''Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum'' (;
) is a
seerah book (biography of Prophet Muhammad) by
Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. It was awarded first prize by the
Muslim World League
The Muslim World League (MWL; ) is an international Islamic non-governmental organization based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate values.
The NGO has been funded by the Saudi gov ...
in a worldwide competition of biographies of
Prophet Muhammad
In Islam, Muhammad () is venerated as the Seal of the Prophets who transmitted the Quran, eternal word of God () from the Angels in Islam, angel Gabriel () to humans and jinn. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Isl ...
held in
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
in 1979. The title of the book means "The Sealed Nectar", a reference to verse 25 of Surah 83 (Mutaffifin) of the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. The book has been highly popular in the Muslim world.
History
Following in the year 1396 AH (approx. 1976 AD), Rabita organized a book writing competition on Islamic Seerat-Un-Nabi. Many writers from different countries participated in this global competition with interest. Out of 171 manuscripts, the book Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum''
' won the first prize.
In writing the book, the author has given a series of historical events and in describing them he has arranged the titles of different chapters in chronological order. In cases where there are differences of opinion in different texts, the author reviews everything and mentions what he thinks is correct. In cases where the author does not find the information of dissenters to be correct, he gives an indication of the evidence. Again, the author mentions the names and page numbers of numerous books in the book as a source of information.
At the beginning of the book, the author mentions various conditions and situations that existed in the world before the advent of Muhammad. Through the geographical identity of Arabia, the position of different nations at that time, the leadership, and governance of Arabia, the religious beliefs and doctrines of the Arabs, and the characteristics, economic and social conditions of
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
, the author has highlighted the importance and significance of Muhammad's appearance.
The various strategies and stages of Muhammad's
Dawah
' (, , "invitation", also spelt , , , or ) is the act of inviting people to Islam. The plural is () or (). Preachers who engage in dawah are known as da'i.
Etymology
literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". Gramma ...
are described, including various battles including
Badr,
Uhud, the conquest of Mecca, the Farewell Hajj, and all the historical events leading up to Muhammad's death.
This biography chronicles the events of Muhammad at different stages of his life. The editing was done under the supervision of The Quran Publishing and Printing, a Riyadh-based company. Twenty-one editions of the book have been published in fifteen years, including the second edition of the book in just fifty-five days. Tauhid Publications later published a translation of the book. Translated from this publication by Abdul Khaleq Rahmani. Although the original book is about 600 pages, the Bengali translation has 530 pages.
Reception
The book has been highly popular in the Muslim world.
See also
*
The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary
*
Al-Khasa'is al-Kubra
*
Siyer-i Nebi
References
External links
Audiobookon
audible.com
* See
The Online Books Page
The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...
Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Memoirs of the Noble ProphetSeerah (Pdf)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Makhtum, Ar-Raheeq
1976 books
Sunni literature
Biographies of Muhammad