Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

A R C H I V E S

REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salahi

Madina Archives


Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board

REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salahi
jannah
11/06/03 at 06:26:54
[slm]

I finally finished this book yesterday. It's 830 pages long!! quite a read... I think I started it in the summer and have been reading it on and off since. I received the book as a gift from a generous brother who really liked the book so not sure how much it sells for.

After finishing the book I have some mixed feelings. I feel like I'm letting go of a friend who I used to turn to, to escape the world every night. The saddest thing was reading about the death of the prophet [saw] last night and then having to close the book.. and feeling like I'm losing my connection with rasulullah [saw].  I think I like reading seerah above all other books for this reason.

So on to the review... there's no doubt Adil Salahi is an excellent writer. Most of you might know him from his columns at Arab news. I think this must be his first venture into literature? and what a first project it is. Indeed he says he started in 1981 and the book was first published in 1995.

There's also no doubt that this book is a gem for Seerah afficianados. It is detailed, thorough and well-written.

I think in writing a biography of the prophet it must be very difficult to decide how to write it. Should it be targeted towards Muslims or NonMuslims? With the voice of a Muslim or an objective bystandard? What should be included, and what shouldn't be?

The author says he "makes no pretence of being 'objective' or to evaluate events in a detached manner" but I think sometimes u can hear the narrator as a believer relating events and at other times he tries to be obective about the events. I think it would be better if he stuck to one but don't know how he would be able to write it because just including certain events/things makes one a 'believer' but as an 'objective narrator' u would leave them out.
For example, 'Isra wal Maraj' -- should it be included as fact or as a claim? What about the miracles of the prophet [saw] and what sources should be used - Muslim or non-Muslim? Does being non-Muslim make u objective? Should Quran and Hadith be included as narrative?  It's kind of a conondrum throughout the book.

I  think the book would be alot more popular and easier to read it if was edited to about half... maybe they could make a mukhtasar for it :) It's not that he's wordy.. there's just alot of information. I think alot of it could be cut out without losing from the seerah.

I also think this is less a biography and more of a book about the events and history that happenned from pre-Islamic times until the death of the prophet [saw] and for some reason it is especially focused on the military happenings and expeditions. The author defends this by saying how "it is impossible to document the Pophet's life without giving due prominence to such military activities. " But I mean there is more to the prophet [saw] than being a military leader. He was also a husband, companion, teacher,  speaker, etc.  A biography should be well-rounded and show the person as they were in all aspects of their life including their personal life.  In this book there's no emphasis or look at the prophet's [saw] personal life, his wive's the people around him, his personality, general things he taught.  

A positive thing here is that it really made me appreciate the aspect of the struggles, fighting and hardships the Muslims went through in terms of fighting their enemies whereas some other biographies might gloss over them.

Lastly and this is part of the conondrum, there is very little mention of the Quran and wahy and how it affected events and how things happenned and  flowed. And I don't think you can discount this, even if you're trying to 'be objective'.

And oh yeah once, just once somehow as an aside a comparison is drawn between modern America and Quraish or something like that? And I just think a book on Seerah should stay out of modern-day politics unless it's a book on drawing on the seerah to show us lessons for today.

11/06/03 at 06:28:09
jannah
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
Mohja
11/06/03 at 12:24:42
[slm]

Jazaki Allahu kheyran for the review jannah. I've been contemplating whether to get this book so now i know what to expect, more or less.

However regarding this

[quote]
But I mean there is more to the prophet  than being a military leader. He was also a husband, companion, teacher,  speaker, etc.  A biography should be well-rounded and show the person as they were in all aspects of their life including their personal life.  In this book there's no emphasis or look at the prophet's  personal life, his wive's the people around him, his personality, general things he taught.  
[/quote]

Have you read any good seerah book that discusses this aspect of his life that you can recommend?  Did you read fiqhul seerah by mohammad al-ghazali? if yes how was it?
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
jannah
11/08/03 at 03:59:09
w'salaam wrt wbt

i don't want to give anyone a bad impression!!! this book is the most comprehensive, most well written seerah in the English language. it is important for those who study seerah and are only English speakers to read books like this.

