Muhammad alShareef: The Last Nights with our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

asSalaam ‘alaykum wa Rahamtullah,

JazakAllahu khayran to brother GreenKufi from alMaghrib forums for the recording and sharing this with us. The following is a lecture entitled “The Last Nights with our Beloved Prophet (SAW)” given by Ustadh Muhammad alShareef (Director and Founder of the alMaghrib Institute) at the Ottawa Main Masjid on Friday, April 6th after Maghrib salah. The lecture itself is pretty good, and the recording is pretty good as well alhamdulillah. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Related Posts:

Part 1: 5 Symptoms of the Weakness of Īmān
Part 2: 5 Reasons for the Weakness of Īmān
Part 3: 5 Solutions for the Weakness of Īmān
List of Articles and Khutbahs
World’s Bravest People (Trascript)
World’s Bravest People (Audio)

Related Links:t
Muhammad alShareef Bio
AlMaghrib Institute
EmanRush

Muhammad Ibn Saad (d. 230AH)

Ibn Sa’ad (d.230 AH)

His name was Muhammad Ibn Sa’ad ibn Mani Az Zuhree[1] and his kunya[2] was Aboo Abdullah[3], more popularly known as Ibn Sa’ad. He was the mawla[4] of Banu Hashim[5]. He is one of the greatest authorities on Islamic history and Muslim biography. Ibn Sa’d is said to have been born in 148 AH in the city of Basra which is now in present day Iraq, and he died in 230 AH[6]. He moved to Baghdad to further his Islamic knowledge and he resided there for the majority of his life. Among the scholars that he benefited from immensely was Muhammad ibn ‘Umar Al Waqidee (d. 211 AH)[7]. He is one of his strongest pupils and is also known popularly as the scribe or secretary of Al Waqidee. He also visited Kufa and Madeenah in his quest for knowledge and many authorities have testified to his reliability and scholarship in the field of history and biography.

The most popular of his works is the huge collection of biographies of noteworthy men and women from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) to his time known as Kitaab at Tabaqaat al Kabeer (The Great Book of Generations). It is one of the most important and earliest surviving biographical collections of narrations, and has been used by Islamic scholars as a reference to present day. The work contains over 4000 biographies noteworthy Muslims, of which 600 are women. The book has been printed in 9 volumes by Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1957-1968 (more popular and widely encountered) under a slightly different name of At Tabaqaat Al Kubra and in 15 volumes in the edition by E. Sachau, Leiden, 1905-1940. The first 2 volumes are about the seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), which is considered by some the third most authoritative after the Seerat un Nabawi of Ibn Hisham (d. 213 AH or 218 AH) and Maghaazi Rasoolillah of al Waqidee (d. 21 AH)[8]. Volumes 3 and 4 contain biographic information on the companions of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), while 5, 6, and 7 contain that of later Islamic personalities. Volume 8 is completely dedicated to the women [9].

________________________________________

Footnotes:
1. Not to be confused with Ibn Shihaab Az Zuhree who was a great scholar of hadeeth who died in 124 AH.
2. It is like a nick name, usually in the format Aboo so and so meaning father of so and so.
3. The scholars of the past would usually name their children Abdullah due to the statement of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), “The most beloved names to Allah are Abdullah and AbdurRahman….”.
4. mawla could mean either a slave that was set free or someone who is a non-Arab but is under the protection of an Arab tribe. This was done during the pre-Abbassid period, but died down thereafter. Ibn Sa’ad was under the protection of Banu Hashim.
5. The word banu means tribe, and Banu Hashim was a tribe from Quraysh.
6. There seems to be some confusion about the death and birth of Ibn Sa’ad. The date for the death given in the biographical appendix of Ash Shifa of Qadi Iyaad translated by A. A. Bewley has the date 204 AH while the book The Men of Madina Vol. 1 translated by A. A. Bewley has both dates of 230 AH and 236 AH. And some of the sources give 62 as his age at death and year of death at 230 AH 0r 236 AH, which would mean his birth would be 168 AH or 174 AH. If his age was 62 years and he died in 204 AH then his birth would be 144 AH. I used the dates given in The Men of Madina Vol. 1 by A. A. Bewley. I am confused about this issue, if anyone has knowledge regarding this please let me know, InshaAllah.
7. He narrated ahadeeth from Imaam Ash Shaafi (d. 204 AH) and Imaam Malik (d. 179 AH) but is considered to be weak.
8. I have seen this book printed by the title Al Waqidi: Kitab Al Maghazi, Edited by Marsden Jones, Printed in 3 Volumes by Oxford University Press, 1966.
9. Volumes 5, 7 and 8 have been lately translated by Aisha AbdurRahman Bewley and published under the titles of Men of Madina Vols. 1 & 2 and Women of Madina, respectively.

