English

Muhammad, his life based on the earliest sources by Martin Lings

"Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources from all other serious Prophetic biographies. It it is fair to say Lings often has more imagination than knowledge of what he describes and never takes to heart the absolute prohibition of fiction in Islam with regard to the Prophet. Consequently, his constant embroidery detracts from the reliability of his book and, much as it is meant to enhance reading, brings it down to the romance level from which its title-page homage to “the earliest sources” had promised to exempt it. There are two or three more momentous misinterpretations in Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources. He defended them in reprint after reprint by beefing up his footnotes with references he thought provided enough justification. One of them is the “lightly clad” Zaynab scene – in his defense an error of taste that predates him; but an error, nevertheless, that “betokens ignorance of the immense rights and merits of the Prophet” according to Qadi Abu Muhammad al-Qushayri al-Maliki as cited by Qadi Iyad. Another such misinterpretation is the “Kaba icon” episode. Lings is at his weakest in one of his final chapters entitled “The Degrees” (LXXXI), which is

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