A Testimony to His Prophethood

The eighth reason: the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a testimony to his prophethood. The greatest miracle of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Qur'an, and he (peace be upon him) has many other miracles besides that. But just studying his life in itself is evidence of his prophethood. Here is a man who, for forty years, was leading a normal life. The outstanding thing about the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the first forty years was his morality and character. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) didn't show any signs of aspiration to power or influence, none of that at all — he was leading a normal life. And then suddenly, after the age of forty, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) brings about the greatest change the world has ever seen. That is an irony; that is a miracle. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was illiterate, could not read or write, and then he presents the world with the greatest book that was ever produced. The list of ironies could go on and on, ironies that are only explained if Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a messenger from Allah with divine help — otherwise it is impossible. There is no way to explain his sīrah except to admit that he was a nabī from Allah. It is impossible for a person to achieve what Muhammad (peace be upon him) achieved without being assisted by Allah (swt) through revelation. So it is a testimony to his prophethood; it is one of the lā ilāha illā Allāh.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) led a normal life for the first forty years, and then suddenly he becomes a political leader, a military leader, a religious leader, head of a large household, lawmaker, teacher, imam — and on and on in the list of things the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to do. All of that was done within twenty-three years. Impossible. Which leads to the next point: this is the life of the greatest. This is, in short, the life of the greatest man that ever set foot on this earth. Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the greatest, and whatever benchmark is used for greatness, he still comes out the greatest.

Michael Hart, a US author, wrote a book called The Hundred, on the most influential people who ever lived in history. After studying the lives of leaders throughout history, it became clear to him that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the undisputable greatest man that ever lived. He is the greatest, and in his introduction Hart feels compelled to respond to what his readers might think, because he's mostly writing for a non-Muslim audience — so many people would question his choice of Muhammad (peace be upon him). So in his introduction he writes, "My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others." But he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels. And then he goes on to say, "It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history." So Michael Hart is compelled by the facts — there's no doubt that Muhammad is the greatest. But then he has to apologise to his readers; he has to say, in effect, "It's out of my hands, there's no way I could put anybody else in front of him." Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the greatest. In fact, taking Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a military leader, just that aspect of his personality, he would still come out the greatest. Taking only the religious aspect of his life, he would still be the greatest. As a political leader, he would still come out the greatest. So even dissecting the different aspects of the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and taking them piece by piece, by just taking one piece alone he would still be greater than everybody else who ever lived.

So this is the life of al-Muṣṭafā. Al-Muṣṭafā means the one who is chosen — al-Muṣṭafā min khalqihi, chosen from among His creation; he is chosen out of all of the creation of Allah. And there might be some other reasons why studying sīrah is important.