Great Women Of Islam Who Were Given The Good News Of Paradise (H/B)

In ‘Early Sources for Prophet Muhammad’s Biography’, Dr. Muhammad Saeed Mitwally aims to prove that applying Western methods of critical analysis to the available Muslim sources can take us back to early, reliable information about the Prophet (sa).

Early Western biographies of the Prophet of Islam (sa) were largely based upon the Qur’an, as well as upon the late Muslim sources dating from the sixteenth century. After the publication of Goldziher’s Muhammedanische Studien in 1890, the reliability of Muslim sources became controversial. This stance was intensified by the publication of Schacht’s The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence, in which he claimed that none of the Hadith literature is authentic. In this book, Dr. Muhammad Saeed Mitwally successfully challenges some of the problems raised by the pessimistic attitude.

Students of Hadith will find this study thought-provoking and informative.

The life of the first Rightly-Guided Caliph, Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq (may Allah be pleased with him) is a valuable roadmap for the Muslims of today. One of the first people to believe and embrace the Prophet’s Message of Islam, Abu Bakr remained a close companion of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) throughout the Prophet’s life. Appointed as the Prophet’s successor on the basis of consultation, Abu Bakr proved to be a great leader who, with Allah’s help, steered the Ummah through difficult times. He faced numerous challenges within Arabia: some people apostatized, others refused to pay zakâh, and quite a few individuals emerged as false prophets, attracting many followers. Outside Arabia, the Persians and Byzantines keenly observed these developments, looking for an opportunity to crush the new state. Abu Bakr employed effective strategies to deal with these challenges and had remarkable success in doing so. Thus, he paved way for the Islamic conquests that toppled tyrants and carried the message of Islam to the entire world. His leadership should be a great source of inspiration for the Muslims today.