The Life of The Prophet Muhammad Volume 3

Compiled in the fourteenth century AD by a prominent Syrian scholar Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya by Ibn Kathir is a full examination chronological order, of the background, life and mission of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Drawn from the earliest and most reliable Arabic sources, it offers, in the English translation, the fullest available account of the historical circumstances and personalities most important in the founding of Islam. Ibn Kathir's work offers a fine example of Islamic scholarship; the quotations and anecdotes that constitute its core are evaluated in terms of the trustworthiness of their sources. Variant wordings that are related through differing lines of transmission are noted, and Ibn Kathir gives both his own assessments and those of the earliest Islamic authories concerning the likely authenticity of these records. Yhe comments and conversations, derived from ancient texts, that are quoted in this work consitute the vasis of our knowledge of Islam during the lifetime of its founder.

Volume III gives details of the numerous battles and campaigns waged between 3 AH and 8 AH to defend the spread the religion of Islam

Ibn Kathir was born in approximately 1313 in the Boesra district of eastern Damascus, and studied with the many great scholars working in the city during his time. He died in 1374.

Trevor Le Gassick is Professor of Arabic Literature at the Univercity of Michigan. He has devoted himself to the translation and commentary of important works, both contemporary and from earlier eras, that reveal important aspects of the rich texture of Atabic literary cilture.