LIFE OF THE PROPHET |
THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE HISTORY OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD, PEACE BE UPON HIM AND HIS PROGENY29/3/2020 Islam and the history discipline have always been interwoven. In fact, when Western societies were in the early stages of developing their historical practices, Muslim scholars were already recording events with a degree of accuracy and sophistication unmatched by any other historical record [1].
The question is: where is that history? How can we access it? How much do we know about our Holy Prophet (pbuh&hf) beyond trivial facts? How confident are we that we even know these so-called trivial facts? Are we that out of touch with our own history? Well, in some ways we excel more than others. As Shi’ite Muslims, we annually dedicate 60 consecutive days of the year to commemorate history and lament historical figures and events. We create plays and eulogies, we generously volunteer countless hours, book buildings and centres weeks in advance, we open up our homes and cook meals for hundreds of attendees, we adjust our timetables around these events - just to observe these historical practices and learn from the past. Muharram and Safar are thus months rich with national, political, biographic and religious histories. But what about the rest of the year? We must be at least aware of our own history for four reasons:
Sayed Jaafar Al-Amely reflects that the relevance of history to us is that from it we may draw lessons that benefit us [2]. As he sees it, the duty of the historical discipline is to allow us to see with complete accuracy the lives of past communities, and the ideological, economical, societal and political changes they lived through, whereupon we can draw parallels and learn from past events. Sayed Al-Amely wonders how our history, which he argues is the richest set of historical records with a degree of accuracy unmatched by any other, has produced so little books. Many of what we do have is filtered through 'lenses' - historical books were written to empower sultans and kings, had a narrow vision on contextual analysis, and were often sect-driven and politically-charged. Thus, he was inspired to write 35 volumes on the life of the Prophet, then continued with other infallible figures. He sees that Islamic history begins with the life of the Prophet, which is where we shall also begin. Scholars, according to Sayed Nabil Al-Hassani, analyse the life of the Prophet through three approaches: legislative, ideological, and educational [3]. The legislative approach is that from which Islamic Laws are derived, that is, the Shari’a. These laws are extracted from the Prophet's biography in four manners:
An ideological approach is one that recognises the Prophet as a reflection of Allah's (swt) mercy and so through him we derive lessons on what is right and wrong. This is otherwise known as the “Sunnah” of the Prophet. In fact, this was the case with all the Prophets as Allah (swt) has intended for us to learn from all their stories. This is why the Noble Qur’an labels the story of Prophet Yusuf as "the best of narratives" [4], due to the multitude of lessons that can be derived. Lastly, an educational approach to studying the Prophet's life and that of his infallible progeny is so that it becomes a model on which we base our life so that we may commit to the principles that Allah (swt) has decreed upon us, for our own good. Thus, this concludes our first segment of the series. What are your thoughts on why we should (or if you argue the contrary, why we shouldn't) study and/or learn about the Prophet's life? If you have any questions or feedback, be sure to leave them in the comments section. ______________________________________________________ (1) “Al-Sahih min Seerat Al-Naby Al-A'tham” (The Correct History the Greatest Prophet) Vol 1. Sayed Jaafar Murtadha Al-Hussaini Al-Amely. Jame'at al-Mudaresseen, Qom, Iran. pp 12 The legitimacy of a 'hadith thread' in Islamic historical and documentative practice will be discussed in a later post. (2) ibid. pp 12 (3) “A Concise Knowledge of the Prophetic Life History”. Written by Sayed Nabil Al-Hasani, Translated by Haydar Najee Al-Lami. Published by the Department of Intellectual and Cultural Affairs, The Holy Hosaini Shrine, Karbala, Iraq. pp 21-24 (4) The Noble Quran 12:3
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