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Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
Martin Lings’ biography of Muhammad is an internationally acclaimed, comprehensive, and authoritative account of the life of the prophet. Based on the sira, the eighth- and ninth-century Arabic biographies that recount numerous events in the prophet’s life, it contains original English translations of many important passages that reveal the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.
Scrupulous and exhaustive in its fidelity to its sources, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is presented in a narrative style that is easily comprehensible, yet authentic and inspiring in its use of language, reflecting both the simplicity and grandeur of the story it tells. This revised edition includes new sections detailing the prophet’s expanding influence and his spreading of the message of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states. It represents the final updates made to the text before the author’s death in 2005. The book has been published in 12 languages and has received numerous awards, including acknowledgment as best biography of the prophet in English at the National Seerate Conference in Islamabad.
Scrupulous and exhaustive in its fidelity to its sources, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is presented in a narrative style that is easily comprehensible, yet authentic and inspiring in its use of language, reflecting both the simplicity and grandeur of the story it tells. This revised edition includes new sections detailing the prophet’s expanding influence and his spreading of the message of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states. It represents the final updates made to the text before the author’s death in 2005. The book has been published in 12 languages and has received numerous awards, including acknowledgment as best biography of the prophet in English at the National Seerate Conference in Islamabad.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Martin Lings
116 books481 followersMartin Lings was an English writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar. He is best known as the author of a very popular and positively reviewed biography, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, first published in 1983 and still in print.
Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester in 1909 to a Protestant family. The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States due to his father's employment.
Lings attended Clifton College and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford (BA (Oxon) English Language and Literature). At Magdalen he was a student of C. S. Lewis, who would become a close friend of his. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
For Lings himself, however, the most important event that occurred while he was at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of the René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938 Lings went to Basle to make Schuon's acquaintance and he remained Frithjof Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life.
In 1939 Lings went to Cairo, Egypt in order to visit a friend of his who was an assistant of René Guénon. Not long after arriving in Cairo, his friend died and Lings began studying and learned Arabic.
Cairo became his home for over a decade; he became an English teacher at the University of Cairo and produced Shakespeare plays annually. Lings married Lesley Smalley in 1944 and lived with her in a village near the pyramids. Despite having settled comfortably in Egypt, Lings was forced to leave in 1952 after anti-British disturbances.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom he continued his education, earning a BA in Arabic and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). His doctoral thesis became a well-received book on Algerian Sufi Ahmad al-Alawi (see Sufi studies). After completing his doctorate, Lings worked at the British Museum and later British Library, overseeing eastern manuscripts and other textual works, rising to the position of Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts 1970-73. He was also a frequent contributor to the journal, Studies in Comparative Religion.
A writer throughout this period, Lings' output increased in the last quarter of his life. While his thesis work on Ahmad al-Alawi had been well-regarded, his most famous work was a biography of Muhammad, written in 1983, which earned him acclaim in the Muslim world and prizes from the governments of Pakistan and Egypt. His work was hailed as the "best biography of the prophet in English" at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad.[2] He also continued travelling extensively, although he made his home in Kent. He died in 2005.
In addition to his writings on Sufism, Lings was a Shakespeare scholar. His contribution to Shakespeare scholarship was to point out the deeper esoteric meanings found in Shakespeare's plays, and the spirituality of Shakespeare himself. More recent editions of Lings's books on Shakespeare include a Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. Just before his death he gave an interview on this topic, which was posthumously made into the film Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.
Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester in 1909 to a Protestant family. The young Lings gained an introduction to travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States due to his father's employment.
Lings attended Clifton College and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford (BA (Oxon) English Language and Literature). At Magdalen he was a student of C. S. Lewis, who would become a close friend of his. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English.
For Lings himself, however, the most important event that occurred while he was at Oxford was his discovery of the writings of the René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert and those of Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938 Lings went to Basle to make Schuon's acquaintance and he remained Frithjof Schuon's disciple and expositor for the rest of his life.
In 1939 Lings went to Cairo, Egypt in order to visit a friend of his who was an assistant of René Guénon. Not long after arriving in Cairo, his friend died and Lings began studying and learned Arabic.
Cairo became his home for over a decade; he became an English teacher at the University of Cairo and produced Shakespeare plays annually. Lings married Lesley Smalley in 1944 and lived with her in a village near the pyramids. Despite having settled comfortably in Egypt, Lings was forced to leave in 1952 after anti-British disturbances.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom he continued his education, earning a BA in Arabic and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). His doctoral thesis became a well-received book on Algerian Sufi Ahmad al-Alawi (see Sufi studies). After completing his doctorate, Lings worked at the British Museum and later British Library, overseeing eastern manuscripts and other textual works, rising to the position of Keeper of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts 1970-73. He was also a frequent contributor to the journal, Studies in Comparative Religion.
A writer throughout this period, Lings' output increased in the last quarter of his life. While his thesis work on Ahmad al-Alawi had been well-regarded, his most famous work was a biography of Muhammad, written in 1983, which earned him acclaim in the Muslim world and prizes from the governments of Pakistan and Egypt. His work was hailed as the "best biography of the prophet in English" at the National Seerat Conference in Islamabad.[2] He also continued travelling extensively, although he made his home in Kent. He died in 2005.
