The Prophet as a Perfect Model

THE MESSENGER: THE MEANINGS OF THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD. By Tariq Ramadan. London, Penguin, 2008. Pp. 242. ISBN: 978-0-141-02855-2.

THE LEADERSHIP OF MUHAMMAD. By John Adair. London, Kogan Page, 2010. Pp. 127. ISBN: 978-07494-6076-1.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH LITERATURE, 1650 TO THE PRESENT. By Ahmad Gunny. Leicester, UK, Islamic Foundation, 2010. Pp. 268. ISBN: 978-0-86037-478-7.

MUHAMMAD AND THE BELIEVERS AT THE ORIGINS OF ISLAM. By Fred M. Donner. Cambridge, MA, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010. Pp. 280. ISBN: 978-0-674-05097-6.

Islam as a faith is a call to submit to the sovereignty of Allah and to attain peace. It is to promote the realisation of the Primordial Contract between Man (Adam) and God. The most noble exemplar of the human bid to submit to Divine Will and to create moral order in History, to be God’s servant ([Abd) and Deputy (Khalifah) at the same time, is without question the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Just as Islamic piety and devotion is nothing but imitating the Prophet’s model (Sunnah), Islamic consciousness is nothing but a reflection on his life and mission (Sirah). Needless to say, the Prophet is the mirror through which the Ummah recognises its own visage and discovers its calling. Our generation is no different as these recent works on Sirah amply testify. The Muslim’s dialogue with the Prophet and seeking guidance from his noble example is as intense and vigorous as ever.