Islam and Peace
The Importance of Studying the Life of the Prophet Muhammad and its
Application to Our Lives
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THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE
LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
AND ITS APPLICATION TO OUR
LIVES
Dr. Michael H. Hart, in his now famous book, called
The Hundred – A Ranking of the Most Influential
Persons in History,
has held the Prophet
Muhammad, may peace be upon him, to be the
most supremely successful man in history. But if the
Prophet occupies this top-ranking position, it is not
as a hero although he had many heroic qualities –
but as a guide to humanity. Throughout his life, not
only was he a supremely successful person himself,
but he also stood out as a superb model for others
to imitate. It is this aspect of his seerah, or
biography, which is outlined in this paper.
BEGINNING WITH THE POSSIBLE
At the time that the Prophet came to the world,
Arabia was racked by a multiplicity of problems.
The Roman and Sassanid empires had made
political inroads into Arabia; society was beset by
