Seerah-Life of the Prophet by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda

Welcome to Seerah Pearls, which aims to highlight some tantalising learning points from each episode of the Seerah- Life of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

So what is ‘Seerah’? The word linguistically means ‘a path’, ‘to walk in a particular direction’. More figuratively, it refers to someone’s life biography. Specifically, Seerah refers to the Prophetic biography. It includes everything from the occurrences in the life the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), from his daily practices, attributes, physical characteristics, mannerisms, expeditions, to family life.

Why study Seerah? It goes hand-in-hand with the study of the Quran. The Quran itself states that there is not a better example than the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) himself:

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often. (Quran 33:21)

This series hopes to be different from dry, factual studies, or ‘superhero-tales’, which we may feel we cannot ever aspire to: it aims to humanise the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam)  and provide eternal practical lessons for every-day life, as well as engender love for the best of humankind. How can you possibly love someone you do not know?

Further discussion is pursued about the benefits of studying the Seerah: it aids our understanding of the Quran, as the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) makes the Quran come to life.

His (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) perfect example gives us the ultimate role model to emulate in our interactions with all demographics of society: children, youth, women, non-Muslims, students and family members to name a few. Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) juggled all this, on top of the epic responsibility of being the Messenger of God.

No human being’s life has been documented like his. Reports are so detailed as to describe physical features, like the light tan colour of his skin, his broad, welcoming face and his dark, almost black eyes, to his perfect conduct and character e.g. he was always concerned about the condition of the people, he did not talk unnecessarily, but was always the first to give salaam, and when conversing, he would turn his body fully to face people.

This section also covers resources to supplement the study of the Seerah, including Ibn Ishaq’s ‘Sirat Rasul Allah’ (The Life of Muhammad), Ibn Kathir’s ‘Al Bidayah Wa Al Nihayah’ (The Beginning and the End), Martin Lings’ ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources’, ‘Fiqh Us-Seerah’ by Muhammad Al-Ghazali, and ‘The Sealed Nectar’ by Safiur Rahman Mubarukpuri.

Source: http://www.qalaminstitute.org/

Abdul Nasir Jangda is the founder and director of Qalam Institute.  He was born and raised in the Dallas area. At the age of 10 he went to Karachi, Pakistan to memorize the Quran. He excelled in his memorization and committed the entire Quran to memory in less than 1 year. He then returned home and continued his school education. After graduating from High School, he went back to Karachi to study the Alim Course at Jamia Binoria. He graduated from the rigorous 7 year program in 2002 at the top of his class and with numerous Ijaazaat (Licenses) in various Islamic Sciences. Along with the Alim Course he concurrently completed a B.A. and M.A. in Arabic from Karachi University. He also obtained a Masters in Islamic Studies from the University of Sindh.  He taught Arabic at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2005 to 2007. He has served as an instructor and curriculum advisor to various Islamic schools and Islamic studies programs. He served as the Imam at the Colleyville Masjid in the Dallas area for 3 years. He is a founding member and chairman of Mansfield Islamic Center. Abdul Nasir’s class “Meaningful Prayer” has traveled the country and been taught to thousands of students online globally.

His latest projects include Quran Intensive (a summer program focusing on Arabic grammar and Tafsir), Quranic analysis lectures, Khateeb Training, chronicling of the Prophetic Biography at www.qalaminstitute.org, and personally mentoring and teaching his students at the Qalam Seminary.