Introduction

to Prophetic
History Meaning & Benefits of
Studying the Prophetic
History (Seerah)

PREAMBLE

To understand the Seerah, you do not begin with the

birth of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. Instead, you must start with
the world at that time. That is why every book of
Seerah, from the most classical books to the modern
ones, has introductory sections.

 What is the meaning

of the word Seerah?

The word Seerah comes from an Arabic verb that means to traverse or journey. So
Seerah, meaning the biography of a person, is called Seerah because you are
traveling that person's journey. You are walking in their path and following in their
footsteps. So when we study the life and times of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, it is as if we are
following his footsteps.

Even though the Arabs would call Seerah the biography of any person, later on,
Muslim scholars used it exclusively for the biography of the best human being. So
no scholar says Seerah, except that it means the biography of the life and times of
Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬and incidents that happened during his time.
 Benefits of Studying the Seerah

1. Allah's (SWT) command to know the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬

The benefits of studying the Seerah are numerous. First

and foremost, Allah has commanded us to know the
Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. It is an obligation that Allah has put upon us.
Over 50 verses in the Qur'an command us to take the
Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬as an example.


‫َّلَق ْد َكاَن َلُكْم ِفى َرُس وِل ٱلَّلِه ُأْس َو ٌة َحَس َنٌة ِّلَم ن َكاَن َيْرُجو۟ا‬
‫َك‬ ‫َه‬‫َّل‬ ‫َك‬ ‫َذ‬ ‫َٔـ‬‫ْل‬
‫ٱل َو ٱ َيْو َم ٱ اِخ َر َو َر ٱل ِثيًرا‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫َه‬‫َّل‬
Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah, you have an excellent
example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day
and remembers Allah often. [Qur'an 33:21]

‫( ُأْس َو ٌة‬uswa) means something you follow and ‫( َحَس َنٌة‬hasana)

means perfect. So you have in the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬the perfect
example to follow.
 Therefore, the study of the life and times of the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬is the study of
someone we need to follow. No matter which angle you look at the life and
times of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, you will benefit from that. The most important
aspect we look at is religious aspects and how we worship Allah. We also
look at the Seerah for manners, morals, mercy, tenderness, and leadership.
To know how the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬was as a leader, a father, a husband, etc.

Allah tells us in the Quran that we could have sent Angels if we had
wanted. So of the perfection of Allah's wisdom is that he sends human
beings, born of women, married and having children just like us, as
prophets. Allah chooses them and makes them role models and
examples.
2. Learning Seerah increases the love for the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬.

Another blessing of studying the Seerah is that it is the best way to

increase our love for the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. There is no better way to
effectively and powerfully increase our love for the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬than
by studying his life and times.

The more you love the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, the more you want to learn his
Seerah. That is because a sign of loving someone is to want to know
more about the person. So to study the Seerah is a sign of love, and
through studying the Seerah, we increase our love. So it is a virtuous
circle.
3. Understanding the Seerah helps us to understand
the Qur'an.

Understanding the Seerah will also immensely benefit us

to understand the Qur'an. The Quran is a profound book,
and you cannot understand it without understanding
the context.
For example, the following verse:

‫ٰى‬‫َح‬ ‫ُّض‬‫ٱل‬ ‫َو‬

By the morning sunlight,
‫َج‬ ‫ا‬ ‫َذ‬ ‫َّل‬‫ٱ‬
‫ٰى‬ ‫َس‬ ‫َو ِل ِإ‬
‫ْي‬
and the night when it falls still!
‫َم ا َو َّد َع َك َرُّبَك َو َم ا َق‬
‫ٰىَل‬
Your Lord O Prophet has not abandoned you, nor
has He become hateful of you. [Qur'an 93:1-3]
You will not understand this verse until you understand
the Seerah. When and why it was revealed, and the
context of its revelation. The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬was facing
persecution, and he was wondering, why is Allah not
helping him? Why is the Quran not coming? For weeks,
no Qur'an came down, and the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬began
thinking maybe his Lord had abandoned him. Then Allah
reveals these verses as a sign of optimism.
Duha is the breaking of the light. It signifies a new day, and
light is coming. Allah is telling him to be patient. What is going
to happen is better than what you are having now. It is the
beginning of the day. The dawn is coming, and the sun is rising.

