This book takes an engaging, personal approach to introducing the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. All the essential topics are here, including the lineage, childhood, and family setting of Muhammad, and the origins of the revelations to Muhammad and how he became the Prophet. This is followed by a chapter on his spiritual life and character which is marked by stories of patience, forgiveness, courage, mercy, and equality, as well as lots of detail regarding the Prophet’s prayer practices at all times of day, in worship, to support fasting, and on special occasions.
The next chapter offers something we haven’t seen in other books of this kind: a succinct introduction to the first and most important companions of Muhammad as he set out to build what became Islamic tradition. Sayilgan explains: “After the Prophet Muhammad, the most important and respected individuals in Islamic tradition are his companions, known as sahaba (singular sahib).” Eleven individuals are profiled, including Khadija bint Khuwaylid, who became his wife; Abu Bakr, a wealthy businessman who gave all he had to support early Muslims; and Sumayya bint Khabbat, “a slave in Mecca of Yemeni origin” who accepted Islam against the will of her master and was killed because of it, becoming Islam’s first martyr.
Two final chapters on “Following the Prophet” and “Remembering the Prophet” conclude the book, offering plenty of spiritual practice for Muslims today. These chapters — and the whole book, really — include frequent quotations not only from Qur’an but from the oral reports attributed to the Prophet called hadith. There are also occasional teachings from other famous theologians and followers of Muhammad throughout the centuries such as Al-Ghazali (Iranian, eleventh-twelfth centuries) and Al-Jazuli (Moroccan, fifteenth century).
