Dr.

Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 3 - Why study the Seerah? &

Pre-Islamic Arabia

What is Seerah?
We are in the process of doing introductory lectures before actually jumping into the life and times
of the Prophet
. These introductory lectures comprise of background information and motivation
for why we should be studying the Seerah. So today insh'Allh ta'la we shall begin by discussing
what exactly is the Seerah and why we should study it. We'll try to mention something about preIslamic Arabia.
Before we begin with the birth of the Prophet
, we need to describe the world in his time. So we're
going to begin by doing that today and continue for the next week or two. We begin by describing
the word Seerah. What does the word Seerah mean? The word Seerah comes from the Arabic
word/verb: Saara Yaseeru/Sairan, which means to traverse or to journey. The verb Seerah actually
comes from the verb 'to travel' and the reason why it is called the Seerah of a person is because it
means the biography of a person you are travelling his journey, you are walking in his path following
his footsteps. So when we study the life and times of the Prophet
, it is as if we are following in
his footsteps, as if we are travelling in his journey. That is why the biography of a person is called
the Seerah.
Even though the Arabs would call the Seerah the biography of any person, as soon as the Prophet
came, the Muslim scholars exclusively used it for the biography of the best human being. And so
no scholar says Seerah except that he means the biography of, the life and times of our Prophet
Muhammad
. Now in order to understand the Seerah of the Prophet
, you don't begin with his
birth, you must begin with the world at that time; that is why every single book of Seerah from the
classical books, up until the modern ones, have the introductory sections. And we're going to begin
with that today after we summarize some of the benefits of studying the Seerah.
Why study Seerah?
Why study the Seerah? Why spend our time coming here to understand the Seerah of the Prophet
?
The benefits are numerous. First and foremost, Allh
is an obligation that Allh

has commanded us to know this man. This

has put upon us. We have to know this person. There are over 50

verses in the Qurn that command us to take the Prophet

as an example.

http://fridaysmatter.com/zombies-in-the-quran/

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Benefits of studying the Seerah

Perfect role model
Here2:

Laqad kaana lakum Indeed there is for you fee Rasulillah in the messenger of Allh uswatun
hasanatun an exemplary manner, a perfect conduct uswa means something you follow
hasana means a perfect So you have in the Prophet
the study of the life and times of the Prophet

, the perfect example to follow. Therefore,

, is the study of somebody we need to follow.

The amazing thing is that no matter what angle you look at the life of the Prophet

, you will benefit

from that. So one angle we look at is in terms of religion, in terms of how we worship Allh
. We
look at it in terms of manners and morals, of mercy and tenderness. Also we look at the Seerah in
terms of leadership. What did the Prophet
do as a leader? We look at the Seerah in terms of how
he was as a father and a husband, and we will find benefit in this. No matter which angle you look
at the life and times, the purpose of risalah, the purpose of Allh
have a living example to follow. Allh
angels.

sending Prophets is that we

tells us in the Qurn that if we wanted we could have sent

There is a verse in the Qurn (Surah 41 [Fussilat] Vers 14) that says: but what would you have
done had we sent angels? You would have rejected.3

Why? Because these are not like us, how can we follow them? So of the perfection of Allh's wisdom
is that He sends human beings in flesh and blood, people like ourselves, born of women, married,
and having children; but then the difference is they are chosen by Allh
models and examples.

2
3

, and they are made role

Quran, Surah 33 Al Ahzab, Vers 21,

Quran, Surah 41 Fussilat, Vers 14

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Love for the Prophet

Another blessing of studying the Seerah is that it is the number one way to increase our love of our
Prophet

. There is no other way as effective and powerful to increase our love for the Prophet

, than by studying his life and times.

A sad fact about our ummah is that unfortunately we have neglected this study, and we have
sidelined it and most of our children are completely ignorant of the Seerah of the Prophet
.
They don't even know the names of his children, or the important dates such as when did he
emigrate, how old was he when way (divine, revelation) came down. And yet they know so much
of this dunya (world) and it is embarrassing for us as parents that our children know so much of
movie stars and actors and sports personalities; but they have no clue as to the reality of the
person whom they should know about.
So by studying the Seerah of the Prophet
, our love for him increases, and conversely it
demonstrates that our love is a two-way street. When you study, your love goes up; In order for
your love to go up, you need to study, and if you truly love this man, you will study him; and a sign
of loving someone is to want to know more about that person. This is human nature.