Until you understand the Seerah, these verses will not make
any sense. So by studying the Seerah, the Qur'an gains
meaning. Without the Seerah, the Qur'an is out of context.
Without context, you cannot fully appreciate the Qur'an.
4. The Seerah raises our hopes, lifts our spirit, and
blesses us with optimism.

Another benefit of studying the Seerah is that it raises

our hopes, lifts our spirits, and blesses us with optimism.
Especially in these times where we face Islamophobia
and persecution in some regions, we need a source of
direction and optimism. By studying the Seerah, we can
learn that the people before us suffered even more than
our trials and tribulations.
Another important lesson from the Qur'an is that
Allah is telling the Prophet the stories of the previous
prophets so that his heart attains affirmation,
increases optimism, and increases iman. So, likewise,
our iman goes up when we study the life and times
of the prophets.
5. The Seerah itself is a miracle of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬

Yet another benefit of studying the Seerah is that it is a

miracle of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. When somebody asks you,
what are the miracles of the Prophet (‫ ?)ﷺ‬Of course, we
start thinking about the splitting of the moon, the talking of
the tree, etc. But, we do not realize that his whole life is a
miracle from beginning to end. His whole life indicates that
he was the Prophet of Allah. He (‫ )ﷺ‬did not know to read
and write, yet came forth with the message, the profundity,
the scripture, the eloquence of the Quran; that is a miracle.
In addition to that, his patience, perseverance, and success came in
the middle of a pagan, ancient civilization that had no civilization. They
did not even have a script, and only a handful knew how to read and
write. So the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬came from the midst of a backward,
uneducated, and a pagan nation. But within a few decades, it spread
around the world. This is a miracle from Allah.

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 Sahaba would have done had he asked them to do.
But he didn't. It is impossible for a human not to be affected by that
power, luxury, wealth unless there is a pure divine sincerity that he (‫)ﷺ‬
is doing it for the sake of Allah.
The famous scholar, Ibn Hazm from Andalus, said if the
Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬had not been given any miracle other than
his life and his times, it would have been sufficient to
prove that he is a Prophet from Allah. His Seerah is the
best indication that he is a Prophet from Allah (SWT).

There are multiple facets to his Seerah. His own life and
times, how he revolutionized Arabia and changed the
entire world from where he came from, a humble origin,
a shepherd of Makkah.
Nobody could have ever predicted that a group would
come from Arabia and take over the Persian Empire and
start knocking on the doors of the Roman Empire and
start diminishing it until finally is no more. Nobody could
have ever predicted that a group would come from
Arabia with a new religion, a new theology, a force that
even the mighty empires of Rome and Persia at that
time could not stop.
Allah opened up the doors and allowed this group of
people who were less educated and even less
civilized, meaning the Sahaba did not have the type of
civilization or the weaponry that the Romans and
Persians had. Yet Allah SWT blessed them because they
had submitted to Allah and changed their way of life.

So by studying the life and times of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬,

we see his miracle. We see the fact that Allah SWT
sent him.
6. Seerah lays out a precise methodology for the revival of the
Ummah.

Another benefit of studying the Seerah is that it lays out a precise

methodology for the revival of the Ummah. If you want to bring
about izzah, honor, and glory, let us look at what the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬
did because he began in the middle of nowhere.

When we look at the Ummah today, our hearts bleed and

wonder why this is happening? We ask, how can we revive the
state of the Ummah? The response is by studying the Seerah,
we will see a methodology and a plan for revival.
7. Through the Seerah, we see the life and times of the best
generation who ever lived (The Sahaba).

