Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

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The Secret of Shakespeare: His Greatest Plays Seen in the Light of Sacred Art, Quinta Essentia, Cambridge, 1996. a b c d e "Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources: Revised Edition: Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din)". Islamic Bookstore.com . Retrieved 1 July 2013.

Asma Asfaruddin said the book is a rare example of "a gift of narration wedded to impeccable scholarship". [12]

Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources was given an award by the government of Pakistan, and selected as the best biography of the Prophet in English at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad in 1983. References used are Ibn Ishaq (references here are to Ferdinand Wüstenfeld's edition of Sirat Rasul Allah, a life of the Prophet by Muhammad ibn Ishaq in the annotated recension of Ibn Hisham). Also Ibn Sa’ad (the references are to John Leyden's edition of Kitab al-Tabaqat al Kabir by Muhammad ibn Sa’d). Also there is Al-Waqidi (and the references are to Marsden Jones' edition of Kitab al Maghazi, A Chronicle of the Prophet's Campaigns, by Muhammad ibn Umar al- Waqidi). [2] Among the oddest leitmotifs of the book are Lings’ preoccupation with and free dramatizing of physical beauty. Khadijah“knew that she herself was still beautiful” (XII, 35, 1); Zaynab bint Jahsh was “a girl of out standing beauty” (XIII, 40, 1); “Ruqayyah was the most beautiful of their daughters and one of the most beautiful women of her generation” (XXIV, 70,1); ... and so on and so forth. Acclaimed worldwide as the definitive biography of the Prophet Muhammad in the English language, Martin Lings'"Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" is unlike any other. Based on Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries, of which some important passages are translated here for the first time, "Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" owes the freshness and directness of its approach to the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.---Martin Lings' gift for narrative, and his adoption of a style which is extremely readable, allows both the simplicity and grandeur of the story to shine through. The result is a book which will be read with equal enjoyment by those already familiar with Muhammad's life and those coming to it for the first time. "Muhammad: His Life Based to the Earliest Sources" was selected as the best biography of the Prophet in English at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad in 1983. Jangda, Abdul Nasir, host. “Intro – Pt 2.” Seerah, episode 2, Qalam Institute, 20 May 2016, https://www.qalaminstitute.org/2011/09/seerah-life-of-the-prophet-intro-pt-2/

An enthralling story that combines impeccable scholarship with a rare sense of the sacred worthy of his subject.’ -- The Spectator

Includes important additions about the prophet’s spread of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states He recited these words after the Angel, who thereupon left him, and he said: “It was as though the words were written on my heart.”’ But he feared that this might mean he had become a jinn-inspired poet or a man possessed. So he fled from the cave, and when he was halfway down the slope of the mountain he heard a voice above him saying: “O Muhammad, thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.” He raised his eyes heavenwards and there was his visitant, still recognizable but now clearly an Angel, filling the whole horizon, and again he said: “O Muhammad, thou art the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.” The Prophet stood gazing at the Angel; then he turned away from him, but whichever way he looked the Angel was always there, astride the horizon, whether it was to the north, to the south, to the east or to the west. Finally the Angel turned away, and the Prophet descended the slope and went to his house. Please consider buying books at full price as a way of supporting the charitable activities of the ITS. edition Asma Asfaruddin (July 1996). "Review: [Untitled] Reviewed Work: Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings". Middle East Studies Association Bulletin. 30 (1): 65.

For Lings himself, however, the most important event whilst at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert, and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938, Lings went to Basel to make Schuon's acquaintance. This prompted his embracing Islam to embrace the branch of the Alawiyya tariqa led by Schuon. Thereafter, Lings remained Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life. [4] Career [ edit ] Mustafaa al Kanadee, Aboo Bilaal. "Perinnialist Poison in Martin Lings' Biography of the Prophet: A Discussion with Martin Lings" (PDF). Fandango. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013 . Retrieved 4 July 2013. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources ( Islamic Texts Society, 1983) ISBN 978-0-946621-33-0 (World-UK edn) / ISBN 978-1-59477-153-8 (US edn) Lings’ poetic license and inaccuracies regarding certain passages and sourcing have been thoroughly critiqued by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad in a paper available here. In some instances, such as his description of the icons in the Kaa’ba, Lings adds detail with sourceless speculation (like a Christian being “encouraged to paint” inside by the Quraysh). In other places, there are mistranslations or dubious misinterpretations. Shaykh Gibril praises the positive qualities of the book, but also provides a table with problematic passages in the book and his commentary with corrections. His paper serves as a valuable source to cross-reference before or while perusing the book. Upon its first edition, the book was subject to criticism by some Muslims who decried the "Perennialist poison" in the book. The author gave public answer in a Saudi newspaper to the objections. [13] Awards [ edit ]Lings might have been content to remain in Egypt for the rest of his life, but political events intervened. Abdul Nasser's nationalist revolution was preceded by savage anti-British riots, in which three of Lings's colleagues were killed, and the British university staff were dismissed without recompense.