Remembering the "Mercy to All the Worlds"

In remembrance of the birth of our blessed Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam, I've selected Tariq Ramadan's new prophetic biography (sîrah) In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad as the Book of the Month.

I also encourage everyone to read Poetic Praise Abounds for the Exalted Messenger, which is an article containing "a selection (from reputable hadith) of innumerable poems in his praise," translated by Shakyh Gibril Fouad Haddad, as well as The Blessed Mawlid, by Imam Zaid Shakir, which appears in the new issue of Seasons: The Journal of Zaytuna Institute. Even though it's not a new article, I recommend reading Shaykh Nuh Keller's The Muhammadan Reality as well, since it contains excellent insights on the status of Almighty God's final Messenger—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam.

Going back to Tariq Ramadan's new work of sîrah...well I can say that I was presently surprised by this new book. In the past, I would have been hesitant to recommend anything by Professor Ramadan, since I perceived him as having too much of a modernist or reformist trend in him. However, lately he's been coming across, at least in the few articles I've read, as a thoughtful and concerned intellectual who has what amounts to a healthy respect for traditional Islamic scholarship. This became rather evident to me as soon as I took a fairly detailed look at In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad.

I must admit, however, that although I purchased a copy about a week ago, I still haven't read all of it. Due to lack of time, I've instead focused on areas where I was concerned that the author might be overly apologetic or modernist in his interpretations and explanations. Rather than finding examples of this, I'm happy to say that I instead found the life of the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—presented in a very forthright way that's very much in tune with the traditional sources. Not only that, but based on the parts I've read, the text is both fresh and readable, seemingly having been written with both the (Muslim and non-Muslim) layman in mind. Although I'll withhold final judgment until I read the entire text, I have a strong feeling that this might well become many Muslims' prophetic biography of choice when it comes to recommending a sîrah book for English-speaking readers, even surpassing Martin Lings' Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources...wa Allahu 'alim.

Deen on...