The slow progress of this work in its original serialized form has helped me understand certain aspects of the Islamic faith which are often overlooked. These are bound to have a profound influence on the thinking of the Islamic revivalist movement if they are properly studied. I have attempted to share these with my readers, in as much as the line I have followed in relating this history allows. What I can say in this introductory note is that many Muslim countries would have been spared much of the internal political conflict in which advocates of Islam were involved, had the sīrah (i.e. the Prophet’s personal and public history) been better studied and understood by Muslims generally. To say that Islam dislikes all types of war and approves of it only as a last resort, when the very existence of Islam or its basic principles are threatened, is no more than a statement of basic facts. Islam has an even greater dislike of armed conflict, and indeed of all types of strife within its home base or in populated areas. This can be clearly seen in several main events, such as the emigration to Abyssinia and the peace agreement at al-Ḥudaybiyah. Both are related in detail in this book.
Relations between Europe and Islam have always been the opposite of what we generally associate with good neighbourliness. Even today, with the principles of democracy firmly enshrined in Europe, as well as a broad-minded understanding of human rights, there remains a sense of mistrust underlining these relations. While long drawn-out conflicts such as the Crusades and the hostility between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the European imperialism in wide areas of the Muslim World, are bound to leave lingering prejudices, increased contacts between the East and the West, brought about by the jet age, should have been enough to remove those traces and build a solid friendly relationship. Instead we find that the mistrust not only persists, but also widens in scope so as to include the whole of Europe and North America on one side and the whole Muslim World on the other. As I worked on this book, I became increasingly aware that perhaps the main reason for this mistrust has been a lingering misunderstanding of Islam by the West. Over the years, this misunderstanding has been sustained by Orientalists whose approach in their study of Islam was far from objective. Unfortunately, it is easy to quote out of context, or to utilize a particular aspect of a historical event, in order to misrepresent a great religion and a human philosophy. This has been characteristic of numerous writings on Islam by Western authors. When such writings happen to touch on the Prophet personally, Muslims find them greatly offensive and totally indefensible.
My long stay in England, stretching over 22 years, has given me a feeling that the West’s misunderstanding of Islam is due to ignorance rather than prejudice. I have met many people who had the chance to know the people of the Middle East at close range, and consequently to know about Islam. Invariably, these people are ready to express their profound respect for the Islamic faith. It is unfortunate that nowadays, we in the Middle East, and in the Muslim World generally, have a very good chance of getting to know the West and its culture, but seem to be content with this one-way traffic. There is little serious attempt to redress the balance so that we can be better understood in the West. Moreover, the fact that the Western culture enjoys a position of great strength gives it an understandable feeling of self-sufficiency and an air of superiority. Hence the seemingly arrogant attitude that the West could gain little by understanding the East, while the East will benefit immensely by understanding the West. However, most educated people in the West would not approve of such an attitude, because it is contrary to many of their professed principles. Hence, a serious and sustained effort to clarify all aspects of misunderstanding of Islam by the West is needed. When the serialization of this book was still in progress in Arab News, I became increasingly aware that many misunderstandings of Islam by the West could be cleared up if the West could get to know the personality and the life of the Prophet Muhammad better. That strengthened my feeling that an in-depth study of the Prophet’s personality, lifestyle, message, work, actions and the state he established, should be made available to Western readers. This book is a humble attempt to make such a task easier. It makes no pretence of being ‘objective’, or trying to evaluate events in a detached manner. I do not think that such an ‘objective’ study serves that purpose. This book is written by a committed author who does not see that there is anything to be gained by such detachment. On the contrary, I believe that there is much that the West could learn about Islam if it is able to look at it through the eyes of a Muslim. If Western readers feel after reading this book that they have a better understanding of Islam and have acquired an insight into how Muslims formulate their ideas and arrive at their conclusions, then my purpose is achieved. If not, the fault is entirely mine.
Keeping this objective in mind, I have made no attempt to reply to specific claims or views advanced by Orientalist scholars. I am sure that much needs to be done in this area, but I feel that it is more important to present the Islamic point of view, without being entangled in side issues or disputes. However, I have fully discussed events which have aroused recurring historical controversy. Many of these were the cause of dispute at the time of the Prophet. Others were manipulated by people hostile to Islam, belonging to all shades of the religious and the political spectrum. In all these, I state the standard Islamic view in detail, trying to elucidate it as much as possible.
This book also aims at another, totally different type of reader. For several decades, Muslims have been coming to Europe seeking work and a better standard of living. Thus, new Muslim communities have established themselves in several European countries. As time passes and new generations of Muslims grow up, these Muslim communities find their contacts growing steadily weaker with the places from where their parents came. These Muslim communities are fast becoming ethnic European minority communities. As they try to preserve their Islamic identity, they feel the need to read about Islam in their native, European languages. I sincerely hope that this book goes part of the way in meeting a definite need to have a reference work in English on the life of the Prophet elucidating the Islamic point of view.
There was a persistent thought in my mind as I wrote and reviewed successive drafts of this book. As readers will realize, there were events in which the Prophet took certain measures and adopted certain attitudes which are at variance with the standards of what we call ‘modern civilization’. Some of these were indeed criticized by the enemies of Islam at that time. We find that in many of these events, the Qur’ān defends or supports the Prophet’s action with absolute clarity. As is well known, the Qur’ān is God’s word, revealed part after part to the Prophet as and when God deemed fit. Its revelation took the whole of the 23 years from the time when Muhammad (peace be upon him) was told that God had chosen him as His Messenger to mankind to the time when he completed his mission and passed away to be in the companionship of his Lord. A clear statement of support to the Prophet in the Qur’ān means that God Himself gives him His backing. It is not difficult for anyone who wishes to criticize Islam, or the Prophet who conveyed its message to mankind, to pinpoint such events and then refer to the Qur’ānic support the Prophet received over them and insinuate that such support was particularly convenient to the Prophet, implying that he finds the idea of Divine revelation unconvincing. Such a view may be understandable if it can be shown that Qur’ānic revelations consistently supported the Prophet in all events and over all issues. The fact is that such support was given only when it was merited. There were other events and other measures adopted by the Prophet which earned criticism, disapproval or even censure in the Qur’ān. Some of these are not related in this history because they are rather personal in nature. Others, like the strong criticism of the Prophet’s policy over the captives at the Battle of Badr are explained in detail.
Moreover, we find that at times, Qur’ānic revelations demanded that the Prophet should do certain things which he found extremely difficult. His marriage to Zaynab bint Jaḥsh provides the clearest example. At times, we find the Prophet adopting attitudes in his personal and family life that are dictated by his faith. His own personal preferences do not appear to be a factor influencing his decisions. A clear example of these events is that which relates to his eldest daughter, Zaynab, and