Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated - Vol. 1

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Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated - Vol. 1

Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated.jpeg
Author    Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh
Language    English, Indonesian, Hindi
Subject(s)    Islam, Muhammad
Released    June 10, 2010
Pages    67
ISBN    978-0982964309

Book Description

"This illustrated book is for anybody who is interested in finding out about the real face of Islam. This first volume of the illustrated book series is about the life of Muhammad the Islamic prophet, in Mecca before migrating to Medina and is based on Islamic literatures, such as Al-Qur'an, ahadith (collections of Muhammad's sayings and actions), and the earliest Siras (biography of Muhammad). This illustrated book will help people to understand Islam quickly, accurately, and without spending too much time reading the whole Islamic main literatures that are hard to understand. For instance, it is not possible to understand the Qur'an fully without tafsir (interpretation) and Asbab al-Nuzul (circumstances of the revelation) since it has no chronology and the subject matters keep changing with no warning. There are so many ahadith and Sira books that it takes a lot of time to read them all. This illustrated book relies on the earliest Siras, such as the writings of Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham, Ibn Sa'd, Thabari, Waqidi and Halabiya."

Preface from Ali Sina

Muslims are devout believers. They will readily sacrifice their own lives for their faith, but few of them read the Quran to understand it. They recite it in Arabic, a language that a great majority of them do not know, for its alleged reward. But they do not read to understand its meaning.

Great emphasis is made in reciting the Quran correctly and memorizing it, but even those who have memorized it hardly understand it. One reason for this lack of understanding is that for centuries knowledge has been the domain of the ulama, religiously learned elite. Ordinary Muslims are called ummi (unlettered).

But even now that most Muslims can read, they generally don’t read the Quran. Reading the Quran is a real chore. Even though the Quran is hardly read, fewer Muslims read the hadith and the biographies of their prophet. As the result he is unknown to a vast majority of them.

A few years ago a Pakistani teacher told his students that Muhammad’s parents were not Muslims. The students reported that to their imam who was so ignorant that thought the teacher had insulted Muhammad and instigated to put the poor man in prison. As often is the case in Pakistan, hundreds of Muslims rallied and demanded his execution. It is shocking how little Muslims know about their own prophet.

This book is entirely factual. It depicts the biography of Muhammad from his birth to his migration to Medina, and highlights the salient points of his life. It can help both Muslims and non-Muslims to understand a man who without a doubt was the most influential person in history.

The author uses the pen name Ibn Abi Sarh. Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh was a scribe of Muhammad. Being more learned than his prophet he would often suggest rewording some of the verses and corrected his mistakes. The Prophet accepted the corrections and instructed him to change what were allegedly Allah’s revelations.

Ibn Abi Sarh realized that the Quran is not the word of God. Fearing for his life, at the first opportunity he escaped from Medina and once in the safety of Mecca he told everyone what he had witnessed.

Fourteen centuries later, the author of this book is doing the same. He has read the biography of Muhammad, has learned what the majority of Muslims don’t know and through exquisitely drawn illustrations, he is revealing to the world the truth.

To correctly understand Islam we have to read the biography of its author. These books are translated into other languages and are readily available for those who want to know the facts.

This illustrated biography is easy to read and it is entirely based on authentic traditions narrated by the companions of Muhammad and recorded by trustworthy Islamic historians. I hope Muslims and non-Muslims read it and that it will whet their appetite to investigate further and learn more about Islam.

Videos

Biography Vol. 1 Trailer

Who is Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh?

See Also

External Links