For example, when I'm travelling I'm calling up my children and asking them, So what did you do
today? I mean what they've done doesn't affect me. What did you have for breakfast? Who cares?
It's not going to affect me. But this is a sign of love, because when you love somebody you want to
know everything about them. So, anybody who claims to love the Prophet
, but he doesn't study
his life and times, wallhi, this is a sign that he does not love him. If you claim you love this man,
and yet you don't care to study him, you don't care to read his biography, or you don't care to find
out facts about him, what type of love is that? This is not the love that we understand as human
beings; so to study the Seerah is a sign of love and through studying the Seerah, it increases our
love, so it is a circle. The more we love, the more we study. The more we study, the more we love.
Understanding the Qurn
By understanding the Seerah, a third benefit is that it helps us to understand the Qurn. The Qurn
is a very complex book, a very profound book, and it cannot be understood without context. For
example when you hear:
Wad duha Wal Laili Iza Saj'a. Ma Waddaka Rabbuka wama qala 4 Your Lord has not abandoned
you, nor has He shown you any harshness.
You will not understand this verse, until you understand the Seerah. When was it revealed? Why
was it revealed? The context of the revelation was, when the Prophet

was facing persecution he

was wondering why isn't Allh

helping me? Why isn't the Nasr of Allh
coming? Why isn't
the wahy coming? Why isn't the Qurn coming? For weeks no Qurn came down and the Prophet
began thinking, Maybe my Lord has abandoned me.

Quran Surah 93 (Ad-Duha), Vers 1-2

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This is early on. This was in the first year of revelation, and Shayn is giving him bad thoughts, and
so immediately Allh

reveals:

Wad duha Wal Layli Idhza Saj'aa . Maa Wadda'aka Rabbuka wa ma qalaa 5.
It is a sign of optimism. What is duha? It is the breaking of the light.To this day amongst humanity,
what does duha
(morning) signify? A new day, light is coming. When there is light it is an
optimistic sign.
And Allh is telling him: Maa wadd'aka Rabbuka wa maa qalaa. Walal Aakhirartu Khairullaka minal
ulaa.
Be patient. What's going to happen is better than what is happening now.
It's the beginning of the day. Dawn is coming, the sun is coming up. So until you understand this
Seerah, the surah doesn't make any sense to you. So, by studying the Seerah, the Qurn gains
meaning, profundity. Without the Seerah, the Qurn has no context. Without context, you will never
be able to truly appreciate the Qurn.
Raising our mn in hard times
Another benefit of studying the Seerah is, it raises our hopes and spirits and blesses us with
optimism; especially in our times when we're facing Islamophobia, and a little bit of persecution.
WAllhi to call it persecution is even embarrassing when we look at what the Prophet

and the

abah
went through. We, in America, are not being persecuted in that sense. Nonetheless,
times have changed in the last ten years. Now we are facing a little bit of the heat. We need a source
of direction, a source of optimism.
By studying the Seerah, we can understand that the people before us suffered even more, and we
compare our trials and tribulations to theirs. And in fact, a beautiful point here the Qurn tells us
that Allh
is telling the Prophet
prophets. Why?

stories of the earlier prophets, i.e. Seerahs of the earlier

We're going to recite to you stories of the previous prophets in order that your hearts attain
affirmation we are going to make you feel more firm and optimistic.
So think about this when our prophet
heard the stories of the earlier prophets, what did it do to
him? It gave him more optimism, gave him more mn. How about us then? Don't we deserve even
more so for our mn to go up and we study the life and times of the Prophet

? So the studying

of the life and times of the prophets and of the previous generation's prophets of Allh
about an immediate benefit 6
by studying it.

, it brings

Nuthabbitu Bihi Fua'da to resolve, to affirm your mn

Prophet's life as a miracle

Yet another benefit of studying the Seerah, which many of us don't think about, is that the Seerah
itself is a miracle of the Prophet
5
6

. When somebody asks you, what are some of the miracles of

Quran, Surah 91 (Ash-Shams), Vers, 1,

Quran, Surah 11 (Hud), Vers 120 and Surah 25 (Al-Furqan), Vers 32,

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the Prophet
? We start thinking the splitting of the moon, the talking of the tree, etc., and we
don't think that in fact his whole life is a miracle from beginning to end. His whole life is an indication
that he is a prophet of Allh
. Coming from where he came, with the education, or the lack of it,
and yet coming forth with the message, the profundity, the scripture, and the eloquence of the
Qurn. Where did this come from? And in addition to that, his patience, his perseverance, and his
success that came in the middle of ancient pagan civilization that had nothing. There was no
civilization, no script; they didn't even have two- story buildings, no libraries. They couldn't even read
and write, and yet the Prophet
, came from the midst of a backward and uneducated, barbaric
nation. They were really a barbaric nation and within 20 years, look what happened?
Within 50 years Islam began to spread, and within 100 years, it ruled the world. This is a miracle
from Allh
, and the Seerah is the beginning of that miracle how he lived, the power that he
wielded, and yet the simplicity with which he lived his life, the sacrifice that the abah would have
made had he asked them to do, but he didn't. And it is impossible for any human being not to be
affected by that power, luxury, and wealth, unless there is a divine sincerity in him a pure sincerity
that is there for the sake of Allh