Tags: Biography, Salaf, Seerah, History,Islam

Sources: Aisha Bewley,A. A. Bewley, Men of Madina

Sources of Seerah

Sources of Seerah
Taken from a live lecture series entitled “Seerah: Lessons and Morals” delivered by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

The Qur’an
The first and the most important source of seerah is the Qur’an. It is also the most eloquent and the most authentic source of the seerah. It mentions incidents when the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was still a child. For example, the revelation of Surat Al Feel (The Elephant) referred to the year of the elephant and the time when the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was still in his mother’s womb. The Qur’an also refers to incidents throughout his life and it refers to the people around the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). The people around the Messenger (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) like his companions, his wives, the mushrikeen (polytheists), the Jews and Christians, etc. The Qur’an tells you something that no other source can tell you. It tells you the inner thoughts of the people. It tells you how all sorts of people were thiniking and what was actually in their hearts, and the biggest of these example is the hearts of the munafiqoon (hypocrites) and the yahood (Jews).

The Books of Hadeeth
All the books of hadeeth are considered an important part of the sources of seerah. Each and every hadeeth is either a saying, an action, an event, or a characteristic of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and therefore it becomes a part of the life of the Messenger (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). It is a part of the overall seerah of RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and with the Qur’an this is where most if not all of the seerah‘s information lies.

The Classical Books of Seerah
These are books written by either companions or their followers from the early generations who wrote books which are specifically for the purpose of compiling the life of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). The first physical book of seerah was written before any other book of hadeeth was compiled.

Urwa ibn Az-Zubayr (d. 92 AH), the son of Asma bint Abi Bakr (d. 73 AH) (Radi Allahu Anha)and Az-Zubayr ibn Al-Awan (d. 36 AH)(Radi Allahu Anhu), grandson of Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH) (Radi Allahu Anhu), and the younger brother of Abdullah ibn Az-Zubayr (d. 73 AH)(Radi Allahu Anhu), never got to see the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). He wrote the first tract on the seerah that we know of.

Abaan ibn Uthman ibn Affan(d. 105 AH), the son of Uthman (d. 35 AH) (Radi Allahu Anhu) wrote a small book on the seerah as well. Also Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhree (d. 124 AH) and Hamman ibn Munnabbih (d. 101 AH), a student of Abu Hurayrah (d. 59 AH), wrote books on the seerah.

Probably the most popular and one of the most comprehensive of books known to is on the seerah is that of Mohammed Ibn Is’haaq who was born in 85 AH and died in the year of 150 AH. He made it his life long passion to study the seerah. He was one of the first people who put immense concentration and focus on the compilation of the seerah. The scholars of hadeeth call him an alright narrator because he didn’t specialize in hadeeth. But they call him the Imaam of seerat–un–nabuwwa. There is a clear distinction that we have to make between the seerah and the sunnah or hadeeth. This issue is discussed at another place. The aseerah of Ibn Is’haq is now known as Seerat Ibn Is’haq. Ibn Is’haq grew up around the sons and grandsons of the sahaabah. He also traveled around the Muslim empire and gathered all the information he can regarding the seerah. He would put any thing and everything in his book regarding the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) whether it was important or unimportant. He would put random poetry that would just mention the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)’s name here and there. This is why this book was so comprehensive. We see that a lot of times the books of Islam not known to present day Muslims are found in the museums and libraries of the Europeans because when the Europeans would conquer Muslim lands they would take the most valuable things back to their countries. And at that time there was nothing more valuable than the knowledge these books contained. An example was that, one of ibn Taymiyya’s books was found in the museums of Europe recently which has not been known to the scholars of today. Similarly the manuscript of the seerah of Ibn Is’haq was found 20 years ago in the libraries of Germany. Only about a third or fourth of the actual book was found.

