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Holy, Holy! By Him Who dominated Waraqah’s soul, O Khadijah, this must be the great spirit that spoke to Moses. Muhammad must be the Prophet of this nation. -Ibn Hisham
Stammering is to speak or say with involvement, pauses, and rapid repetition of syllables and sounds, as from excitement. It is amazing how accurate and meticulous this description is and told hundreds of years before it occurred. The commonly cited birth date of the Prophet is the 12th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, however the earliest sources mention a number of potential dates with no unanimous agreement on any date in particular. 55 When asked why he fasted on Mondays, the Prophet replied, This was the day that I was born, and it was the day that Revelation first came to me. 56 The Prophet was born in the Year of the Elephant i.57 The aim of the course is for learners to advance their understanding of the prophetic biography. The course is designed to challenge students in a relaxed and comfortable environment. By the end of the course you will become more confident t in the Sirah. The Qur’ān was revealed gradually according to the need and demands of the people throughout the Prophet ﷺ life. Hence, a contextualised and accurate understanding of the Qur’ān and Islām is dependent on knowing and understanding the life of Prophet ﷺ. This book gives an account of the major events that took place in the life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ. No lengthy commentaries are given, just the bare facts, which helps the reader to analyse things for themselves.
a b c Raven, Wim (2006). "Sīra and the Qurʾān". Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Brill Academic Publishers. pp.29–49. To truly delve into the life of our noble Prophet , it is appropriate to first outline and discuss his unique characteristics, known as the shamā’il. Learning about the characteristics of the Prophet provides motivation and builds desire to learn more about him; his teachings and morals, the incidents that occurred in his life, and the lessons therein. The course will run in the morning only, and during term time only, your instructor will let you know when the holidays are. The course will run on Thursday 17 th January 2019 10am – 11.30 am. Please register now. He is the final Prophet. Allah Himself states, Muhammad is not the father of any of your men but is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. 10
Values section on the other hand is very special. We created it for only one thing in mind; to create a peaceful corner that features just inspiring and uplifting material, focused around Universal Values to be reflect upon -- at a time never needed more desperately than now Ibn Hisham's 'narrative' additions and his comments are removed from the text and isolated in a separate section (Guillaume at 3 note, pp.691–798), while Ibn Hisham's philological additions are evidently omitted (cf., Guillaume at p.xli). Other scholarly opinions include: 9th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal; 17th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal; 22th of Rabīʿ al-Awwal; and that he was born in Ramadan. There are over ten opinions within the earliest sources of Islam regarding the exact day the Prophet was born, with no clear cut, indisputable certainty. M. R. Ahmad (1992). Al-sīra al-nabawiyya fī ḍawʾ al-maṣādir al-aṣliyya: dirāsa taḥlīliyya (1sted.). Riyadh: King Saud University.xv Due to the extreme heat, it was very abnormal to be outside in the middle of the day. It was thus custom (and Sunnah) to take a midday siesta. It was custom amongst the nobility of the Quraysh to send some of their newborn children to the desert for the first few years of their life. This was done to protect the children by raising them in a purer environment at a time when infant mortality was extremely common. It also conditioned the infants’ bodies to withstand an austere environment and equipped them with a purer, unadulterated form of the Arabic language. The Prophet was one of these children, and he was sent as a newborn to the Banū Saʿd ibn Bakr tribe, who were known for their eloquence and proficiency in the Arabic language. a b Raven, Wim, Sīra and the Qurʾān – Ibn Isḥāq and his editors, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an. Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Vol. 5. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006. p. 29-51. Arabs before Islam were people who possessed particularly distinguished virtues, such as loyalty, boldness, and generosity. Arabia had tribal organizations and literary clubs. They were highly eloquent in Arabic, making poetry an integrated part of their lifestyle. Much of the social, political, and tribal life affairs of Arabia are delivered in poetic forms. Poetry was the broadcasting media at that time.