In addition to his writings on Sufism, Lings was a Shakespeare scholar. His contribution to Shakespeare scholarship was to point out the deeper esoteric meanings found in Shakespeare's plays, and the spirituality of Shakespeare himself. More recent editions of Lings's books on Shakespeare include a Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. Just before his death he gave an interview on this topic, which was posthumously made into the film Shakespeare's Spirituality: A Perspective. An Interview With Dr. Martin Lings.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 17, 2024
Ein allumfassendes Buch, das das Leben von Muhammed saw. chronologisch (was mir persönlich sehr wichtig ist) beleuchtet. Habe gerade gelesen, dass der Autor eine spezielle Affinität zu Shakespeare hatte. Das erklärt dann wohl die Poesie, die sich an machen Stellen untergemischt hat, was ich persönlich sehr schön fand :)
September 4, 2022
Richtig gutes Buch!! Sehr empfehlenswert und mit vielen schönen Details 😍😍😍👍
Für jeden, der mehr über das Leben des Propheten (Pbuh), lernen möchte, auf jeden Fall, ein must read!
Für jeden, der mehr über das Leben des Propheten (Pbuh), lernen möchte, auf jeden Fall, ein must read!
December 2, 2021
In ,, Muhammad : Sein Leben nach den frühstens Quellen " erzählt uns Martin Lings vom Leben des letzten Propheten angefangen bei einem Propheten, der bereits im alten Testament erwähnt wird. Das Buch erschien 2013 beim Verlag Sphor.
Lings beginnt das Buch mit dem Leben Abrahams und arbeitet sich weiter bis zur Geburt Muhammads saw. Wir, die Leser werden durch seine Kindheit, über seine Jugend und hin zu seinem Leben als Erwachsenen geführt.
Dank dem Schreibstil Lings ist man als Leser nicht nur der Beobachter des Geschehens sondern man kann die Gefühle aus dem Buch auch gut nachempfinden.
Wir sehen wie der Muhammad saw langsam zum Erwachsenen heranreift, seine erste Frau Khadija heiratet und später seine erste Offenbarung erhält die ihm das Blut in der Adern gefrieren lässt. Wir sind Teil davon, wir er als geschätzter Mann in seinem Stamm zu geächtetem wird, aber mit Gotteshilfe die Herzen seiner Mitmenschen immer mehr für die neue Religion und sich gewinnt. Die ganzen Geschnisse in diesem Buch werden stets durch Koranverse und Verse aus anderen Religionbüchern, als auch durch ältere biografische und historische Werke sowie Hadithe untermauert.
Der Autor versucht detailliert und genau das Leben des Propheten nachzuerzählen. Die unterschiedlichen Namen einzelner Personen Stämme und Orte haben bei mir jedoch leider etwas zu Verwirrung geführt. Hinten im Buch gibt es jedoch eine Karte und einen Stammbaum, der da nachhelfen kann.
Alles in allem fand ich, dass Buch super interessant. Es ist die erste umfangreiche Biografie zu Muhammad saw, die ich gelesen habe. Zudem hat der Autor den Lesern Des öfteren Bezeichnung und Verse aus dem Koran erläutert und in dem Kontext gesetzt, was ich sehr schön fand.
Lings beginnt das Buch mit dem Leben Abrahams und arbeitet sich weiter bis zur Geburt Muhammads saw. Wir, die Leser werden durch seine Kindheit, über seine Jugend und hin zu seinem Leben als Erwachsenen geführt.
Dank dem Schreibstil Lings ist man als Leser nicht nur der Beobachter des Geschehens sondern man kann die Gefühle aus dem Buch auch gut nachempfinden.
Wir sehen wie der Muhammad saw langsam zum Erwachsenen heranreift, seine erste Frau Khadija heiratet und später seine erste Offenbarung erhält die ihm das Blut in der Adern gefrieren lässt. Wir sind Teil davon, wir er als geschätzter Mann in seinem Stamm zu geächtetem wird, aber mit Gotteshilfe die Herzen seiner Mitmenschen immer mehr für die neue Religion und sich gewinnt. Die ganzen Geschnisse in diesem Buch werden stets durch Koranverse und Verse aus anderen Religionbüchern, als auch durch ältere biografische und historische Werke sowie Hadithe untermauert.
Der Autor versucht detailliert und genau das Leben des Propheten nachzuerzählen. Die unterschiedlichen Namen einzelner Personen Stämme und Orte haben bei mir jedoch leider etwas zu Verwirrung geführt. Hinten im Buch gibt es jedoch eine Karte und einen Stammbaum, der da nachhelfen kann.
Alles in allem fand ich, dass Buch super interessant. Es ist die erste umfangreiche Biografie zu Muhammad saw, die ich gelesen habe. Zudem hat der Autor den Lesern Des öfteren Bezeichnung und Verse aus dem Koran erläutert und in dem Kontext gesetzt, was ich sehr schön fand.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews