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Introduction to the First Edition

I CANNOT REMEMBER how old I was when I completed the first book I read which gave a proper history of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But I was probably 12, or a little younger, when my Arabic teacher, Mr Muhammad al-Jābī, gave me a book on the Prophet’s character as a prize for being top of the class in Arabic. Although I read the book at that time, I confess I did not understand it well. Maybe its superb literary style, or its philosophical outlook, was a little too hard for me. Yet I treasured the book and kept referring to it now and then, using it to much advantage eventually.

My first job after graduation was with the Syrian Radio in Damascus. I was still receiving training when the post of Controller was given to a man with a clear vision of what a radio station being monitored in neighbouring countries should be broadcasting. In his brief spell at the post, he changed the whole outlook of Syrian Radio and gave unwavering encouragement to young talent. It took him only a few minutes to accept my proposal to write the Life of the Prophet in the form of a radio play, to be serialized in thirty 15-minute episodes. That proposal might have reflected a young man’s enthusiasm rather than a well-considered project. I praise the Almighty for the success of that first venture in writing about the Prophet. Those two experiences must have left a profound influence on me so as to herald a strong relationship with the events of that remarkable and unique period in the history of mankind when the Prophet moulded the first Muslim community and established the first Islamic state.

There was a period of time, during my early years in England, when I could not put down the Life of the Prophet by Ibn Hishām. I do not recall how many times I read that invaluable book, written over a thousand years ago, but I kept reading it again and again, feeling that each time I could learn something new. I cannot adequately describe its great appeal to me. I could see the events it related taking place in front of me. Those were the events of a period with great and everlasting influence on the area which later came to be known as the Muslim World, and indeed on the world at large. As I pictured those events, I was not a passive spectator. On the contrary, I experienced a keen sense of belonging to that community which did not only make history while it lived, but also determined the course history would follow for centuries to come.

I later diversified my sources as I tried to improve my understanding of the first generation of Muslims. My readings were instrumental in shaping my thoughts and gave me numerous ideas for my future journalistic work. There is always an example to follow, an attitude to adopt or a lesson to learn from the Prophet. Whether you are a Muslim or not, a careful study of his blessed life will enable you to have a much better understanding of Islam. Muslims find such studies immensely helpful in working out their approach to life. It should be remembered that Muslims are required to share their knowledge with others. They are duty-bound to make the faith of Islam known to non-Muslims. If they want to fulfil their duty properly, they need to have a keen insight into the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It was in April 1981 that my column ‘Islam in Perspective’ made its first appearance in Arab News, a Saudi daily paper. In those early days, with limited space at my disposal, I felt it was useful to include certain highlights from the Prophet’s history. These started as no more than brief notes which I hoped would introduce the Prophet of Islam to non-Muslim readers. The early response to that column was beyond my wildest dreams. Letters received by the Editor, and personal comments made to me and my colleagues, were highly encouraging. Within a few months, I decided to write the whole history of the Prophet. I began to serialize that history, attending to details and commenting on events. It took four years and a total of 200 episodes to complete. Needless to say, I had to modify my approach as the work progressed. In doing so, I benefited from comments which I regularly received from my readers. This meant, however, that there was a marked difference between early chapters and later ones. There was a need to rewrite the early part and to add a few chapters which could not have been included in the serialized form. I thought it would not be long before I could complete those chapters and have the book published. But it is a common human failing that sights are set higher than abilities. What with a total change of my circumstances, and the heavy demands on my time from different sources, a delay was inevitable. However, I praise the Almighty for enabling me to complete this work and put it in the hands of my readers.

Writing the history of the Prophet is different from anything else a writer can attempt. It is a special experience which can be shared by those who are fortunate enough to undertake this task. No other piece of work which I have attempted at any time in my life has given me similar pleasure and satisfaction. There is something in this blessed history which one can clearly perceive, although one cannot properly identify it. It imparts a blessing to one’s life which enables one to enjoy most, if not all, of one’s activities. The result is that your desire to have your work completed and published is accompanied by an opposite desire that the work continues indefinitely so that you continue to enjoy its blessing.