Amal to answer your question I don't think you can get that all-aspects-of-the prophet [saw] covered from any one book. To understand the prophet [saw] and his personality and to really understand why he was chosen over all creation takes alot of study and alot of books ;) I think for people starting out Zakaria Bashier or Raheeq al Makhtum are good books on Seerah.  Reading Hadith and companions stories, wives of the Prophet [saw] give u still more insight on the prophet [saw]

I do have Fiqh-us-Seerah by Muhammad al-Ghazali. I also have Fiqh-us-Seerah by Sh. Ramadan Bouty. (Can u tell I'm a seerah fan?)
The difference between Fiqh-us-Seerah books and regular Seerah is that the Fiqh one's will have only brief mentions of events and things and then will go into the lessons or fiqh rulings that can be derived from the events.  Seerah itself might sometimes include these lessons and some rare fiqh but they're mostly about the story itself. I've read Sh. Ramadan's in entirety. It's great of course...no doubt much better in the original Arabic...he makes a lot of very interesting points on the Seerah especially in relation to what other Seerah writers have written and some things wrong people have said/done. Sh. Muhammad al-Ghazali for some reason I think I read but a loong time ago like 5+ years ago.  If u've read M.Al-Ghazali before ie. Dua&Remembrance u'll know his style. He just brings up alot of out there interesting points. Well I could go on and on bout this stuff but...I think by now most ppl are snoozing :) so salaam
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
Aadhil
11/09/03 at 01:08:54
[slm]all and  []

Ive got access to a whole lot of books(I work in a Bookstore), so maybe I should start giving reviews :).

Regarding that Book, Muhammad [saw], Man and Prophet, we got it in the bookstore, and it was recommended to us by Anwar Al Awlaki. Ustadh Suhaib went up on the Minbar on a Friday, and raising the book above his head, bellowed ''You gotta buy this book'' That very day the whole stock (50 or so copies) got sold. We reordered another 50 copies and it got sold again in two days. The only person who returned the book to us was a person who already had that book......SO it must be good!
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
jannah
12/02/03 at 04:25:08
[wlm]

Would anyone like to add anything to this review before it goes in the ARK?
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
se7en
12/10/03 at 07:18:03
as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,

I'm on like the 15th chapter.. it is a very good and comprehensive book masha'Allah..

just a few observations :

-- Adil Salahi writes in a very clear and straight forward manner.. no clever turn of phrase, waxing poetic, and the like.. this can be a positive or a negative, depending on what you personally prefer..

However I cannot over emphasize how awesome it is to have books in english that are well written, organized, well researched and well edited.. :)

-- In the introduction to the book, the author says that he does not wish to respond to any accusations directed towards the prophet [saw] explicitly, but simply wishes to put forward the accurate and truthful story of the seerah, and let it speak for itself..  along with this, it seems to me that Salahi also avoids delving into questions or issues that have arisen about certain events in the seerah..  I think that if you're someone with some background knowledge about the seerah, there are times where you'll think "but what about this other thing that I heard happened?" or "isn't there a difference of opinion on that?"  etc.   but this also has its positive side.. in that you can immerse yourself in the life of Rasulullah [saw] without being distracted by commentary.. in the absence of such tangents you can really focus on the narrative.

--  I liked a lot of the observations that Salahi elaborates on in terms of the events that occured.. there were a lot of things that I had never really picked up on before or thought of from the perspective presented.  Instead of a simple chronological march forward in the life of Rasulullah [saw], Salahi takes the time to discuss the factors and ramifications of certain events and occurences.. Salahi's observations seem to assess things on a historical, macro-cosmic, societal level, as opposed to a more personal take on the prophet [saw] and his companions and their lives.

-- Adil Salahi also mentions in the introduction that he will not dwell on the personal life of the prophet Muhammad [saw], in terms of intimate details.. this absence is something I really felt while reading the book.  I understand that this was the methodology Salahi chose to use, and I felt that the book really was in accordance to his vision -- but at the same time, I really missed learning *about* Rasulullah [saw].  As Jannah said, it seemed that it was more about the occurences of the *life* of Rasulullah [saw], than about him personally.

I don't think this is a defect in the book in terms of its scholarship and inherent value.. but I think that as a Muslim reader, to get a more comprehensive understanding of the seerah you would need to read Salahi's book along with other books of seerah, like, for example, Qadi Iyad's ash-Shifaa, which goes into deep detail on the character and disposition of Rasulullah [saw].

Masha'Allah.. I would give it 7.5/10 []'s  ... excellent overall in its research, amazing depth, and comprehensiveness, but minus some for its political orientation (that I personally did not favor) and its scholarly dispassion towards the personal details of the life of Rasullah [saw].


May Allah reward the author for his efforts, time and work.

wasalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah :-)
12/10/03 at 07:49:43
se7en
Re: REVIEW: Muhammad Man and Prophet by Adil Salah
rajullunyas-aa
01/14/04 at 11:35:14
[slm],
how can i get this book please for Rasulullah [saw] sake?


Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
A R C H I V E S

Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author.
The rest © Jannah.Org