Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

"The reason this particular biography is so well respected by the Muslim community is that it was the first one written by someone who is a Muslim whose native tongue is English but is able to access the original Arabic sources—the sources closest to the time of the Prophet. Ling primarily bases this book on eighth- and ninth-century sources, such as the early historian Ibn Ishāq. He also uses the earliest collections of Hadith, including the most respected one by Imam Bukhārī. On occasion, he even references the Bible. As a result, many of us Muslims in the Western hemisphere who are unable to access those sources, absolutely loved this glimpse of the Prophet’s life through them, especially because Lings writes well, making it a wonderful and comprehensive narration of his life. Since then, others have also written wonderful biographies of Muhammad and these usually use Lings as a source. We’ll talk about one of those authors shortly. But at that time, it was like, finally! Somebody was writing the Prophet’s biography from a Muslim perspective in the English language and it wasn’t polemic. Lings is clearly a believer, and some people may have issues with some of his statements because they can’t be verified by non-Muslim sources, though that is unfortunately a matter of circumstance. Historians will tell you, much of Muhammed’s life is unverifiable in the modern academic sense because most sources we rely on are Muslim ones, although there are a few Persian, Byzantine sources. “By fasting and observing abstinence, you start to recognise you don’t need as much” As this is an interview about Ramadan, I should mention that one of my favourite sections is the beautifully detailed and almost ‘intimate’ narration of the most important day in Ramadan, Lay laytul Qadr— the Night of Power—when Muhammad received the first ever Qur’anic revelations from the angel Gabriel, that is, God spoke directly to him. Lings offers a detailed description of how Muhammad would retreat to the cave on Mount Hira to meditate and reflect, and how he had already begun to get an inkling that something was about to happen; we hear Muhammad’s doubts; his fear of being ‘possessed’—how he seeks out and confides in his wife, and his concerns, when the revelations briefly stop soon after, that he may have inadvertently displeased the Divine. It is a powerful glimpse into the most powerful night for Muslims. What people also loved about this book is the way Lings connects the Prophet’s narrative to that of Ibrahim, contextualising it within the wider Abrahamic timeline. I’m sure people will find more recent books they prefer, but the fact that this was beautifully written, uses primary sources, and by a believer— one who understands the expectations of a western readership—is why it was so highly respected on both sides of the fence."