Muhammad, as we all know, is the prophet of Islam who established his new, monotheistic religion among the tribes of Arabia in the seventh century CE. From one vantage point the religion known as Islam is an evolution, culmination or perfection of expression regarding the One essence that is also known as the Real.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. The reliability of sources remain a thorny question in Islam, where even the Quran is not perfectly preserved as Muslims and Allah claim.

Based on the sira, the eighth- and ninth-century Arabic biographies that recount numerous events in the prophet’s life, it contains original English translations of many important passages that reveal the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life. Based on the sira, the eighth- and ninth-century Arabic biographies that recount numerous events in the Prophet's life, it contains original English translations of many important passages that reveal the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life. 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. Martin Ling overlooks this fact and instead presents you with plenty of fanciful stories regarding Muhammad during his early years.

For Lings himself, however, the most important event that occurred while he was at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of the René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. It's a reminder of the sacrifices made by Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and his companions, and most of all to be in constant gratitude for the gift that Allah has bestowed on the Ummah. Muhammad’s prophecy was first acknowledged by Bahira, a Christian monk, when he was only nine years of age and was following a caravan. In 1990, after the book had attracted the attention of Azhar University, Lings received a decoration from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.The reading by Sean Barrett, although it loses some of the intricate detail, as one would expect from an abridged version, is fluent, lucid and retains one's attention throughout. In 1938 Lings went to Basle to make Schuon's acquaintance and he remained Frithjof Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life.

He has adopted a style which is at once extremely readable and reflects both the simplicity and grandeur of the story. When the clans in his own tribe of Quraysh could not come to terms on who should be privileged to carry the sacred black stone inside Kabah, he intervened with an ingenious plan which was acceptable to all. Therefore, it must be understood that his rendering of the Prophet's (PBUH) narrative was a work of piety, and not necessarily one of historical scholarship. Do not forget how he freed some enslaved people and do not forget the mercy he showed towards some of his bitter rivals, after he had conquered Mecca.

With the magic of his pen, the author makes all the historical personalities of his book come alive… The skill of narration is enhanced throughout the book with the most regal and dignified English, inspiring the sense of majestic grandeur essential for any literary work dealing with Divine and Eternal Truths. This is my second read of Lings’ classic biography, and after reading several other works from the same author, it becomes obvious how the universal essence which he sees also shines through in how he views the life of the Prophet (s. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources" is a great start for understanding the narratives that have inspired Muslims since the eighth century. Adil Salahi references his various resources and (as far as I've found), doesn't once use the primary dubious source that Martin Lings used in his book.