Seerat-e-Nabwi: Panacea for Humankind
By Dr Waquar Anwar
Published by The Board ofIslamic Publications, New Delhi
Pages: 236
Price: Rs 270
Reviewed by Syed Nooruzzaman
There is no dearth of books written on Prophet Muhammad (May Allahbless him and grant him peace) in different languages, but very fewfall in the category of scholarly efforts. Dr Mohammad Yaseen MazharSiddiqi, who has come out with a remarkable study of such efforts,focuses on just 49 books, including “Al-Shifa bi TareefHuquq alMustafa” by Qazi Iyad of Ceuta, an autonomous city of today’s Spainand located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a land border withMorocco.
Dr Siddiqi’s two-volume study, “Masadir-e-Seerat”, particularlyimpressed upon Dr Waquar Anwar to produce a fresh version of theclassic work by Qazi Iyad with a view to enhancing its readabilityfrom various angles.
The revisited version of Qazi Iyad’s book is a properly organisedvolume for the convenience of ordinary readers. In all, it has fourparts with each part subdivided into divisions and each topic is againdivided into sub-topics. Therefore, it’s a reader-friendly version andyet it is not just an abridged edition.
In the words of Dr Waquar Anwar, “The book is a selectivepresentation on revisiting a famous book by Qadi Iyad (476-507 Hijri),named Al-Shifa bi TareefHuquq al-Mustafa (Healing by Understandingthe Rights of the Chosen One). The book encompasses how ProphetMuhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is described byAllah and also, described in the prophetic traditions. It discussesphysical traits, lineage, qualities and abilities of the Prophetﷺ, emphasising the rights and obligations of the believers towardshim. Further, the book describes the protections granted by Allah tothe Prophet ﷺ and the divine book revealed to him.”
The book has very valuable details, not easy to find elsewhere. Thereare two pages where one can find how the Prophet ﷺ looked like.How was the physical appearance of Allah’s chosen soul, who broughtabout the greatest revolution in human history? What was hiscomplexion? What was his height? Such details have been provided in
the book, obviously, keeping in view the curiosity of the believersand others.
The author informs us that the Prophet had “Handsome features, brightface, likeable temperament, neither the abdomen protruding nor hair ofthe head fallen out, graceful, handsome, eyes black and large, hairlong and thick, voice clear, long neck, bright black of the eye,natural grey corners, thin and drooping eyelashes, black and curlyhair, silent with dignity inclined to cordiality, graceful andcaptivating at a glance and very sweet and most handsome from near,talk sweet and words clear, neither more nor less than necessary, alltalk consistent, middle-sized, neither short to look insignificant nortall to look unbecoming, a fresh twig of a handsome plant, charming tolook at and well-built.”
This was how an old woman described the holy Prophet after she got anopportunity to observe him when he visited her house while he was onhis way to Medina from the Cave of Thaur. The woman gave this graphicdescription to her husband, who curiously enquired about this augustvisitor. Her husband’s curiosity was caused by the fact that theirgoats that day gave so much milk that it was more than enough tosatisfy the Prophet and his companions. Even then there was milk leftfor the woman’s family.
According to Hazrat Ali, as given in the book, “Anyone who saw him(the Prophet) suddenly was filled with reverence.” They had never comeacross anyone like him.
The book is written in a simple language easy to understand even by aperson having rudimentary knowledge of the English language. Once youstart reading it, chances are that you would try to finish it in onego.
[Syed Nooruzzaman is Ex-Dy Editor ofThe Tribune, Chandigarh]