Gentlemen! Every religion has shown to human beings how they could become worthy of achieving God’s love, and that usually meant following the good advice of the founder or the prophet of that particular religion. But Islam has done still better. It presents the practical example of its Prophet to everyone. The means to receiving God’s love is through following His Prophet example in every undertaking of life. Therefore, Islam is based on two things: the word of God and its application as shown in the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The word of God, or the Kitab means the Commandment of Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and Sunnah, the Arabic term stands for the holy Prophet’s practice. Literally, it means the ‘way”, therefore, Sunnah is the way how the Prophet lived following Allah’s Commands. It is the practical example of the holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) that has been completely and fully preserved in the books of the Prophet’s traditions. In short, a Muslim’s success and spiritual flulfilment lies in following the holy Prophet’s Sunnah.

My dear friends! The subject of today’s lecture is the perfectness of a biography. No life can serve as a model unless it shows perfectness in all aspects, even if it were based on historically sound and reliable sources. No life can be adjudged perfect and free of all shortcomings unless all its details are available to us. Looking at the life of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) from this perspective, we find that every significant moment of his life from birth to death was known to the people of his time, and since then has been preserved in the history of the world. There has not been a single span of time from his whole life that remained unknown to his people.

Let us now consider the life of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) in the light of the four criteria set forth in our pervious talk.The first one is “historicity”. In this regard, the whole world agrees and marvels at the way the followers of Islam have meticulously preserved not only the record of their Prophet’s life but also everything even remotely concerned with his noble personality. There have been narrators and biographers who devoted their life in collecting, recording, classifying and narrating the Prophets sayings, his deeds and everything related to his life. These biographers include his own worthy companions who were his direct disciples, and then those who learnt from them, and then the generation coming immediately after them. In addition, the collectors of the holy Prophet’s sayings and his traditions and his biographers include persons up to 4th century since the Prophet’s migration to Madinah. When all this heritage was collected, written and arranged, the personal information about each narrator was also recorded which included such important features as the narrator’s name and family background, his life history, his moral and ethical conduct, etc. The number of these biographical notes is nearly one hundred thousand. This collection is known as Asma-ur-Rijal.

Only the noble and the ideal life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) can be a universal and eternal example for mankind to follow.

Hadhrat Abdullah bin Umar (Kadhiyallaho anho) narrates that he heard the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) saying:

“Islam is founded on five pillars: bearing witness that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) is His servant and apostle: establishment of salaat: paying of Zakaat; performance of Hajj: and fasting in Ramadhaan.”

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL.

“We glorify Allah and ask blessings on and salute His noble Prophet, his companions and those who follow him in upholding the cause of the right religion.”

Certain commentators have written that whoever invites people to Allah through any means deserves the honour mentioned in the above verse. For instance, the prophets call people to Allah by means of miracles. and supernatural actions, the scholars invite them by preaching and arguments, the Muslim warriors (mujahids) call them by means of the sword: and the muazzins call them ‘by means of the azaan. In short, whoever invites people to good deeds deserves this reward, whether he calls them to the formal observances of Islam or to the internal improvements of the spirit, like the mystics who stress the purification of the heart and the realization of Allah’s attributes.
In the concluding verse quoted above some commentators say such a person should also be proud of the honour bestowed on him by Allah, of being categorised as a Muslim, and he should proclaim this honour in words.
Some other commentators interpret that he should not be proud of being a preacher, but should consider himself as an ordinary Muslim.

We praise Him, and we ask His blessings on His noble Prophet.

The life around us is full of all kinds of wonders. Scattered in the world are different creatures with distinct qualities and characteristics. A close look at Allah’s creation shows that from inanimate things to the human beings there has been a gradual progress of sense, perception and will. The basic forms of inorganic matter show a complete lack of sense and perception. Some other kinds of material show a faint trace of some kind of life. In growing plants involuntary presence of senses can be felt. In the animal world along with the senses there is some kind of will. In human beings, the power to control their thoughts, actions and desires makes them the most responsible of all created beings. The degree of responsibility in other creatures is proportional to the degree of free will given to them. The inorganic things are entirely free from all responsibility. Plants are subject to the laws of life and death. In the animal world, the responsibilities are increased further but it is mankind that is bound by obligations all over. Within their own kind, the mentally ill, the idiots and children on the one side and the adults, the learned, and the intellectuals on the other have to bear the burden of responsibility according to the power of perception and will present in them.

Gentlemen! After a period of fifteen years I have got this opportunity to come here at the request of the Muslim Education Society, and present to you different aspects of the life of the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) in the form of eight lectures which will be delivered in eight different meetings in the following order.

1. The perfection of human spirit can be achieved only through following the ideal life of a Prophet of Allah.

2. The life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the most comprehensive and eternal model for mankind.