The slow progress of this work in its original serialized form has helped me understand certain aspects of the Islamic faith which are often overlooked. These are bound to have a profound influence on the thinking of the Islamic revivalist movement if they are properly studied. I have attempted to share these with my readers, in as much as the line I have followed in relating this history allows. What I can say in this introductory note is that many Muslim countries would have been spared much of the internal political conflict in which advocates of Islam were involved, had the sīrah (i.e. the Prophet’s personal and public history) been better studied and understood by Muslims generally. To say that Islam dislikes all types of war and approves of it only as a last resort, when the very existence of Islam or its basic principles are threatened, is no more than a statement of basic facts. Islam has an even greater dislike of armed conflict, and indeed of all types of strife within its home base or in populated areas. This can be clearly seen in several main events, such as the emigration to Abyssinia and the peace agreement at al-Ḥudaybiyah. Both are related in detail in this book.

Relations between Europe and Islam have always been the opposite of what we generally associate with good neighbourliness. Even today, with the principles of democracy firmly enshrined in Europe, as well as a broad-minded understanding of human rights, there remains a sense of mistrust underlining these relations. While long drawn-out conflicts such as the Crusades and the hostility between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the European imperialism in wide areas of the Muslim World, are bound to leave lingering prejudices, increased contacts between the East and the West, brought about by the jet age, should have been enough to remove those traces and build a solid friendly relationship. Instead we find that the mistrust not only persists, but also widens in scope so as to include the whole of Europe and North America on one side and the whole Muslim World on the other. As I worked on this book, I became increasingly aware that perhaps the main reason for this mistrust has been a lingering misunderstanding of Islam by the West. Over the years, this misunderstanding has been sustained by Orientalists whose approach in their study of Islam was far from objective. Unfortunately, it is easy to quote out of context, or to utilize a particular aspect of a historical event, in order to misrepresent a great religion and a human philosophy. This has been characteristic of numerous writings on Islam by Western authors. When such writings happen to touch on the Prophet personally, Muslims find them greatly offensive and totally indefensible.

My long stay in England, stretching over 22 years, has given me a feeling that the West’s misunderstanding of Islam is due to ignorance rather than prejudice. I have met many people who had the chance to know the people of the Middle East at close range, and consequently to know about Islam. Invariably, these people are ready to express their profound respect for the Islamic faith. It is unfortunate that nowadays, we in the Middle East, and in the Muslim World generally, have a very good chance of getting to know the West and its culture, but seem to be content with this one-way traffic. There is little serious attempt to redress the balance so that we can be better understood in the West. Moreover, the fact that the Western culture enjoys a position of great strength gives it an understandable feeling of self-sufficiency and an air of superiority. Hence the seemingly arrogant attitude that the West could gain little by understanding the East, while the East will benefit immensely by understanding the West. However, most educated people in the West would not approve of such an attitude, because it is contrary to many of their professed principles. Hence, a serious and sustained effort to clarify all aspects of misunderstanding of Islam by the West is needed. When the serialization of this book was still in progress in Arab News, I became increasingly aware that many misunderstandings of Islam by the West could be cleared up if the West could get to know the personality and the life of the Prophet Muhammad better. That strengthened my feeling that an in-depth study of the Prophet’s personality, lifestyle, message, work, actions and the state he established, should be made available to Western readers. This book is a humble attempt to make such a task easier. It makes no pretence of being ‘objective’, or trying to evaluate events in a detached manner. I do not think that such an ‘objective’ study serves that purpose. This book is written by a committed author who does not see that there is anything to be gained by such detachment. On the contrary, I believe that there is much that the West could learn about Islam if it is able to look at it through the eyes of a Muslim. If Western readers feel after reading this book that they have a better understanding of Islam and have acquired an insight into how Muslims formulate their ideas and arrive at their conclusions, then my purpose is achieved. If not, the fault is entirely mine.

Keeping this objective in mind, I have made no attempt to reply to specific claims or views advanced by Orientalist scholars. I am sure that much needs to be done in this area, but I feel that it is more important to present the Islamic point of view, without being entangled in side issues or disputes. However, I have fully discussed events which have aroused recurring historical controversy. Many of these were the cause of dispute at the time of the Prophet. Others were manipulated by people hostile to Islam, belonging to all shades of the religious and the political spectrum. In all these, I state the standard Islamic view in detail, trying to elucidate it as much as possible.

