Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources – Martin Lings

Product Description Scrupulous and exhaustive in its fidelity to its sources, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is presented in a narrative style that is easily comprehensible, yet authentic and inspiring in its use of language, reflecting both the simplicity and grandeur of the story it tells. The book has been published in twelve languages and has received numerous awards, including acknowledgment as best biography of the Prophet in English at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad. This revised edition, which represents the final updates made to the text before the author’s death in 2005, incorporates important additions about the Prophet’s expanding influence and his spreading of the message of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states. ‘Before the appearance of this book, Western languages lacked almost entirely a comprehensive and authentic account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad… Lings has produced a superb narrative that in its sobriety and dignity of style, and its scrupulous and exhaustive fidelity to authentic and reliable sources, constitutes a major addition to Islamic literature in English. Highly recommended.’ – Hamid Algar, Religious Studies Review. ‘There is a freshness, clarity and gripping suspense throughout the book… As a text in the how and the why and the when of various revelations—both Koranic and Prophetic traditions—it is enlightening and authoritative… Our author’s familiarity with all the complicated inter-family links of tribal Arabia gives us the certainty that he knows his material thoroughly… This work should be translated into Arabic so that the whole Arab world may drink from it.’ – Muslim World (Cape Town). About the Author: Martin Lings (24 January 1909 – 12 May 2005), also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English Muslim writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. At Oxford, he studied English under C. S. Lewis, who later became a close friend.  Lings taught at several European universities and the University of Cairo and served as the keeper of Oriental manuscripts for the British Museum and the British Library. He is the author of twelve books on religion and spirituality.   Reviews An enthralling story that combines impeccable scholarship with a rare sense of the sacred worthy of his subject. The Spectator An excellent introduction to the subject and very well written. Annemarie Schimmel. This work is widely recognized as the most readable account of the life of the Prophet to date. Times of London 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. Library, Northridge Library Journal Muhammad is a true work of art, as enthralling and engrossing as the best of novels with the difference that this is no fiction but fact. With the magic of his pen, the author makes all the historical personalities of his book come alive… The skill of narration is enhanced throughout the book with the most regal and dignified English, inspiring the sense of majestic grandeur essential for any literary work dealing with Divine and Eternal Truths. The Islamic Quarterly