AbdulMalik ibn Hisham (d. 216 AH) wrote a book on the seerah and it was call Seerat Ibn Hisham . Ibn Hisham came and summarized the seerah of Ibn Is’haaq. The irrelevant material from Ibn Is’haaq as mentioned previously was discarded by Ibn Hisham in his seerah. Ibn Hisham mentions this in his introduction to his seerah and he only kept in his book whatsoever he saw important and necessary. When Ibn Hisham came out with his seerah it was so good and it became popular very quickly. Everyone who wanted to learn the seerah had this book and was starting to become more and more common and was being found in each and every household. Because of this, within a hundred years or so, Seerat Ibn Is’haaq was no where to be found. It was almost as if it was removed from the face of the earth, until recently.

Shamaail
Another source of seerah is the books called shamaail. These are books written exclusively talking about the characteristics of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). In Arabic they are known as Shamaail. An example of this is the famous Shamaail At-Tirmidhee compiled by the great muhaddith, Aboo Eesa At Tirmidhee (b. 209 A.H. – d. 279 A.H.). It includes the characteristics and the physical description of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) like the way his hair was, the way his eyes were, his walking, his talking, his dressing, etc.

Dalail An-Nabuwwah
These are books written about the miracles of the Messenger (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). Dalail An-Nabuwwah by Imam Al-Bayhaqee (b. 384 A.H. – d. 458 A.H.) is probably the most famous among them.

Biographies of the Sahaaba
The biographies of the companions serve to make the seerah more complete and to fill in some holes. They also give some of the vents surrounding it. An example of this is the story of Salman Al Farsee (d. 35 AH) and his search for the truth which will be mentioned later. Also that of Jaafar ibn Abi Talib (d. 9 AH) and his conversation with Najaasee, the king of Abyssinia.

The Books of History
The books of history serve as another source of seerah. Examples of these books are, the book on history by Ibn Jareer At-Tabaree and Bidaaya Wa An Nihaaya of Ibn Katheer.

The Importance and Benefits of Studying Seerah

The Importance and Benefits of Studying Seerah

Taken from a live lecture series entitled “Seerah: Lessons and Morals” delivered by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

“Off course I love him!” this is the answer of any Muslim when asked, “Do you love the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)”, but do we really love him (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)? Do we really know who he was enough to love him (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)? It is natural that when a person claims or displays love for another individual that he or she would want to know him better. In the same way one who claims to love the Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) has to know this individual if he really claims this type of love. Along with this reason there are many benefits and blessings associated with this matter, and the following are a few:

Allah commands us to follow the example of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)

We have been commanded by Allah in the Qur’aan to follow the example of the Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan,

[Certainly you have in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exemplar for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and remembers Allah much.] Surat Al-Ahzab (33) Verse 21

As stated above, the Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)’s character is an excellent example for us to follow, and we can learn this example by studying the seerah. Mohammed (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was a perfect model as a human being in each and every aspect of his life. He was a political leader, military leader, an imam, a father, and a husband. And there is no example better than his to be successful in any of these positions. His personality and character are like that of no other person and the best example for us to follow. Whose life is better to learn from than to learn from the life of the best man to ever walk the face of the earth, the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). And there is no example better to follow than to follow the example of the man who Allah commands us to follow, the Messenger of Allah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam).

Seerah increases our love for the Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)

Studying Seerah is a sign for our love for the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) as well. When you love somebody you would want to know as much as possible about that person. Similarly if you love the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) there has to be an indication of your love for him (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). And one of the signs of a mu’min (believer) is their love for the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). If a person loves the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) then he is a mu’min and when a person has no love for the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) then he is not a mu’min. If a person claims to love Mohammed (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) then there must be an interest in him or a reason as to why he loves the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). There must have been something special in the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) that makes a person love the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) over everyone else. We learn those special things about the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in the Seerah.

