The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

In all the major faiths, the life and the example of the founder or prophet of a faith becomes the role model for the believer. Just as the teachings and examples of Jesus and the Buddha are pivotal in the lives of Christians and Buddhists, the life of Muhammad is the basis for the Islamic way of life. A Muslim follows the Sunnah, or example of the Prophet, who was also referred to as, the walking Quran Therefore, no matter what Islamic country one visits, be it Indonesia or Nigeria, one immediately understands the way everything is done in that particular culture because behavior is modeled on the same person–the Prophet Muhammad. This authentic and accurate biography (which, appropriately from the Muslim point of view, makes no attempt to portray either the Prophet or his companions) is taken from the translation of the ninth-century CE Sirat Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq and from the manuscript being prepared from all the earliest Arabic sources by Dr. Martin Lings for his monumental English masterpiece. (According to those sources, the text was an overnight bestseller, which was translated into 17 different languages.) Although written for Muslim children, it has found its greatest audience among adults, who appreciate the simple presentation. It is always important to read what people of a faith say they believe (rather than what some outside scholar or person with another agenda might write), because that is what actually drives their lives. This book has been used as a classroom text for university World Religion courses in the U.S.A., giving students a quick and accurate account of this essential component of the Islamic faith.