Freedom of Faith in the Practice of Prophet Muhammad
We can find many verses in the Holy Quran that advise us to think, consider the implications and contemplate our actions. The message in these verses is that humans should be able to reason or think without any compulsion being put upon them and that they should be able to evaluate a hadith (sayings of the Prophet) to arrive at the truth through intellectual effort alone. However, if an idea or b...

The Names and Attributes of Prophet Muhammad in Divan Literature
Asma al-Nabi, which refers to the names and attributes of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), comprises one of the rich genres of our classical literature that is in fact intertwined with religious culture. Other examples of the genre concerning the Prophet include the mawlid, sirah, hilya, mi'raj-nameh, Hijrat al-Nabi (the migration of Prophet Muhammad), shafaat-namah, forty hadiths and a hundred hadith...

The Prophet in God's Own Words
Prophet Muhammad in the Qur'an An exclusive project of Lastprophet.info marking the occasion of the Mawlid –Prophet Muhammad’s birth – three Qaris, or reciters of the Qur’an, Hüseyin Orhan, Halil Necipoğlu, and Ibrahim Helalşah respectively recite in Arabic the Qur’anic verses describing Prophet Muhammad. The English translation of these verses is read by Andy Boyns. The three different reciters...

Mercy and Compassion Embraced Everyone
In order to understand to what degree the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is a mercy ("We sent you as a mercy to the world" Al-Anbiya 107), it is necessary to take a look at the situation of the world before him. It has been historically established that, just as in many regions of the world, idols were dominant in Meccan society and, consequently, a full human drama was taking place. According to a sta...

The Prophetic Tradition in Islam and its Role in Constructing a

Since the very beginning, the Sunnah has survived in two forms principally. The first is the transmission of this tradition by repeated practices through the generations. This type of transmission is usually referred to as the “living tradition”, because it requires neither the writing nor the memorization of the prophetic norm, rather its implementation as observed in the previous g...

The Compass of Our Servanthood
God Almighty says, “Know well that His is the creation and His is the command. Blessed and Supreme is God, the Lord of the worlds” (A’raf, 7:54). The Divine actions pertaining to either taqwin (creation) or tadbir (providence), concern the universe together with all the creatures in it. Everything follows the path and trajectory which has been ordained for it. God’s acts of taqlif (the Divine de...

The Kindness of the Prophet Muhammad
Sep 21, 2011 I have now called Islam my religion and way of life for 10 years. During this decade, I have come to realize that the main obstacle to interfaith understanding and mutual respect between Muslims and non-Muslims is the shroud of mystique that still surrounds Islam, despite its spotlight media coverage since that fateful day in September 2001. Therefore, in order to really reach s...

The Prophet's Last Smile
Last smile in a finite world Even God’s Messenger, who said, “If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much,” laughed at times. In actual fact, his face would light up with his smile and mercy, like the precious stone, mother-of-pearl. But was it the short-comings, weaknesses or shameful discrepancies of others that put a smile on his face? Let us try and underst...

Prayers of the Prophets in the Qur'an
Prayers of the Prophets A Lastprophet.info compilation of the Qur’anic verses presenting the personal supplications of the Prophets. Prayers include those of Prophets Solomon, Jonah, Adam, Abraham, Ishmael, Zachariah and Muhammad, upon them all be peace. The following are the prayers in the original Qur'anic text as well as in their English translations:   1 / The Distinction, 25:74 "Our Lord! ...

A Home Based on Love
A foremost characteristic of life in the home of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was love. Love is the quality most necessary to ensure happiness. When love is present, happiness is assured. The Prophet preferred a life of poverty, which was sometimes close to, if not below, the subsistence level. Yet this did not detract from the fact that his was a very happy home, with love spre...

The Prophetic Portrait: The Hilya in Calligraphy
    For Muslims who avoid visual representations depicting human beings, especially that of the prophets, the millenary expression within the Islamic tradition allowing for the portrayal of the person of Prophet Muhammad has been the hilya, his pen portrait. Denoting ‘quality, characteristic or form’, as well as ‘decoration or ornament,’ hilya, within the ...

Journey of love
Formal prayer has an end, but the prayer of the soul is unlimited. It is the drowning of the soul in universal love. This journey of love and devotion forms the foundation of the Sufi experience. It demonstrates that through God's grace, it is possible for those who are pure to journey to the Divine. All through history, Muslim scholars have discussed whether the Ascension was of a physical ...