Tradicionalista

“It is told of Malik ibn Anas (d.795) the founder of the Malikite school of jurisprudence and one of the great hadith transmitters, that “when he intended to sit down to recite hadith, he performed the ablution, donned new garments, put on a new turban, took his place on the platform in awe, reverence, and great seriousness. As long as the lecture continued, incense was contantly burned. His reverence to hadith was so great that it happened in one session that a scorpion stung him sixteen times, and he did not show any sign of disturbance.”

(Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhhamad is His Messenger)

I was listening to Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s Seerah CD set and he was saying that we should read a seerah (biography of the Prophet May Allah bless him and give him peace) at least once a year. In this case, he was talking about Martin Ling’s Muhammad but he really meant any seerah.

He was saying that partly because you get really confused with all of the names within a seerah. As in the names of all the tribes, the numerous, numerous characters, etc. Reading a seerah regularly will help us get comfortable with all the names inshaAllah.

This also reminds me of an anecdote of Dr. Sherman Abdul Hakim Jackson. He went to Egypt, (Azhar I think) and he told the main guy(sheikh/mufti) that he wanted to understand the Qur’an. That was his goal. He wanted to study and know the Qur’an. The guy got up and dropped seerah volumes in his hands. He said that understanding the seerah is the key to fully understanding the Qur’an.

It also increases our love for the Prophet May Allah bless him and give him peace.

In another lecture, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf says that love (mahabba) is increased by 3 things:

1. By someone’s physical appearance: We have that of the Prophet Muhammad May Allah bless him and give him peace, in the Shama’il of Imam Tirmidhi

2. By their inner appearance, i.e by their character. We also have descriptions of the character of the Beloved May Allah bless him and give him peace.

3. By their sacrifice for you: Shaykh Hamza says, “If you knew what the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) did for you-what he did for all of humanity, you would fall in love with him.”

He mentioned that some people make it a point to read a seerah every Rabi ul Awwal but it doesn’t matter. We should make it a point to do this. Also, there are great seerahs available in every language MashaAllah. It’s part of Allah azz wa jall’s promise to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) : Wa Raf3ana Laka Dhikrak.

094.004 And raised high the esteem (in which) thou (art held)

Now what’s everyone’s favorite seerah? Any language.