Seerah educates us about the meaning of the Qur’aan

Without the complete knowledge of the seerah we could not understand the Book of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala). The Qur’aan in some ways depends on the seerah for its full explanation or meaning. It sheds light on why the verse was revealed and the context of the revelation. In order to get a full understanding of the Qur’aan we need to get a full understanding of the seerah as well.

Studying the seerah raises our hopes and lifts our spirits

After studying the torture and turmoil that the companions and the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) went through, it helps us during our times of troubles and turmoil. It gives us hope that as long as we stay upon the truth there is always hope at the end. When we see that we’re not the first ones to be persecuted, we find an increase in our eeman and it raises our hopes for the future, especially in these times when the muslims are being targeted and singled out and attacked in all kinds of ways. We get to see real life examples of what the people before us went through and the victory they achieved. Studying the seerah is one of the greatest ways to increase our optimism for the future. It gives up hope that at the end of the road as long as we stay upon Islam there is something good. The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was also revealed stories of the past prophets to give him hope. An example of this is the revelation of Surat Yusuf to the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) to show him that even though his own tribe is going against him, Yusuf (Alayhis Salaam)’s own brothers were inflicting harm upon him.

Seerah raises our eeman

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) reminds the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in the Qur’aan of the stories of the prophets of the past and you find that the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)’s eeman increasing due to this. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan,

[And all we relate to you of the accounts of the messengers is to strengthen your heart therewith; and in this has come to you the truth and an admonition, and a reminder to the believers]

Surat Hud (11) Verse 120

As we know that the eeman of the Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was incomparable to that of anyone else. It was higher than anyone else even the prophets of the past and the stories of the previous prophets that came before the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) raised the eeman of our Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), then what else could the story of our own Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) do for our own eeman except increase it. Would it not be befitting for us then, that we turn to the seerah of RasoolAllah(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) to increase our own eeman?

Seerah in and of itself is one of the greatest miracles of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)

This is one of the greatest indications that Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was without shadow of a doubt the Messenger of Allah. As Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusee said, “If RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was only given the miracle of the seerah then he would not need to be given anything else except that to prove to everyone that he is a messenger of Allah.” We learn from the seerah that some of the Sahaaba would see RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and would say, “I knew his face was not the face of a liar.” And another thing that we learn from the seerah and we can use this example in our da’wah (call to Islam) to the non-muslims that proves that the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was indeed the RasoolAllah or the Messenger of Allah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was when his son Ibraheem died at the tender age of maybe a year or year and a half. Only a father or mother could understand the pain of losing their son or daughter, and especially when a child grows to that age and passes away. This is when the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) cried and Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) revealed the verse

[Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is ever Aware of all things] Surat Al-Ahzab(33):40

On that day the sun eclipsed. Seeing that, the sahaabah said “Even the sun and the moon are crying because of the death of the son of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam).” The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) could have easily said “Yes even the sun is crying because my son died today!” He could have used this event as proof to show people that he’s in fact that important and also the messenger of Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala). Instead RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) called the people to the masjid (mosque) and said to them in a khutbah (sermon), “The Sun and Moon are the miracles of Allah. They do not eclipse because of the death or birth of a person.” He wasn’t sent to call others to worship him, rather his duty was to proclaim the message of Allah and to worship Allah alone and to show everyone how to worship Allah alone.

Seerah lays out a precise methodology of the revival of the Muslim Ummah (Community)

The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) all alone by himself within two decades controlled all of Arabia. And when the sahaaba followed his example they had an empire stretching from Spain in the West to borders of China in the East, all this within a century. And the people that did this were the most illiterate of the people of the world at that time and all they did was follow the example of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). And if we want to get out of the condition that we are in today with all the disunity and discord among the many nations and groups of this Ummah, we have to go back and see the methodology RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) implemented in spreading the message of Islam. This can only be done by following the sunnah and it is the only answer to all our problems. We can have all the weaponry and knowledge of the dunya and not be able to accomplish what the sahaaba did without following the methodology of RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), and we learn this form the seerah. By studying the seerah and emphasizing the methodology of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) we too can follow in his steps and eventually attain success in our goals in this life as well as in the hereafter as was done by the people before us.

