An uncomplicated faith

By the time this column is published, we will be in the Holy month of Ramadan when physical abstinence is supposed to turn our thoughts to higher planes. How better to beguile away the torpid afternoon or the long evening and put one in a properly spiritual frame of mind than with Martin Lings' biography of the beloved and revered Prophet of Islam (pbuh) titled "Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (pub: George Allen and Unwin 1983)."

Martin Lings was an Englishman who converted to Islam and is best remembered in the Islamic world for this biography. As interesting for someone who has not read it before as it is for those who read religious texts such as the Hadith regularly, this is an erudite yet extremely readable account that creates a vital link between the earliest writings in Islam and the life of the Prophet (pbuh). The narrative is riveting as it takes us through pre-Islamic Arabia to the final days of the Prophet (pbuh).

While a multitude of books had been written and published about the Life and Times of the Prophet (pbuh) in most languages of the world by Islamic scholars, until this book came along there was the lack of a scholarly and comprehensive account which would be considered authentic by the Western world. Lings' great contribution was that while he remained very close to the sources he cited, notably the recognized authorities on the Seerat or Life of Rasul Allah, his language is extremely readable and idiomatic, thus making the archaic rendering of ancient Arabic understandable, lively and vivid for both layman and scholar. Based on Arabic sources of the eighth and ninth centuries, of which some important passages are translated here for the first time, it owes the freshness and directness of its approach to the words of the men and women who heard the Prophet (pbuh) speak and witnessed the events of his life.

The anecdotes and reports of the Prophet (pbuh)'s dealings with the people around him, his compassion and humaneness, both in directing their daily life and in shaping their relationship with the Creator, bring to life the quality of deep spiritual strength as well as worldly consideration which made the Prophet an Exemplar for all times. The instances of dealing with the all too human characteristics and problems of his Companions; the gift for cutting to the heart of a problem; the ability to understand human frailty and to teach us to beg for forgiveness from the Creator all this make for a deeply satisfying spiritual experience for those who take the time to read this book closely.

Just one example of the myriad instances that abound in the Life, will serve to illustrate the sensitivity and compassion which our beloved Prophet (pbuh) demonstrated time and again. In Chapter XLVII Lings writes that:

"One of the immediate acts of the Prophet upon his return from Badr had been to visit the grave of his daughter Ruqayyah, and Fatimah went with him. This was the first bereavement they had suffered within their closest family since the death of Khadija, and Fatimah was greatly distressed by the loss of her sister. The tears poured from her eyes as she sat beside her father at the edge of the grave, and he comforted her and sought to dry her tears with the corner of his cloak. He had previously spoken against lamentations for the dead but this had led to a misunderstanding, and when they returned from the cemetery the voice of Umar was heard raised in anger against the women who were weeping for the martyrs of Badr and for Ruqayyah. "Umar let then weep," he said. And then he added: "What cometh from the heart and from the eye that is from God and His Mercy, but what cometh from the hand and from the tongue, that is from Satan." By the hand he meant the beating of the breast and the laceration of the cheeks, and by the tongue he meant the vociferous clamour in which all the women joined as a social gesture."

This simple anecdote illustrates the depth of the Prophet (pbuh)'s appreciation for human feelings and emotions even within the context of the discipline, strictures and practices imposed by an uncompromising Faith in the Almighty. Today the world often overlooks the benevolence of Islam and focuses instead on its militancy and vigour.

But Lings is worth reading because an uncomplicated faith shines forth in his writing and that is to my mind the most appealing aspect of this book. Lings has the gift of narrating with fluency and ease and he uses language with a freshness which reflects both the simplicity and the grandeur of the story. The result is something that can be read with equal enjoyment by those familiar with the Prophet's (pbuh) life, and those coming to it for the first time.

This important biography was very well received all over the world even by the more traditional schools of Islamic thought. It was awarded a prize by the government of Pakistan and was selected as the best biography of the Prophet (pbuh) in English at the National Seerat Conference held in 1983 at Islamabad. In 1990, after the book came to the attention of the clerics of the al Azhar University in Cairo, Lings was honoured and decorated by the government of Egypt. Since then the book has been published in almost all the languages of the world and is often cited as a very important source and reference for scholars.

Martin Lings died in May this year after a long life of scholarship and devotion to academic pursuits. His passing was mourned by all those whose lives were illuminated by the insight of his written words. In these troubled times when Islam is under attack all over the world for its so-called extremism Lings' work is well worth a close study for the insight it provides into the true nature and spirit of Islam.

Yasmeen Murshed is a full-time bookworm and a part-time educationist. She is also the founder of Scholastica School.