The Companions of the Prophet (s) were amongst the foremost of human beings. Why? They were blessed with keeping the company of the Prophet (s) during his life. They sacrificed their own comfort, familial ties and their safety to spread the Message the Prophet (s) was sent with. Learn about the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, their lives, their characteristics, their perseverance, and their roles in spreading Islam.

This beautiful presentation of the Prophet Muhammad's (s) teachings engages the reader in a moment of daily reflection. With 365 traditions covering the whole year, this is a must for every home. Apart from setting out the Islamic worldview, as reflected in the Prophet's sayings, it is hoped that this work will serve as a useful volume for reflection, for soul-searching and for self -development as a single hadith appears on each of its pages, it has been designed to engage readers in a few moments of daily self-reflection throughout the year.
Abdur Raheem Kidwai is Professor of English at the Aligarh Muslim University in India and the well-known author of many works on the Qur'an and Islam.

This book invites Muslims and non-Muslims to acquaint themselves with the prophet's practice and teachings, his Sunnah, first hand. Relying exclusively upon the sayings and actions of the prophet, which have been selected and translated from authenticated and well-known collections of hadith literature, this book presents a close-up and composite picture of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, described in the Qur'an as the best model for humanity.

Named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most important innovators of the century, Tariq Ramadan is a leading Muslim scholar, with a large following especially among young European and American Muslims. Now, in his first book written for a wide audience, he offers a marvelous biography of the Prophet Muhammad, one that highlights the spiritual and ethical teachings of one of the most influential figures in human history. Here is a fresh and perceptive look at Muhammad, capturing a life that was often eventful, gripping, and highly charged. Ramadan provides both an intimate portrait of a man who was shy, kind, but determined, as well as a dramatic chronicle of a leader who launched a great religion and inspired a vast empire. More important, Ramadan presents the main events of the Prophet's life in a way that highlights his spiritual and ethical teachings. The book underscores the significance of the Prophet's example for some of today's most controversial issues, such as the treatment of the poor, the role of women, Islamic criminal punishments, war, racism, and relations with other religions. Selecting those facts and stories from which we can draw a profound and vivid spiritual picture, the author asks how can the Prophet's life remain -- or become again -- an example, a model, and an inspiration? And how can Muslims move from formalism -- a fixation on ritual -- toward a committed spiritual and social presence? In this thoughtful and engaging biography, Ramadan offers Muslims a new understanding of Muhammad's life and he introduces non-Muslims not just to the story of the Prophet, but to the spiritual and ethical riches of Islam.

The Makkah Crucible, based on original Arabic sources and modem writings on the Sirah, is a powerful restatement of the Makkah life of the Prophet and a searching analysis of the Jahiliyyah environment in which the blessings of Islam produced a generation of people who not only became fine embodiment of human conduct, but typified the highest virtues of faith and endurance. The author has not only breathed a new freshness into the subject but has focused on the Sirah in the context of the Prophet's mission as reflected in the Qur'an. The focus moves beautifully and meaningfully from man to mission, from individual to movement, from past to the present and the future, from chronicle of events to ethos of society and history. In paying homage and showing reverence to the Prophet some authors have exceeded proper limits while others have not been able to adequately highlight the multi-dimensional aspects of the Prophetic life. Dr. Zakana Bashier however succeeded in striking a balance and presenting in the book a graphic and inspiring picture of the Sirah of the Prophet.

Man needs a perfect and universal exemplar that could place in his hands a guide-book of practical life, so that every wayfarer may reach his destination safely. And this exemplar did come to the world in the person of the last of the Prophets. Muhammad, on whom be peace and blessing of the Lord. This book took shape from a series of lectures given by the author in 1925 at Madras, India. In these lectures the author vividly presents the life of the Prophet as an abiding historical model-not a utopian ideal-for all humanity. This book is a must for every student of religion.

The late Sayyed Sulaiman Nadwi was an eminent scholar of his time who had, owing to his deep and wide knowledge and earnest zeal for religion, made his place in the line of great savants of Islam. The present work, which he himself considered to be his best, is a quintessence of his Sirat-un-Nabi, the great work of encyclopedic sweep which would have done honor to any academy rather than to an individual scholar. The author discusses in it the winsome qualities necessary for any founder of a religion if the way of life taught by him is to attract and inspire the people. The author goes on further to show how, of all the founders of religions, the accounts of the life of and character of Muhammad alone are verifiable by methodical records of history; how his teachings are comprehensive enough to brighten the path of all men in varied situations and exigencies of human life; how they provide guidance to all, the ruler and the ruled, the rich and poor, the military genius and the administrator and the businessman and the cultivator. The author's account also establishes, beyond any doubt, that Muhammad alone was the symbol of perfection, a paradigm of virtuous and wholesome behavior whose examples and teachings have lightened the path of humanity for all time to come.

