purify them … ‘ “
- Tabaqaat Al Kubra by Ibn Sa’ad ( Volume 1, Page 192 )
Opinions of Non Muslims on The Prophet
- Michael Hart ( Astrophysicist, Author and Researcher )
” My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels … Of humble origins, Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world’s great religions and became an immensely effective political leader. Today, 13 centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive. The majority of the persons in this book had the advantage of being born and raised in centres of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal nations. Muhammad, however was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca in Southern Arabia, at that time a backward area of the world far from the centers of trade, art and learning “
- The 100 : A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
2) Edward Gibbon [ One of The Greatest English Historian of His Time ]
” The greatest success of Muhammad’s life was affected by sheer moral force without the stroke of a sword. “
- History of The Saracen Empire
3) Alphonse de Lamartine [ French Poet, Writer and Politician
” If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad ? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties but millions of men in one third of the then inhabited world and more than that he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls … His forbearance in victory, his ambition which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire, his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death – all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was two fold - The Unity of God and the immateriality of God, the former telling what God is while the latter telling what God is not. The one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with the words. Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he. “
- Translation from Histoire de la Turquie [ 1854 ]
4) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
” I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self effacement of the The Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. “
- Young India [ 1928, Volume X ]
What is the meaning of Seerah
- The Seerah represents one of the most important disciplines in the Islamic Tradition
- The term “ Seerah “ comes from the word “ Sayr “ which literally means “ To Travel “ :-
” Say ‘ Travel trough the land then observe how was the end of the deniers ‘ .”
- Al Quran ( 6 : 11 )
- Since studying the life of a person is to essentially “ Travel “ in their shoes, the Arabs employed this word to refer to a person’s biography or life story
- Since the life of The Prophet is of such great importance, when you say Seerah, it is assumed that you are referring to the most important biography which is the Biography of The Prophet
What are the earliest sources of the Seerah
- The traditional view among historians is that Urwah Ibn Al Zubayr ( Death - 92 AH ) was the first to record events relating to The Life of The Prophet in his written correspondences with Umayyad Caliphs
- Other scholars like Ibn Sa’ad in his “ Tabaqaat “ states that Aban Ibn Uthman ( Death - 105 AH ) specialized in the military campaigns of The Prophet and wrote a small booklet on the subject ( His reports are relied upon by the likes of Malib Ibn Anas, Tabari, etc )
- However, Agha Buzurg Al Tehrani ( Death - 1970 ) contends that the first to record the events and military expeditions of The Prophet was Ubaydullah Ibn Abi Raafi who was the son nof a servant of The Prophet ( Al - Dharia Ila Tasanif Al Shia, Volume 17, Page 153 )
- He recorded aspects of the Seerah during the caliphate of Imam Ali
- Unfortunately, none of the 1st century sources on the Seerah survived
- The most important biography of The Prophet written in the 2nd century was the Seerah of Ibn Ishaaq
- Muhammad Ibn Ishaaq was born in 85 AH and passed in 150 AH
- He was born in Medina and is amongst the 2nd Generation Muslims
- Ibn Ishaaq gathered biographical information primarily from descendants of the companions and the residents of Medina
- He organized the biographical data in chronological order and cited the chains of transmission when reporting events
- It was the most comprehensive biography written until that period
- It spans 15 volumes and is divided into 3 sections :-
i) The Beginning ( From Adam to Prophet )
ii) The Prophetic Mission ( The Makkan Period )
iii) The Medini Period - There are certain points to consider regarding the Seerah of Ibn Ishaq
- He wrote his book during the beginning of the Abbasid Dynasty ( Winston Churchill once said that History is Written by The Victors ) :-
1) Ruling Governments almost always have a tendency to control information ( Governments control Populations by controlling Information / Media )
2) So who’s history is this actually ? ( The Ruler or The Ruled, The Conqueror or the Conquered)
3) Governments will always censor or make omissions to assert control and dominate the narrative - He was a contemporary ( Living at the same time ) of Imam Al Sadiq but does not use him as a source for the Biography of The Prophet :-