By studying the Seerah, we also see the life and times of the best
generation who ever lived. That is the generation of the Sahaba.
Allah says this in over eight or nine verses in the Quran.

‫َرِض َي ُهَّللا َع ْن ُه ْم َو َرُض وا َع ْن ُه‬

Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah.

The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said that the best of all generations had been
my generation.
A'isha (RA) reported that a person asked Allah's Apostle (‫ )ﷺ‬as to
who amongst the people were the best. He said:

Of the generation to which I belong, then of the second

generation (generation adjacent to my generation), then of the
third generation (generation adjacent to the second
generation). [Sahih Muslim 2536: Book 44, Hadith 30]
Zirr ibn Hubaysh reported: Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (RA), said,:

"Verily, Allah looked at the hearts of the servants, and He found

that the heart of Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬, was the best among them,
so He chose him for Himself, and He sent him with His message.
Then, He looked at the hearts of His servants after Muhammad
(‫)ﷺ‬, and He found that the hearts of his companions were the
best among them. Thus, He made them into the companions of
the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, striving for the sake of His religion. ....."
[Musnad Ahmad 3589]
So by studying the Seerah, we study the stories of Abu Bakr,
Umar, Anas, Jabir, Saad ibn Muadh, Talha, and Zubayr(RA), and
our iman goes up. These were legendary people. They inspire
us with their sacrifices, struggles, perseverance, and
patience. Every one of them is a role model for us.

There is a tradition that some scholars consider as weak, but

the concept is sound:

"My Companions are like the stars, whichever of them you

follow you will be rightly guided"
8. Seerah brings about knowledge with which we can defend the
honor of our Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬

The benefits of studying the Seerah is that the Seerah brings about
knowledge with which we can defend the honor of our Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. The
Prophet's honor has always been attacked. From the very beginning, the
Quraysh of Makkah fabricated things against him. They said he is a
madman, a magician, a poet because nobody could explain how the
Qur'an came.

So you have to invent some explanation on how an unlettered shepherd

could recite such verses. So they invented the most preposterous
claims.
The propaganda began back then, and it continues to this day.
Each one of the charges that the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬was accused of, the
Quran defends against it. Each one of the charges people invent
later, we need to turn to the Seerah and defend the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬.

If you want to defend the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, then you need to know his
life and times. How else are we going whether these claims are
true or not? And if certain elements are true, how do we
understand them and put them in context. So by studying the
Seerah, we will be able to defend the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, and there is no
way to defend him other than by studying the Seerah.
 Summary: The Benefits of
Studying the Seerah

To summarize, the benefits of studying

the Seerah is, in fact, the study of the
life and times of the single best human
being who ever lived. We firmly believe
as Muslims that all the prophets are
good and pious and Holy and the
Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬is the best of
them.
 SUMMARY
Narrated Abu Sa'eed Al- So by studying the Yahya related to me from
Khudri (RA): that the Seerah, we study the best Malik from Amr, the mawla of
Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬said: al-Muttalib from Anas ibn
person, best generation, Malik that the Messenger of

best places, and the best Allah (‫)ﷺ‬, saw Uhud and said,
"I am the chief of the
time. Of course, the best

children of Adam on the

Day of Judgement and I places are Makkah and "This is a mountain which
Medina. These are the loves us and we love it. O
am not boasting, and in
holiest cities on Earth, and Allah! Ibrahim made
my hand is the banner of
it is the Seerah that Makka Haram, and I will
praise and I am not
brought prominence to make what is between the
boasting,......."
two tracts of black stones

these two cities.
(in Madina) a Haram."
[Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3148:

Book 47, Hadith 200] [Muwatta Malik]

SUMMARY
Studying the Prophet's (‫ )ﷺ‬life and
times is studying our religion. It is
studying the rise of the
phenomenon of our faith. It is
studying how Allah SWT brought
about a fundamental change of
mind. By learning these 23 years of
the life of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, the
miracle of the Seerah, will benefit
us in each and every aspect.