A comprehensive account of the life of the last Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). This translation allows young English-speaking Muslims to benefit from Swayed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi's renowned Islamic scholarship. The work covers the historical background to the call to Islam as well as providing an authentic description of the experiences encountered by Allah's Messenger as he struggled to bring his wayward community to the Divine Path. This book offers guidance and inspiration to young Muslims seeking answers to the evil's in today's society. Relying on the Holy Qur'an and its contemporary sources, the author illustrates how the natural order was restored from chaos 1,400 years ago.

This is the definitive, objective biography of the Prophet, drawn from primary Arabic sources of the 8th and 9th centuries, and includes passages never before translated. It owes its freshness and directness of approach to the words of the men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.

About the Author(s) of Muhammad
Martin Lings holds degrees from both Oxford and London University. He lectured for twelve years at Cairo University, and has served as Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts at the British Museum. He has participated in several international Islamic councils and conferences.

His other works include three books on Islamic mysticism, The Secret of Shakespeare, Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstition, and The Koranic Arts of Calligraphy and Illumination.

Praise for Muhammad: "Lings provides a wealth of detail on the life of Muhammad, the time and place of many Koranic revelations, and the foundation of Islam, all based exclusively on 8th- and 9th-century Arabic biographical sources and collections of the sayings attributed to Muhammad. General readers will find a well-written, straightforward chronological narrative; Muslim readers will appreciate the favorable treatment of Muhammad; while specialists will find a faithful and convenient rendering of source material."
Joseph Gardner, California State Univ. Lib., Northridge Library Journal

Table of Contents Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

1 The House of God
2 A Great Loss
3 Quraysh of the Hollow
4 The Recovery of Loss
5 The Vow to Sacrifice a Son
6 The Need for a Prophet
7 The Year of The Elephant
8 The Desert
9 Two Bereavements
10 Bahira the Monk
11 A Pact of Chivalry
12 Questions of Marriage
13 The Household
14 The Rebuilding of the Ka'bah
15 The First Revelations
16 Worship
17 "Warn Thy Family"
18 Quraysh Take Action
19 Aws and Khazraj
20 Abu Jahl and Hamzah
21 Quraysh Make Offers and Demands
22 Leaders of Quraysh
23 Wonderment and Hope
24 Family Divisions
25 The Hour
26 Three Questions
27 Abyssinia
28 'Umar
29 The Ban and its Annulment
30 Paradise and Eternity
31 The Year of Sadness
32 "The Light of Thy Countenance"
33 After Years of Sadness
34 Yathrib Responsive
35 Many Emigrations
36 A Conspiracy
37 The Hijrah
38 The Entry into Medina
39 Harmony and Discord
40 The New Household
41 The Threshold of War
42 The March of Badr
43 The Battle of Badr
44 The Return of the Vanquished
45 The Captives
46 Bani Qaynuqa'
47 Deaths and Marriages
48 The People of the Bench
49 Desultory Warfare
50 Preparations for Battle
51 The March to Uhud
52 The Battle of Uhud
53 Revenge
54 The Burial of the Martyrs
55 After Uhud
56 Victims of Revenge
57 Bani Nadir
58 Peace and War
59 The Trench
60 The Siege
61 Bani Qurayzah
62 After the Siege
63 The Hypocrites
64 The Necklace
65 The Lie
66 The Dilemma of Quraysh
67 "A Clear Victory"
68 After Hudaybiyah
69 Khaybar
70 "Whom Lovest Thou Most?"
71 After Khaybar
72 The Lesser Pilgrimage and its Aftermath
73 Deaths and the Promise of Birth
74 A Breach of the Armistice
75 The Conquest of Mecca
76 The Battle of Hunayn and the Siege of Ta'if
77 Reconciliations
78 After the Victory
79 Tabuk
80 After Tabuk
81 The Degrees
82 The Future
83 The Farewell Pilgrimage
84 The Choice
85 The Succession and the Burial
Map of Arabia (by Steven w. Johnson)
Quraysh of the Hollow (genealogical tree)
Note on Pronunciation of Arabic Names
Key to References
Index