The Life of Muhammad

THE

LIFE OF MUHAMMAD

BY THE

REV. CANON SELL, D.D., M.R.A.S.

FELLOW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

AUTHOR OF 'THE FAITH OF ISLAM', 'THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUR'AN', 'BAHAISM', 'ISLAM: ITS RISE

AND PROGRESS', 'THE RECENSIONS OF THE QUR'AN', 'THE CULT OF 'ALI', 'OUTLINES OF ISLAM'

THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETY FOR INDIA

LONDON, MADRAS AND COLOMBO 1913

PRINTED AT THE S. P. C. K. PRESS, VEPERY, MADRAS

1913

PREFACE

IN this book no important subjects in the life of the Arabian Prophet have been overlooked, and some, indeed, have been treated very fully. I have based my statement of facts upon original authorities and in my deductions therefrom have tried to be fair and impartial. I have given some prominence to what has been called the 'political factor', as I think it has been too much overlooked. Certain modern Muslim writers of the liberal school now growing up in India have produced defences (which may be termed apologies) of certain events of importance; these I have dealt with at considerable length. I have used the better authenticated Traditions, for, after all, it is Muhammad, as revealed in his life and character in the Traditions, whom the Muslim people know and revere. For this use I have the authority of so great an oriental scholar as the late Emmanuel Deutch who in his famous article on Islam has said: 'If we make use of the Sunna for our purpose no one will blame us. This "Midrash" of Muhammadanism, as we should call these traditional records of the Prophet's sayings

vi

PREFACE

and doings, both in the legendary and juridical sense of the word, has, albeit in exalted tones and colours often, told us much of his outer and inner life. Used with the same patient care with which all documents are used by the impartial historian, it yields precious information.' 1

In order to save space I refer in the foot notes, under the names of their respective authors, to the following books:--

Muir, Life of Mahomet (ed. London, 1861); D. S. Margoliouth, Mohammad; Dr. Koelle, Mohammad and Mohammadanism; At-Tabari, Tarikhu'r-Rusul-wa'l-Milul (De Goeje'e Edition, 1882); The Rt. Hon. Syed Amir 'Ali, The Life and Teachings of Mohammad (ed. 1891); Maulavi Cheragh 'Ali, Critical Exposition of Jihad; Muhammad bin Khavendshah bin Mahmud,2 Raudatu's-Safa (ed. Lucknow, 1904); Baidawi, Commentary on the Qur'an (ed. Leipsic, 1848); and Masudi, Muruju'dh-Dhahab (ed. Paris, 1864).

The Traditions recorded in the Sahihu'l-Bukhari are quoted from the Faidu'l-Bari (Lahore ed. A.H. 1318), which gives them with an Urdu translation.

1 Literary Remains of Emmanuel Deutch (ed. 1874), p. 70. 2 This author is commonly called Mirkhund, which name I use.

PREFACE

vii

I refer to them under the name Bukhari. The Traditions recorded in the Jami'u't-Tirmidhi (Lucknow ed. 1903) are referred to under Tirmidhi. My own Historical Development of the Qur'an (3rd ed. S. P. C. K., London and Madras), I refer to as H.D. Qur'an. In the case of all the other books I give the names in full. I have used the Madras edition (A.H. 1274) of the Mishkatu'l-Masabih The quotations from Ibn Hisham are made from Muir's Life of Mahomet, which is a guarantee of their accuracy. I have adopted Rodwell's translation for all verses quoted from the Qur'an.

I have not given an exposition of the dogmas of Islam, as it does not fall within the scope of this work. I have dealt exhaustively with that subject in my Faith of Islam (3rd ed. S. P. C. K., London and Madras).

In other books I have already written on some of the subjects contained in this one. In such cases I have not hesitated to use passages taken from such writings of my own.

MADRAS, January, 1913.

EDWARD SELL.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download