www.fahmedeen.org www.practiseislam.org Contents Translator’s Note .............................................................................................................................. 2 FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Foreword to the Third Edition ..................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Lecture 1. Prophets of Allah: The Only Ideals for Mankind ............................................... 8 Lecture 2. The Life of Prophet Muhammad - the Most Comprehensive and Eternal Model................................................................................................................................................. 19 Lecture 3. The Historic Aspect of Prophet Muhammad’s Life ....................................... 32 Lecture 4. The Perfectness of the Holy Prophet’s Life ..................................................... 50 Lecture 5. The Comprehensiveness of the Holy Prophet’s Life .................................... 67 Lecture 6. The Practical Aspect of Prophet Muhammad’s Life and its Practicability ............................................................................................................................................................. 82 Lecture 7. The Message of the Holy Prophet of Islam ................................................... 100 Lecture 8. Practice Based on the Teachings of Prophet Muhammad ...................... 116 Page 1 www.fahmedeen.org www.practiseislam.org Translator’s Note This translation of Syed Sulaiman Nadwi’s “Khutbat-e-Madras” is dedicated to the western world in particular and all users of English language in general. It is a well acknowledged fact that the western world has generally shown a hostile attitude towards Islam. But that attitude is now showing visible signs of change. Although Islam is still being portrayed by the western media as a threat and ‘extremist fundamentalism”, in the words of the of the Reader’s Digest it is “the world’s fastest growing religion.” Many prominent social and political leaders of the western world have begun to admit the importance of Islam for humanity and that there is a need to study it impartially and objectively in order to have a greater understanding of Islam and the Muslim world. At this point, it would be logical to say that a proper understanding of Islam can come only through original Islamic sources. As the readers of this book will notice, an immense amount of literature about the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) is available in different languages of the world besides Arabic. It is our belief that Syed Suleiman Nadwi’s ‘Khutbat-e- Madras” is, perhaps, the best book to introduce the Prophet of Islam and the message of Islam to the western world. When Syed Sulaiman Nadwi was preparing the material for this book he had in mind basically a non-Arab, non- Muslim audience. He was in a unique position to introduce the Prophet of Islam because he had already co authored a seven-volume biography of the holy Prophet which is highly regarded in the Muslim world for its scholarly merits. Compared to this biography the present book seems like a bottle of perfume extracted from tons of flowers. Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi, who is one of the most prominent scholars of Islam at the present time, a teacher, an author and a historian, well known in both the Arab and non-Arab world, says about this book that it is a miracle of scholarship. It was a rare good fortune of this translator to meet Sheikh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi (who was passing through Al-Khobar on his way back from Makkah) and show this translation to him for his approval. He wrote a very gracious letter from India with his appreciation and comments, some of which might be relevant here: “…Syed Sulaiman Nadwi‘s “Khutbat-e-Madras” holds a unique position in the literature about the holy Prophet (Peace be upon him). Without lessening the importance of this valuable treasure which has been produced over the last fourteen centuries, I would like to say that the present world needs a series of articles to explain the universal nature of the message which the holy Prophet’s biography extends to all mankind, particularly its Page 2 www.fahmedeen.org www.practiseislam.org relevance to the complexities of the ever-advancing modern life. It is the need of time that Syed Sulaiman Nadwi‘s great book should be translated into different languages so that its benefit should reach the whole world. I congratulate you for translating it into English. I pray to Almighty Allah for the success of your effort with the hope that it may kindle the light of faith all over the world…” [Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi, Lucknow, India, 24 May, 1996]. In conclusion, I would like to say that Islam, which literally means peace, guarantees a life of peace and prosperity in this temporary world and a life of everlasting peace and joy in the next world. It is a message from Allah, the Creator of man, to man for his eternal success. We hope and pray that Almighty Allah, Most Gracious and Merciful, make this book a means towards understanding this message and grant us His Pleasure and Mercy in this life and the hereafter. Syed Riazul Hassan Dammam, Saudi Arabia 30th July, 1996 Page 3 www.fahmedeen.org www.practiseislam.org FOREWORD The following few lectures about different aspects of the life of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) were delivered under the patronage of the Muslim Educational Society of Madras, India, in 1925. For the past few years, it has been a regular practice in Madras that every year some distinguished scholar of Christianity gives lectures on Christianity and Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him), which are received with great interest. This gave the idea to certain well educated Muslims of Madras that a similar attempt should be made for the benefit of the Muslim students of English-medium schools there. Every year, the services of a Muslim scholar should be acquired to give lectures about Islam and the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him), and these lectures should suit the taste of the students of English-medium schools and appeal to the modern mind. Fortunately, Seth M. Jamal Mohammad took upon himself to sponsor these lectures and it is hoped that his good work will continue for a long time to come and this series of the “Islamic Lectures of Madras” will be popular and fruitful. I feel privileged that I was the first to be chosen for this noble and extremely important task. Eight lectures were held at Laly Hall, Madras, beginning in October, 1925, and were completed in the last week of November. I am grateful to Seth Hameed Hassan, Secretary of the Muslim Education Society, who made all the arrangements, including the announcements and the English translation of these lectures. I am also grateful to the Muslims of Madras for their patient hearing and appreciation of the lectures some of which lasted for nearly three hours. The non-Muslims too, deserve my thanks who in their search for truth attended these meetings despite the fact that Urdu is not their native language. I extend my gratitude to the Urdu and English newspapers of Madras for publishing weekly a summary of my lectures in their columns. Daily Express and The Hindu of Madras deserve a special mention in this regard who generously devoted their columns for the English translation of these lectures. Finally, while I present these lectures in the written form, I bow my head in humble gratitude to Almighty Allah, asking for His acceptance and Mercy and that He may grant me the sincerity of purpose in presenting this work to the readers. Seeking Allah’s Mercy, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi Desna, Bihar December, 1925 Page 4 www.fahmedeen.org www.practiseislam.org Foreword to the Third Edition All praise be to Allah, who has granted immense popularity to these lectures which were written rather hastily. They were received with equal enthusiasm and warmth by all classes of Muslim society and were read with great adoration. It is only due to Allah’s Grace and Kindness that they have become so popular and beneficial, and are vastly read in schools and in religious gatherings all over the country. In the course of these lectures, there has come a certain inevitable comparison between the life and personality of Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) and of other prophets of Allah, which is permissible. However, it must be borne in mind that on such occasions the comparison has been made by way of argument and is in reply to what the non-Muslims believe about certain prophets and what has been written about their personalities in their own religious books. As far as the Islamic point of view is concerned every prophet of Allah had the purest of character, was infallible in his conveyance of the Divine message and was an ideal personality for the guidance of mankind. In spite of the differences in recording their life histories due to different times and different abilities of the biographers, their real personalities remain above and beyond all criticism and fault finding. These lectures were first published in 1926, while I was in the Hejaz, from an unrevised draft. The same thing happened with the second edition. I have been able to revise the third edition but still it cannot be claimed that a man’s every