The famous scholar Ibn Hazm from Andalus, says 7WAllhi, if the Prophet
had not been given
any miracle other than his life and his times, it would have been sufficient to prove that he is a
Prophet of Allh

, if he had not been given any other miracle other than his Seerah. The Seerah

is the best indication that he is the Prophet of Allh

Of course there are many facets here, his own life and times, how he revolutionized Arabia, and
how he changed the entire world from where he came from a humble origin, a shepherd in Mecca,
and what happened with the message he came with. Immediately he became a leader within 20
years. Nobody could have ever predicted that a group would come from Arabia and destroy the
Persian empire and start knocking on the doors of the Roman Empire until it starts diminishing,
wiping it out. Nobody would have predicted that a new group from Arabia would come with a new
religion, a new theology, a force that cannot be equaled with the mighty empires of Rome and Persia.
And yet Allh
opened up the doors, and Allh
allowed this group of people who were less
educated and even less civilized. The abah did not even have the civilization that the Romans
and Persians did. They did not have the weaponry and yet they had victory, and Allh
them and made them Muslims, because they had this religion.
So by studying the life and times of the Prophet

, we see a miracle that Allh

blessed

sent him.

Methodology a plan of revival

Another benefit of studying the Seerah is that it lays a precise methodology for the Ummah. There
are so many groups out there; we call them Islamist groups, trying to revive the Ummah each one
with their own ideology and methodology. Why don't we begin with the methodology of the Prophet
, let us see how he began. If we want to bring 'izza (might, power) and honor and glory, let us
see how he began because he began out of nothing, literally from scratch, from zero. And within his
7

Book: Ibn Hazm of Cordoba: The Life and Works of a Controversial Thinker (Handbook of Oriental Studies)
by Camilla Adang
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Dr. Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

lifetime, see what happened. So, if you want to see the methodology of revival and we look at the
Ummah today, our hearts bleed. Why Allh
, why is this happening? We ask How can we
revive the state of the Ummah? And the response by studying the Seerah we see a methodology,
a plan of revival.
The best generation
By studying the Seerah, we also see the life and times of the best generation who ever lived and
that is the generation of the abah. Allh says in the Qurn in eight or nine verses:
rayAllhu 'anhum waradhu8
Allh is pleased with them. And they are pleased with Allh.
The Prophet

said, the best of all generations has been my generation. Khairum Ummatin Qarni.

The best Ummah is my Ummah meaning that of the abah. Ibn Mas'd said that Allh
looked at the hearts of His servants and He chose the purest and brightest heart to be that of the
Prophet Muhammad

, and then He chose the purest and brightest hearts and made them the

abah of the Prophet Muhammad

. So by studying the Seerah, we study the stories of Abu
Bakr and 'Umar, the stories of Anas and Jbir, the stories of Saad ibn Mu'dh and Talha and Zubayr.
And our mn goes up as well. These were legendary people, their life and times inspire us their
sacrifices, their struggles, their perseverance, their patience. Each and every one of them is a role
model for us.
And there is an 'athar slightly moved but authentic- that My abah are like the stars, whichever
one you follow, you are going to be guided. The point here is that the abah are role models for
us each and every one of us.
Defending the honor of the Prophet
Of the benefits of studying the Seerah is that the Seerah brings about knowledge with which we can
defend the honor of our Prophet
. His honor has always been attacked from day one. The
Quraysh fabricated things against him. Saahirun Kazzab. They said this is Iftun Muftara.
They said he is a mad man, a magician, a poet; he is this and that, because nobody can explain
how the Qurn came. You have to invent some explanation. Where did this unlettered shepherd
get the Qurn from? Even the Quraysh had to explain. So they invent the most preposterous
claims. The propaganda that began back then continues to this day. Each one of the charges that
the Prophet

was accused of, the Qurn defends against it. And each of the charges people later

invent, we need to turn to the Seerahand defend the Prophet

In our times, how many people are saying that the Prophet
was a blood thirsty terrorist. This is
exactly what they are saying. They're saying he was a womanizer, he married this, and he married
that. My dear brothers and sisters, if you want to defend Raslullh, how do you expect to do so
when you don't know his life and times? If you want to defend your Prophet
, how are you going
to do so, when you don't know whether these things are true or not? If certain elements are true,

