Muhammad ﷺ : His Life Based On The Earliest Sources by Martin Lings is a beautiful place to further personal engagement with the seerah, but one should also keep in mind Shaykh Abdul Nasir’s advice: “Independent reading is important, but soul-to-soul transmission of authentic and academically sound information is of utmost importance.”[2] The late Martin Lings’ (also known as Abu Bakr Siraj al-Din) Muhammad ﷺ: His Life Based On The Earliest Sources is among the seerah books written in English that have received widespread acclaim. Originally published in 1983, the book continues to be among highly-ranked seerah literature in the English language and read by scholars and laypeople alike. The book stands out from the rest as Lings (d. 2005), a Shakespearean scholar, spares no rhetorical device in his prose. For example, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf has said of his work, Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester, in 1909 to a Protestant family. [2] The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States because of his father's employment. Lings attended Clifton College [3] and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a BA in English Language and Literature. At Magdalen, he was a student and then a close friend of C. S. Lewis. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. [2] Includes important additions about the prophet’s spread of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester in 1909 to a Protestant family. The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States due to his father's employment.

This is one of the best book about the seerat of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) I have ever read. This book is awarded by both Pakistani and Egyptian governments. Martin Lings (Abu Bakar Saraj-ud-Din, a Muslim convert) describes the whole life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in a beautiful manner. In 1990, after the book had attracted the attention of Azhar University, Lings received a decoration from Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. [14] See also [ edit ]

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Khalid Yahya writes that Lings' book brings early Islamic accounts, many of which are scattered, into a single narrative according to Ibn Ishaq's chronological scheme. According to Yahya, Lings successfully presents what most Muslims believe, and have believed throughout history, about Muhammad. [10] W. Montgomery Watt agrees that Lings' book gives an idea of how Muhammad is seen by Muslims. He points out that the book was based on the earliest Islamic sources, and where there is a difference of opinion in those sources, the book takes the most widely accepted view; and that Lings simply accepts the early Islamic sources without discussing their value. [11]

