Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

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In the end it might not be so important that this or that prophet did not actually do something that religious traditions mention. Martin Lings' award winning book is now available on audio as an abridged 6-hour spoken word album (on 5 CDs), read by well-known narrator Sean Barrett (famous for his TV documentary voice-overs, the BBC World Service and many other spoken word titles). I instead recommend Karen Armstrong's book on Muhammad that focuses more on the message and philosophy of Muhammad and its revolutionary nature. Like a country that revisits the nation's history during independence day, I revisit his life to learn and to strengthen my connection with him. I originally read this book as a teenager and really struggled with the portrayal of Muhammad pbuh in some chapters of this book.

The first blood was shed in the cause of Islam on that day, when Sa’d of Zuhrah struck and wounded one of the disbelievers with the jaw bone of a camel. I certainly think this book would be more appealing to Muslims who know the alternate versions of accounts than it would be to non-Muslims trying to find out about the Prophet ﷺ. The story is easy to follow partly because of Barrett's clear voice but mostly because of the simplicity of the narrative.After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. Don't read the book because there are too many major mistakes but listen to the amazing lectures based on the book by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. Though written in an archaic style, it is comparatively new, having published for the first time in 1983.

But I hope this is enough to remind you of what you thought of Muhammad and Islam after reading this.This comes close to The Sealed Nectar by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, which is a personal favourite of mine. The author Martin Lings was a Muslim convert and Arabic speaker who spent formative years in Cairo and earned a Ph. He is best known as the author of a very popular and positively reviewed biography, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, first published in 1983 and still in print. Lings illustrates these examples from the start of Islam, which he states to be founded “on the basis of the ritual purification and prayer” (47) through the establishment of the ideal community at Medina.

Acclaimed worldwide as the definitive biography of the Prophet Muhammad in the English language, Martin Lings’ Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources is unlike any other. Asma Asfaruddin said the book is a rare example of "a gift of narration wedded to impeccable scholarship". Muhammad’s legacy consisted primarily in knitting the clans and tribes together into a homogeneous society. Based on Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries, of which some important passages are translated here for the first time, it owes the freshness and directness of its approach to the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life. You also noticed how the incident of the satanic verses was altogether omitted, as if it was not a significant event in Islam's history.The function of the Qur'an and by extension its example in the life of Muhammad was to “re-awaken in man his primeval sense of wonderment which, with the passage of time had become dimmed or misdirected. This biography of Muhammad was written in 1983 and received prizes from governments in Pakistan and Egypt, as well as international acclaim from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. When companions sold arms and armours, Muhammad said "a body of my people will not cease to fight for the truth until the coming forth of the Antichrist​"​ (p 329). The late Dr Martin Lings, formerly Keeper of Oriental Manuscript in the British Museum and the British Library, is the author of three works on Islamic mysticism, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century, What is Sufism? For Muslims, the book is an eloquently written narrative of the Prophet(PBUH) which provides chronology and context for the revelation of the the Holy Qur'an and the several important hadiths.

The book requires some focus in the beginning as the reader will encounter many characters but then it will be easy once you have focused already.Jewish scholars also did the same, which shows the common thread of ecclesiastical etiquette that binds the three religions. Ashamed I haven't read it sooner, but it's been a pleasure to read it now during this blessed month. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources" is a great start for understanding the narratives that have inspired Muslims since the eighth century. Unlike most of the positive reviews that you'll see, this isn't a review of Martin Lings nor is it a review of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. Lings remains faithful to the classic biographies of the Prophet, dating back to the times of the companions, and incorporates Qur’an verses and Hadith seamlessly into his narrative.