Quran Surah 5(Al-Maidah) Vers 119, Surah 9 (At-Taubah) Vers 100, Surah 58 (Al-Mujadhilah) Vers 22, Surah 98 (Al-Bayniah)
Vers: 8,
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how do we understand them? And when we put them in context, insh'Allh wa ta'la, it is easier to
explain.
By studying the Seerah, we will be able to defend the Prophet
, and there is no other way to
defend him than by studying the Seerah. And that is why the early scholars, the abah, Tabi'n,
and the Taba Tabi'n would teach the Seerah just like they would teach all of the other sciences.
Teaching our children
'Al Ibn Al Husayn, the great-grand son of the Prophet
said, We would teach our children
maghazi just like we would teach them the Qurn. Maghazi is the earlier word for the Seerah, the
expeditions of the Prophet
. You see this is how they would raise their children, with Seerah and
the Qurn. You need to teach the children Seerah long with the Qurn. So the curriculum in early
Islam was composed of Qurn and Seerah of the Prophet
, and I encourage all of you to start
the same with your own children, that instead of reading bed-time stories of ancient Greek pagans,
why don't we talk about the life and times of our Prophet Muhammad
? Or talk about the
abah? There are so many books of Seerah for the children, that these are the stories that our
children should be raised upon and listen to. So, to summarize the benefits of studying the Seerah
is that it is the study of the best and the best and the best and the best. What do I mean by this? It
is the study of the life and times of the single best human being who ever lived.
Now we firmly believe as Muslims that all the Prophets are good and pious and holy and the Prophet
is the best of them. as he said in a adth:
Ana Saiyyidu, walladhi Aadama yawmul Qiyaamati walaa fakhar I am the Sayyed, the leader, the
paragon of virtue of the children of dam, and I am not saying this out of arrogance wala fakhar
I am not saying this to boast. It's a factual statement that Allh has told me.9
The best place on Earth
By studying the Seerah, we study the best person, and the best time because the best time is the
time of the abah, and the best people are the people of the abah, and the best place that
is Mecca and Madnah, these are the holiest cities on Earth. It is the Seeraht hat brought prominence
to these two cities. We firmly believe that Makkahh was holy, but who knew or believed it was holy?
Who cared it was holy until the Seerah came?
And as for Madnah, it became holy, in the life of the Prophet

He said, I am making Madnah holy, like Ibrhm made Makkah holy, by the permission of Allh.
Best of the best
So the Ibrhm is the life and times of the best human, in the best era, amongst the best people,
best generation, and living in the best of all cities. In every angle it is the best of the best of the best.
Therefore, studying the Prophet's

life and times is studying our religion. It is studying the rise of

the phenomenon of our religion, it is studying how Allh

brought about the revolution of Islam.
He brought about an entire change of mind how Islam changed the world. By studying these 23

Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol 5,Hadith No: 4308

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Dr. Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi

years of the life of Prophet

, from the beginning of his Risaala, the miracle of the Seerahwill
benefit us in each and every aspect.
Sources of Seerah
The next question that arises is: Where do we study the Seerah from? What are the primary sources
of the Seerah? Here I am preaching from Memphis TN, 1432 years after the Hijrah of the Prophet
. Where did I get this information from? How do I know what happened? What are the sources
of the Seerahof the Prophet
Prophet

? Who can tell me the number one source of the Seerahof the

? Yes, the number one source is the Qurn. The Sunnah is number two.

Qurn as the primary source

The number one source is the Qurn and it is overlooked by many people. Many people wonder is
it Ibn Isq? Or is it Ibn Hisham? The number one source is the Qurn. The Qurn was revealed
during the Seerah, and it catered to the situations that arose during the Seerah. The Qurn
references each and every single major incident in the life of the Prophet
time.

, in fact even before his

Just for example:

Alam nashrah laka sadrak10
Wa wa d'ana 'annka wizrak
Alladzee ann qada zahrak
Wa raf 'anaa laka zikrak
the reference here is when he was five years old, when Jibrl ['alayhi'l-salm] visited him.
Is there another story before he was even born?
Alam tara kayfa fa'ala rabbuka bi ashaabal feel
The As'ha bil Feel were before the Prophet
beginning all the way until the end.

was born. So the Seerah tells us stories from the

11

Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been
invoked the name of other than Allah. that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow,
or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild
10
11