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. Hamza Yusuf hails this work as "one of the great biographies of the English language," praising "the historical accuracy of the text and the providential care so evident in the author's choice of versions as well as the underlying structure of the story as he chose to tell it." He also reports from Lings how while writing this book, "he was overwhelmed with the presence of the Prophet during the entire time and felt a great blessing in having been able to complete it." [7]syair sebagaimana Burdah-nya Imam Busyiri maupun yang termaktub dalam prosa biografi. Ada ribuan karya berisi nukilan ucapan dan potongan-potongan peristiwa dalam kehidupannya. Ada ribuan pula yang disusun secara historis, berangkat dari perjalanan moyangnya hingga peristiwa-peristiwa besar setelah wafatnya. Muhammad adalah sosok yang teramat istimewa. Bagi sebagian kalangan, ia adalah penyampai risalah. Manusia suci yang dipilih untuk menjembatani ketentuan-ketentuan Tuhan bagi umat manusia sebagai jalan keselamatan bagi umat manusia itu sendiri. Namun bagi sebagian kalangan yang lain, beliau lebih dari sekedar itu. Ketika suatu masa, Allah bertanya kepada Sang Nabi, “Milik siapakah dirimu, Wahai Muhammad?” beliau menjawab, “Milik-Mu Ya Allah”. Kemudian Allah bertanya lagi, “Milik siapakah alam semesta ini wahai Muhammad?”, Beliau menjawab, “Milik-Mu Ya Allah”. Allah bertanya lagi, “Milik siapakah Aku ini wahai Muhammad?”, Sang Nabi diam, beliau tahu Allah tengah beretorika padanya. “Ana liman shalla ‘alaika, Aku adalah ‘milik’ orang-orang yang senantiasa bershalawat atasmu”. Demikian istimewanya Sang Nabi. Sehingga mustahil kita mencintai-Nya tanpa mencintai Sang Nabi, sebagaimana mustahilnya kita mencintai Sang Nabi tanpa mencintai-Nya. Perjalanan (sîrah) hidupnya memancar dan terus memancar menembus labirin sejarah. Menorehkan cinta di hati pecintanya, meski juga membekaskan kebencian bagi orang-orang yang iri akan kecemerlangan pribadinya. Sebagaimana dulu kaum kafir membenci diri dan umatnya. Kebencian yang kemudian terekspresikan dalam karikatur-karikatur amatiran. Kebencian yang tak seberapa sebenarnya, jika dibandingkan dengan apa yang beliau alami pada masanya dulu. Ketika harapan akan perlindungan dari kabilah Tsaqif di daerah Thaif justru berbalas cacian, makian bahkan lemparan batu. Hingga para malaikat, sekiranya diijinkan telah bersiap untuk menimpakan atas kaum tersebut gunung hingga mereka binasa. Manusia intan itu justru bermunajat, “Kepada siapakah Engkau (Allah) akan menyerahkan diriku? Kepada orang-orang asing yang bermuka masam terhadapku atau kepada musuh yang Engkau taqdirkan akan mengalahkanku?Asalkan Engkau tak murka kepada, fa lâ ubâlî, aku tak akan pernah risau” (Lings, 2009. Hal. 151). Dengan gaya bertuturnya yang indah, Martin Lings atau yang dikenal juga dengan nama Abu Bakr Siraj al-Dîn (wf.2005) menorehkan catatan-catatannya tentang perjalanan kehidupan Sang Nabi. Di tengah sekian banyak karya tentang sîrah-nya, dan di antara kealpaan sebuah generasi akan perjalanan sucinya, buku yang diwariskan Lings ini boleh jadi memiliki kekhasankekhasan yang tak dimiliki karya lain. Martin Lings adalah seorang muallaf berkebangsaan Inggris. Beliau lahir di Burnage, Lancashire, 24 Januari 1909. Meski begitu, beliau menghabiskan masa kanak-kanaknya di Amerika Serikat, mengikuti ayahnya. Setelah pulang ke Inggris, dia menempuh pendidikan di Clifton College, Bristol. Kemudian menempuh studi literature inggris dan memperoleh gelar BA dari Magdalen College, Oxford pada tahun 1932. Tahun 1935, beliau menjadi pengajar Studi Anglo-Saxon dan Inggris Tengah di Universitas Kaunas. Tahun 1940, Lings pergi ke Mesir mengunjungi seorang temannya yang mengajar di Universitas Kairo. Namun, dalam kunjungan tersebut, sang teman meninggal dalam sebuah kecelakaan dan Lings ditawari untuk mengisi posisi temannya sebagai pengajar. Dia menerima tawaran tersebut dan mulai mempelajari Islam di Mesir. Setelah banyak berhubungan dengan ajaran tasawuf, dia berketetapan hati For non-Muslims, it can also be extremely helpful. I understand that historical revisionism has its place in the academic realm. Nevertheless, it is also incumbent on educated people to expose themselves to religious traditions. The Quranic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination ( World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976) ISBN 0-905035-01-1

The Eleventh Hour: the Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy (2002), Archetype, ISBN 1-901383-01-6 Abd al- Muttalib vows to sacrifice one of ten sons. Sacrifices camels instead. Abolishes human sacrifice? Did he really need to think whether he needed to murder his sons or the camels? God couldn't have told him no? (P 12-14)

Lings advocates applying the title of Furqan not only to the Quran but to “every revealed Scripture” (XXV, 76, 1). This is arguable if he means the word furqan in a metaphorical generic sense of separating truth from error. However, it is fair to say he means it literally so as to deny the exclusivity of the Quran as an universal Message among all revealed Scriptures and also the exclusivity of its abrogating status of all other Scriptures for all time, since he actually grants neither superiority nor abrogating-status to the Prophet Mu Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din (Martin Lings) was a Muslim convert. Therefore, it must be understood that his rendering of the Prophet's (PBUH) narrative was a work of piety, and not necessarily one of historical scholarship. Lings uses a more archaic style of English to depict conversations and translations of the Qur'an, which helps slows down the rapid flow of the narration. The focus in the book is less about the teachings of Islam and more about Muhammad. [3] 1991 edition [ edit ] Martin Lings (24 January 1909 – 12 May 2005), also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. A student of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon [1] and an authority on the work of William Shakespeare, he is best known as the author of Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, first published in 1983 and still in print.