1) Why would he not spend some if not all his time or interview someone who has a direct lineage with The Prophet - These considerations has to be kept in mind when taking into consideration the authenticity and reliability of this Seerah
- Unfortunately, his biography in the original is now lost or not known to have survived
- In the 3rd Century, Abdul Al Malik Ibn Hisham ( Death - 218 AH ) summarized the work of Ibn Ishaaq
- He removed the history of previous prophets and focused only on the life of The Prophet
- Ibn Hisham explains in the preface of the work, the criteria by which he made his choice from the original work of Ibn Ishaq
- Accordingly, Ibn Hisham omits stories from Seerah that contain no mention of Prophet Muhammad, certain poems that were unknown to expert poets and offensive passages that could offend certain readers
- One example of an omission that accommodates the Abbasids is the fact that Ibn Hisham does not mention Al Abbas, the Uncle of The Prophet as one of the captives during the Battle of Badr
- Ibn Hisham also makes no mention of the Tradition of the House ( Hadith Yam Al Dar - The Day of Invitation in The Home ) ( It is obvious why this is not mentioned as the current rulers are the Abbasids and not from the family of the Ali, if it was mentioned then Ibn Hisham would be in trouble )
What are the challenges that we face when trying to reconstruct The Prophet’s Biography
1) Caliphs after the death of The Prophet imposed a ban on written hadith. Thus for nearly a century, there was no written record of hadith except those who kept personal records
2) Due to this ban, those who wished to write the biography of The Prophet had to rely on the oral transmission of 2nd Generation Muslims
3) Those who came to power after The Prophet especially The Umayyads had a vested interest in defaming The Prophet
4) Mass fabrications of Prophetic Traditions ( Many of the Umayyads were drunkards, fornicators, etc and so, they will try to portray The Prophet in a negative light to justify their own moral failures leading to mass fabrications of hadith of The Prophet )
What are the best sources used to reconstruct an authentic Seerah of The Prophet
1) The Holy Quran
- The Quran represents 23 years of The Prophets Life
- There are even some verses that refer to his childhood and upbringing
- Everything mentioned in the books of Seerah must conform to the word of God especially the verses that state :-
” And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character “
- Al Quran ( 68 : 4 )
” And we have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds “
- Al Quran ( 21 : 107 )
- There are a couple of examples of hadiths which are inconsistent with Quranic description of The Prophet’s Exalted Character :-
” God’s Messenger was lying in the bed in my apartment with his thigh uncovered and Abu Bakr sought permission to enter. It was given to him and he conversed in the same very state ( The Prophet’s thigh uncovered ). Then Umar sought permission for entering and it was given to him and he conversed in that very state. Then Uthman sought permission to enter. God’s Messenger sat down and he set right his clothes. Muhammad ( One of the narrators ) said I do not say it happened on the same day. He ( Uthman ) then entered and conversed and as he went out, Aisha said ‘ Abu Bakr entered and you did not stir and did not observe much care ( In arranging your clothes ), then Umar entered and you did not stir and did not arrange your clothes, then Uthman entered and you got up and se your clothes right ‘. So The Prophet said should i not show modesty to one whom even the Angels show modesty .”
- Sahih Muslim
Hudhayfa narrates : “ The Prophet and I walked until we reached the dumps of some people. He stood, as any one of you stands, behind a wall and urinated. I went away but he beckoned me to come. So I approached him and stood near his back until he finished .”
- Sahih Al Bukhari
2) Traditions of The Ahlul Bayt
- Traditions about The Prophet serve as snapshots of The Prophet’s Life
- The most reliable source of information about The Prophet after The Quran is his Ahlul Bayt
- This is the only group of people who have been purified and sactified according to the Quran
- Imam Ali narrates :-
” Certainly, you knew my position of close kinship and special relationship with The Prophet of God. He placed me in his lap and when I was an infant, he used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, bring his body close to mine and make me smell his fragrance. He used o chew something and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking nor wrongdoing in any act .”
- Nahjul Balagha ( Sermon 192 )
3) Early Biographical Sources such as Ibn Hisham’s Seerah + Historical Accounts of Companions, etc
4) The Poetry of Abu Talib
- Imam Ali says the following regarding the poetry of his father Abu Talib :-
” Learn it and teach it to your children for he ( Abu Talib ) was upon the religion of God and within it ( His poetry ) is abundant knowledge .”