Quran, Surah 94 As-Sharh, Vers 1,

Quran, Surah 5 (Al-Maidah), Vers: 3

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animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars);
(forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows: that is impiety. This day have those
who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I
perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as
your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, Allah is indeed Oftforgiving, Most Merciful.
One of the last verses revealed the completion.
The Qurn is the best source for Seerah for many reasons. First and foremost, it is the speech of
Allh

. So, Allh

is telling this to us. So, can we doubt the Speech of Allh

? And the

eloquence of the Qurn is something that is unparalleled. How beautifully Allh

describes Badr
and Uhud, and the feelings of the abah and the Munfiqoon even. So another benefit of the
Qurn is that the historian will record the outward, Qurn records the inward.
The Qurn tells us that 12:

The Qurn tells us that you were terrified that day that your hearts were in your throats. The Qurn
tells us that you became cowards.
Munfiqoon: The Qurn tells the Munfiqoon that you are scared that Allh

will expose you.

Who can expose the hearts of the people other than Allh
? So the Qurn is an amazing source
of Seerah the eloquence, the power, the beauty, and 'ilmal ghayb. The Qurn explains to us
phenomenon that we would not have the ability to understand.
Badr Allh says in the Qurn: 3;124: [And remember] when thou didst say unto the believers: Is
it not enough for you [to know] that your Sustainer will aid you with three thousand angels sent down
[from on high]?
Uhud and Hudaibiyyah: On and on the Qurn tells us 'ilmal ghayb. There is no source of finding
these things out other than through the Qurn.
Chronology However one of the issues regarding the Qurn is that it is not chronological. So,
we don't know the reference of the Qurn simply because Al-Baqarah, le-'Imrn, Al-Nis', and AlM'idah are not arranged chronologically. They are arranged according to how the Prophet
wanted them to be arranged. So, Al-Baqarah is an early Madani surah and it comes first. And Al'Alaq which is the first surah is 96th in the Qurn. So it is not arranged chronologically. Another
problem is that a lot of time you don't see the reference mentioned. So, Allh 'azza wa jall doesn't
12

Quran. Surah 3 (Al-Imran), Vers: 153

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mention the word Uhud. We need to know that le-'Imrn was revealed for Uhud and that Al-Anfl
was revealed for Badr. We need to know that the Seerahand the Qurn go hand in hand. You need
the Seeraht o understand the Qurn and you need the Qurn to understand the Seerah. This is
the first source, the most prized and eloquent source.
Hadth as a second source
The second source of Seerah is adth. In fact, every adth is one snapshot of the Seerah, is it not?
What is a adth? It's a saying of the Prophet
. And what is the saying of the Prophet
, except
one incident. And so in one sense, every single adth is a snapshot of the Seerah. But of course,
when we mean adth, we primarily mean those that describe some incident somebody came,
somebody did this, or that happened. There are lots of books of adth and the most famous ones
you should know are the Kutubul Sitta, the six books of adth. Some call them Siha al Sitta, but that
is not precise, because all of them are not sa. But al-Kutub as-sitta ( ) are primary books
and there are lots of books of aadth, there are dozens of them.
Earlier Books of Seerah
The third source of Seerah, is books specifically written for Seerah. And the first people to begin
writing books of Seerah were the abah's children. Can you imagine if your father was a abi
and he was telling you all the stories of the Prophet
them down.

. There are so many that you begin to write

Urwa: The greatest of those who wrote was Urwa the son of Zubayr. Urwa is the son of a abi,
he was the grandson of a abi. His mother is a abiyya. His grandmother is a abiyya. His
brother was a abi, but he was born after the death of the Prophet

, so he is not a abi. His

aunt is ''ishah, wife of the Prophet

, so Urwa is a primary narrator of adth, fiqh, tafsr and
Seerah, because he had access to ''ishah. Nobody else had access to ''ishah. He is her mahram.
''ishah doesn't need to wear hijab in front of him. So Urwa is the primary narrator from ''ishah.
And lots of details of the Prophet
came from Urwa, because ''ishah told him those details. And
it is said that Urwah wrote a small pamphlet of the Seerah.
Abban : He was the son of Uthman Bin Afwan his name was Abban ibn 'Uthmn ibn 'Affn. The
son died in 105 Hijrah. He also wrote a little booklet of Seerahand some other booklets were written,
until finally a great scholar came by the name of Ibn Shihab Az Zuhri.
Ibn Shihab Az Zuhri: He died 129 Hijrah. He wrote one of the first early treatises of Seerah. Now
none of these books exist anymore.

Transcript of the Clip (Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 3 - Why study the Seerah? & Pre-Islamic
Arabia by Sheikh Dr. Yasir Qadhi- May 2011 - Youtube)

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