O King, we were in a state of ignorance and immorality, worshiping idols, eating carrion, and committing injustices; the strong amongst us exploited the weak. Then God sent us a Prophet, one of our people, whose lineage, truthfulness, loyalty, and purity are well known. He called us to worship God alone; he commanded us always to speak the truth, remain accurate to trust, and keep the promise to avoid fornication, perjury, and false witness. Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 767 or 761), another student of al-Zuhrī, who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Prophet. His traditions survived through a number of sources, most notably Ibn Hisham and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari. Al-Tabari (839–923) wrote his History in Arabic: Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-muluk (Eng: History of Prophets and Kings). A 39-volume translation was published by State University of New York as The History of al-Tabari; volumes six to nine concern the life of Muhammad. Khalidi, T. Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Cf., Ibn Ishaq (Guillaume's reconstruction, at pp.165-167) and al-Tabari (SUNY edition, at VI: 107-112). Al-Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh was asked about the appearance of the Prophet , and all she could say was, My son, if you could have seen him, you would have thought that the Sun had risen up. 13 In a perfect juxtaposition, Kaʿb ibn Mālik described him as the Moon, Whenever the Prophet was happy, his face would light up as if it were the full Moon.14 Likewise, Jābir ibn Samurah said, I saw the Prophet walking one night and beside him was a full Moon. By Allah, he was more beautiful in my eyes than the full Moon.15 ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ —once a staunch opposer xi of Islam—said, There was nothing more beloved to me than to stare at the face of the Prophet , and I would never suffice myself from looking at him. However, were you to ask me how to describe him, I could not, as I would lower my gaze out of awe.16 According to Wim Raven, it is often noted that a coherent image of Muhammad cannot be formed from the literature of sīra, whose authenticity and factual value have been questioned on a number of different grounds. [2] He lists the following arguments against the authenticity of sīra, followed here by counter arguments:
The course will cover the following the main areas: The historical Muhammad: his birth; the sacrilegious war; the concept of prophetic infallibility; the prophethood; the migration to Ethiopia; the boycott; the migration to Madina; the three major battles: Badr, Uhud and Khandaq; Muhammad’s relationship with the Jews, the treaty of al-Hudaybiayh and the conquest of Makka This course will focus primarily on the key incidents in the Prophet’s life and reflect on his life in terms of his character, role and relationship in society and how his community perceived him both before and after prophethood. Al-ʿArab al-Bā’idah are extinct. They are the earliest civilisation of humanity in the Arabian Peninsula. They existed before the land was even referred to as Arabia. The Qur’an references them when relaying the stories of ʿĀd and Thamūd. 35 Modern archaeological evidence suggests that Thamūd flourished circa 3,000–5,000 BC. The historian Ibn Khaldūn stated that these peoples fled from the ancient city of Babylonia and settled in the area now known as Arabia.36 The Prophet had many names, some given to him by Allah and some by his Companions. While names given by human beings are of benefit, the names given by Allah provide the primary base upon which we can learn about him . The Prophet said, I have a number of names: I am Muhammad; I am Aḥmad; I am al-Māḥī—the one by whom Allah erases disbelief; I am al-Ḥāshir—the one after whom people will be resurrected; I am al-ʿĀqib—the one after whom there will be no Prophet; I am The Prophet of Mercy; I am The Prophet of Repentance; I am al-Muqaffā—the one who completes a long chain [of Prophets]; and I am the Prophet of Malāḥim (Trials). 4It is from the Sunnah—the custom—of Allah to send down Prophets and Messengers with the most perfect characteristics, both inner and outer. The Prophets not only had beautiful characteristics and mannerisms, but they were all handsome in nature. Yūsuf alone was said to have had half of all beauty. 11 The predominant view amongst scholarship is that this refers to half of the beauty of mankind in its entirety. There is, however, another scholarly opinion that states that this refers to half of the beauty of our Prophet Muhammad .12 Studying the sīrah is a marker for one’s relationship with the Prophet as well as the primary way to increase one’s love for him . We cannot claim to love someone or something yet know very little about them. A sign of loving someone is to yearn to know more about them. Neglecting the sīrah of our beloved Prophet is therefore a strong indication of an absence of love for him. Studying the life of the Prophet in turn increases one’s love for him, producing a cycle of love and learning; the more we study, the more we love. The above list of names given to the Prophet are descriptive in nature, functioning more as adjectives. The only two proper nouns by which Allah names the Prophet are: Muhammad and Aḥmad. The name Muhammad is mentioned in the Qur’an four times, 6 and the name Aḥmad is mentioned once, which was via the tongue of Jesus Christ .7 Both Aḥmad and Muhammad are derived from the root word ḥamd. The closest English equivalent to the word ḥamd is praise. There is, however, a distinction to be made between ḥamd and praise. Ḥamd is more accurately defined as a combination of thanks ( shukr) and praise ( madḥ). Being thankful to someone does not necessitate praise, and vice versa. For example, if somebody lends you money, you thank them, but may not necessarily praise them. Likewise, you may praise a talented athlete, but you are not thanking them per se. Ḥamd is given to an entity irrespective of what has been done to you. When we say " alḥamdulillāh", it is because Allah is inherently worthy of being praised; even if we did not exist, He would still be worthy of praise . Hāshim’s name was ʿAmr, but he would grind ( hashama) barley for the Hajj pilgrims and thus became known as Hāshim (The Grinder) due to his generosity. After a deadly drought, he was responsible for the economic success of the Quraysh after founding the idea of the bi-yearly trade routes to Rome in the summer, and Yemen in the winter. The Qur’an references this in Sūrah Quraysh, For [the favour of] making the Quraysh secure—secure in their trading caravan [to Yemen] in the winter and [Syria] in the summer—let them worship the Lord of this Sacred House, Who fed them against hunger and made them secure against fear. 50 Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. c. 737), a central figure in sīra literature, who collected both ahadith and akhbār. His akhbār also contain chains of transmissions, or isnad. He was sponsored by the Umayyad court and asked to write two books, one on genealogy and another on maghāzī. The first was canceled and the one about maghāzī is either not extant or has never been written.
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