This book also aims at another, totally different type of reader. For several decades, Muslims have been coming to Europe seeking work and a better standard of living. Thus, new Muslim communities have established themselves in several European countries. As time passes and new generations of Muslims grow up, these Muslim communities find their contacts growing steadily weaker with the places from where their parents came. These Muslim communities are fast becoming ethnic European minority communities. As they try to preserve their Islamic identity, they feel the need to read about Islam in their native, European languages. I sincerely hope that this book goes part of the way in meeting a definite need to have a reference work in English on the life of the Prophet elucidating the Islamic point of view.

There was a persistent thought in my mind as I wrote and reviewed successive drafts of this book. As readers will realize, there were events in which the Prophet took certain measures and adopted certain attitudes which are at variance with the standards of what we call ‘modern civilization’. Some of these were indeed criticized by the enemies of Islam at that time. We find that in many of these events, the Qur’ān defends or supports the Prophet’s action with absolute clarity. As is well known, the Qur’ān is God’s word, revealed part after part to the Prophet as and when God deemed fit. Its revelation took the whole of the 23 years from the time when Muhammad (peace be upon him) was told that God had chosen him as His Messenger to mankind to the time when he completed his mission and passed away to be in the companionship of his Lord. A clear statement of support to the Prophet in the Qur’ān means that God Himself gives him His backing. It is not difficult for anyone who wishes to criticize Islam, or the Prophet who conveyed its message to mankind, to pinpoint such events and then refer to the Qur’ānic support the Prophet received over them and insinuate that such support was particularly convenient to the Prophet, implying that he finds the idea of Divine revelation unconvincing. Such a view may be understandable if it can be shown that Qur’ānic revelations consistently supported the Prophet in all events and over all issues. The fact is that such support was given only when it was merited. There were other events and other measures adopted by the Prophet which earned criticism, disapproval or even censure in the Qur’ān. Some of these are not related in this history because they are rather personal in nature. Others, like the strong criticism of the Prophet’s policy over the captives at the Battle of Badr are explained in detail.

Moreover, we find that at times, Qur’ānic revelations demanded that the Prophet should do certain things which he found extremely difficult. His marriage to Zaynab bint Jaḥsh provides the clearest example. At times, we find the Prophet adopting attitudes in his personal and family life that are dictated by his faith. His own personal preferences do not appear to be a factor influencing his decisions. A clear example of these events is that which relates to his eldest daughter, Zaynab, and how she was allowed to stay with her non-Muslim husband after the Prophet and most Muslims had emigrated to Madinah. The events of her recall and subsequent protection of her husband should also be considered in this context. At other times, we find the Prophet doing what is dictated by his faith, regardless of its likely effects on him personally. A clear example is seen in the way the Prophet went about publicizing the events of his night journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and subsequent ascension to heaven and then back to Makkah in the same night. Although he was aware of the abuse which was likely to be showered on him for such publicity, he went ahead with making his announcement, simply because he was required to do so.

It is universally accepted that justice requires that no verdict may be made in any case on the basis of partial information. It is necessary to consider every relevant issue before passing judgement. Hence we cannot accept criticism of the Qur’ānic support of actions taken by the Prophet without looking at the other aspects of the Qur’ānic comments on his other actions. We should also consider the Prophet’s attitude in fulfilling the tasks assigned to him, even though it was inevitable that he would be criticized for them.

Finally, I hope that this humble attempt to give an account of the life of the most noble soul that ever walked on the face of this planet shows a glimpse of his character. We should remember here that God has made it clear that in the Prophet we have an example to follow if we truly aim to please God and win the ultimate prize of admission into heaven in the life to come. When we study his character and his life, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) appears to us as a noble, dedicated, human leader who takes good care of his followers. But he is, above all, a model believer to whom we should always turn in order to determine what course to follow and what action to take. We should always remember his last reminder to us: “I have left with you what should provide you with sound guidance and immunity from error if you would only adhere to them: God’s Book and my example.”

London	Adil Salahi
February 1995