We see how the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) trained the sahaabah

The sahaaba are referred to as the best of all nations ever raised. It is through seerah that we find out how they actually became the best of all nations ever raised. Firstly they were under the direct guidance of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and secondly they followed this guidance and stayed firm upon it even after his (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)’s death. We find in the seerah what methodology did the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) use to make them from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, the type of tarbiya (development and training) is seen here.

Seerah brings about comfort and peace to the heart

Each person enjoys what his or heart is conditioned to. If the person is all about following his desires he only like to listen to or follow that and anything else is not of any importance or weight to that person. If the person is all about following the revelation then this is what his heart is inclined to and this is what comforts him and this is what brings about peace in his heart. The heart takes consolation and peace with what it is conditioned to. An example given is that of a person who listens to music or likes it. He will find comfort and peace by listening to it and when the Qur’aan is recited he can’t either stand hearing it or he feels uncomfortable around it. His sins prevent him from fully enjoying the recitation of the Qur’aan. Then there is the mu’min (believer) who finds complete comfort and peace in his heart when he is listening to the recitation of the Qur’aan and he feels uncomfortable being around anywhere where music is played. This feeling and example does not apply to everybody. Only those who fear Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) and have hope in the Day of Judgment and remember Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) a lot. We know this from the ayat in the Qur’aan where Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says,

[ For, Believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord]

Surat Al-Anfal (8) Verse 2

Primary way of defending the honor of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)

Especially in times like ours where the enemies of Islam are trying to attack the honor of our Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) we need to find what is the truth and spread it. The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) is being attacked by many different groups especially in this country. Their ideologies might separate them but their hatred for Islam and the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) unites them against us. And how else can we become more proactive, and we need to become proactive based upon the knowledge of the sunnah. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan,

[We have truly sent thee as a witness, as a bringer of Glad Tidings, and as a Warner. That you may believe in Allah and His Messenger and may aid him and revere him; and (that) you may declare His glory, morning and evening]

Surat Al-Fath (48):8-9

This tells us that one of the rights the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) has upon us is that we have to defend and honor his name in thisworld whenever he is attacked. He was sent by Allah so that we believe in Allah and the Messenger and we defend and honor the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and glorify Allah.

Seerah is the study of the best of all matters

Seerah is in fact the study of the best human being, the best timeframe, the best generation that ever lived and the best religion that was ever revealed in the history of mankind.

Best Human Being

The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was no doubt the best human being to walk this earth. We learn this from the hadith of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) when he said, “I am the leader of the children of Adam on the Day of Judgment and I am not being arrogant or boastful. On that day, I shall be holding the banner of praise and I do not say this to be boastful. And there is not a single prophet on that day from Adam until our times except that he will be under my banner and I do not say this out of arrogance. I will be the first person who will intercede and the first person’s intercession that will be accepted by Allah. And I do not say this to be boastful”

So from this hadeeth of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) we learn that the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was not only the best man in his generation or the best prophet in his time, but also the best man and prophet to ever walk the face of this earth since Adam (Alayhis Salaam)’s setting foot on this earth to the Day of Judgment.

Best Generation of Muslims

The generation of muslims in the seerah are the best generation of the muslims. We know this because Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says in the Qur’aan,

[You are the best of the nations raised up for mankind, ……. ]

Surat Al-E-Imran(3):110

Also the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said in a hadeeth, “The best of all generations is this generation and then the generation that follows them and then those that follow them.”

When the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said this generation he means the sahaaba, and the one that follows are the tabioon (students of the sahaaba) and the one after that are the taba tabioon (students f the tabioon). These three generations are referred to as the salaf and the ones that come after them are called the khalaf. This is enough proof to show us that the sahaaba were the best generation of the ummah of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) to ever live and the next best are the ones that come after the sahaaba (the tabioon) and the next best are the ones that come after the tabioon (the taba tabioon).

Best of all religions

The study of the seerah is the study of the best of religions. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) revealed religions in the past and they were all of the common essence but the shareeah was different. The proof that our religion is the best of religions is the statement of Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala),

[…..This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…..] Surat Al Maeda(5):3

The study of the seerah is the study of how these blessings were perfected.

Seerah taught as a science in the madaaris (schools) of the past

Another reason for us to study the seerah of RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) is that it is a science from among the sciences of Islam. The scholars of the past would teach seerah like every other science. We have a narration from Ali Ibn Al-Hussayn who said, “We would be taught the majaazi (seerah) of RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) just like the Qur’aan.” This shows us that Seerah and Qur’aan were sciences taught at madaaris at that time.

Seerah and Hadith: What is the Difference??

Seerah and Hadith: What is the Difference?

Taken from a live lecture series entitled “Seerah: Lessons and Morals” delivered by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

If Seerah¹ is defined as the life or way the Prophet (SAW) lived, then what is the difference between Seerah and Hadith² or even the Sunnah³? The Seerah is a collection of narrations about the people and events surrounding the Prophet (SAW) arranged in a chronological order. The amount of rigor put into authenticating and analyzing the chains and narrators⁴ of an incident or event that is found in the Seerah is far lower than when a narration is used in the Sunnah or Hadith. Only the top of the top narrations, namely Sahih⁵ or Hasan⁶ are used in the books of Hadith and Sunnah. As for Seerah this is not the case, the narrations used include all the authentic and acceptable ones, along with ones with weaknesses. The reason for including these weaker narrations is in order to fill in gapes or holes in the story. The reason we do this is because if we were to be just as strict and apply the same rules in accepting narrations in the Seerah as Hadith then, this would mean that we wouldn’t be able to get narrations about the status of the Arabs, and the forefathers of the Prophet (SAW) because everyone who narrated them were Non-Muslims. Examples of this are the narrations about the Story of the Feel (Elephant)⁷, and the incident of ‘Amr Ibn Luhayy Al-Khuzaaee⁸, or even the life of Abdul Muttallib⁹.So, since we use weaker narrations in Seerah, we can not use the seerah as evidence to support rulings and beliefs found in fiqh¹⁰ (Islamic Juriprudence) or aqeedah¹¹ (Islamic Belief). We cannot derive rulings of fiqh or aqeedah from the Seerah. So in conclusion, we cannot derive or use as our proof for our worship, our beliefs or our methodology from the seerah alone, we have to use the authentic Sunnah as our primary reference and not rely upon seerah alone.

From this we can say that scholars of seerah like Ibn Is’haaq¹², specialized in seerah out of all the sciences of Islam, and this is true for most of the scholars. Each and every scholar has a specialty in a certain field of Islam. Just like a person usually doesn’t specialize in engineering and also medicine, this is the case with Islam, some people specialize in hadith and are called muhadditheen¹³ (s. muhaddith) and some people specialize in fiqh and are called fuqahaa¹⁴ (s. faqeeh). Ibn Is’haaq’s specialty was seerah therefore he was abandoned by the scholars of hadeeth when it came to narrating hadeeth and a reason for this might be because he might include those weaker narrations while he narrated the hadeeth._______________________________________________________

Footnotes
1. Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) – Click here to see “What is Seerah!”
2. Literally – something that is a statement, communication, or story, or if used as an adjective it means new. In the Shari’ perspective it is a statement of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam).
3. Literally it means a way, in the Islamic Sciences perspective it means the way of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), it is had different definitions based on which type of scholar uses it. More info on this topic to be posted soon InshaAllah.
4. Chain (Arabic is isnad) and Narrators (Arabic is rijaal) – use dint he Sciences of the authentication or rejection of hadith. More info on this topic to be posted soon, InshaAllah.
5. Sahih – a hadeeth that is authentic based on its chain of narrators. Accpeted as a source of Shareeah in Islam.
6. Hasan – a hadeeth that is good base don its chain of narrators. Accpeted as a source of Shareeah in Islam.
7. The Story of the Elephant or Feel is mentioned in the Qur’aan in Chapter (Sura) 105. It happened the year the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) was born. It was an event where the king of Yemen tried to destroy the Ka’ba in Mecca by bringing elephants from Ethiopia, but were unsuccessful due to a miracle from Allah. More info on this topic to be posted soon, InshaAllah.
8. This person was a chief of Khuza’ah. He was known for his righteousness, piety, and care for religion, but he went to Syria for a trip and saw them worshipping idols, and adopted this practice and brought it to his lands, and then the Ka’bah, and this being the center of religion of Arabia, this practice spread like wildfire over the years. This was the main reason for the spread of idolatry in the Arabian Peninsula. A more post on this topic will be posted soon, InshaAllah.
9. He was the grandfather of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and took care of him in his early childhood. More info on him to be posted soon, InshaAllah.
10. Islamic Jurisprudence – the rules and conditions surrounding the physical acts of worship the Muslim does, and the obligatory, permitted, and forbidden things in Islam.
11. Islamic theology, or Islamic beliefs that a person has that makes him a Muslim.
12. The greatest scholar of the Seerah of RasoolAllah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), his work was used as a basis of later works about the Seerah. InshaAllah, if I learn more about this individual I will post a blog about him.
13. Scholars of hadeeth and its sciences.
14. The scholars that are proficient and specialize in the science of fiqh

What is Seerah??

Bismillahir Rahman Ar Raheem

Before we go any further in this topic of seerah we have to take a very important thing into consideration. The importance of this is related to us in the following hadith of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)¹:

The Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, “Do you know who the most miserly and stingy person?” The Sahaaba replied saying, “Allah and his Prophet know best.” So The Prophet(Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) replied, “The most stingy and the most miserly person is the one whom when my name is mentioned does not send the salawat(Saying May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him²) upon me.”³

This tells us that it is a duty upon us to send peace and blessing upon the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) if we want to refrain from being the most stingy and miserly of people. By doing this we have nothing to lose, but by not doing it we will be the most miserly and stingy of people. Nobody likes to be referred to as that and especially through the lips of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). So when ever we mention the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) by his name or refer to him we should make it a habit to follow it up by sending peace and blessings upon him.

And Allah Knows Best

 

What is Seerah⁴?
Taken from the introductory class to the lecture series entitled “Seerah:Lessons and Morals” delivered by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi⁵ at Masjid At Taqwa⁶ in Houston, TX in the Summer of 2005

In the Arabic language the word seerah comes from saara yaseeru. Linguistically it means to travel or to be on a journey. When we’re talking about someone’s seerah we’re talking about that person’s journey through life. You are talking about the person’s birth, the events surrounding it, his life and his death, and you are also studying the manners and characteristics of that person. In modern times we still call it seerah, like a resume is called a seerah or seerah dhaatihi in the Arabic language.

In Islamic sciences or the Sharee’ah⁷, seerah means the study of the life of the Prophet Mohammed (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), the last and final prophet and the messenger of Allah. It is the study of his life and all that is related to him. The information related to him would be like the events and aspects surrounding his biography. This would include knowledge of events that preceded his birth, his interactions and dealings with his companions, his family, the people around him, and also the events that occurred shortly after his death. No book of seerah stops at the death of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), it goes a little further in time or a few events further. And any seerah book usually talks about the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam)’s birth, his parents, his lineage, his tribe, and people that lived before him and the major events that took place around his (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) birth. Usually when a book on someone’s biography is written it is imperative that a little information about the people that the subject interacted and dealth with. The seerah of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) is no exception, it includes knowing about his companions, the disbelievers, the hypocrites, and the People of the Book tha the interacted with.

May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), his family, his companions, and those who follow his path until the Day of Judgment.

_______________________________________________Footnotes

1. Translates into “May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him”
2. In Arabic “Sal Allahu Alayhi Wa Sallam”
3. Need Reference??
4. Also transliterated as Sira, Seera, or Sirah
5. Biography Click Here!
6. Masjid At Taqwa, formerly known as Synott Masjid. Located in Southwest Houston, TX. View it here or here.