The Speeches & Table-Talk of The Prophet Muhammad

The Speeches & Table-Talk of The Prophet Muhammad

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Book Specification

Item Code: NAH089
Author: Stanley Lane-Poole
Publisher: Kitab Bhavan
Language: English
Edition: 2006
ISBN: 8171510485
Pages: 220
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 7.5 inch x 5.0 inch
Weight 240 gm

Book Description

About The Book

It aims to present all that is most enduring and memorable in the public orations private sayings of the Holy Prophet in such a form that the general reader may be tempted to learn a little of what a great man he was and of what made him great.

Introduction

The aim of this little volume is to present all that is most enduring and memorable in the public orations and Private sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in such a form that the general reader may be tempted to learn a little of what a great man was and of what made him great. Things are constantly being said, written, and preached about the Arabian Prophet and the religion he taught, of which an elementary acquaintance with him would show the importance. No one would dare to treat the ordinary classics of European literature in this fashion; or, he did, his exposure would immediately ensure. What I wish to do is to enable anyone, at the cost of the least possible exertion, to put himself into a position to judge of popular fallacies about Muhammad and his creed as surely and certainly as he can judge of errors in ordinary education and scholarship. I do not wish to mention in the Qur'an by name more than can be helped, for I have observed that the word has a deterrent effect upon readers who like their literary food, light and easy of digestion. I cannot, however, be disguised that a great deal of this book consists of the Qur'an, and it may therefore be as well to explain away as far as possible the prejudice which the name is apt to excite. It is not easy to say for how much of this prejudice the standard English translator is responsible. The patient and meritorious George Sale put the Qur'an into tangled English and heavy quarto,--people read quartos then and did not call them editions de luxe, --his version then appeared in a clumsy octavo, with most undesirable type and paper; finally It has come out in a cheap edition, of which it need only be said that utility rather than taste has been consulted. One can hardly blame anyone for refusing to look even at the outsides of these volumes. And the inside,--not the mere outward inside, if I may so say, the type and paper,--but the heart of hearts, the matter itself, is by no means calculated to tempt a reluctant reader. The Qur'an is there arranged according to the orthodox form, instead of in chronological order,--it must be allowed that the chronological order was not discovered in Sale's time,--and the result is that impression of chaotic indefiniteness which impressed Carstyle so strongly, and which Carstyle has impressed upon most of the present generation.

The attitude of the multitude towards Sale's translation of the Qur'an was on the whole reasonable. But if the faults that were found there are shown to belong to Sale and not to the Qur'an or only partly to it, the attitude should change. In the first place, the Qur'an is not a large book, and in the second, it is by no means so disorderly an anarchic as is commonly supposed. Reckoned by the number of verses, the Qur'an is only two-thirds of the length of the New Testament. But the real permanent contents of the Qur'an may be taken at far less even than this estimate. There is also a considerable portion of the Qur'an which is devoted, to the exposure and confutation of those who, from political, commercial, or religious motives, made in their business to thwart Muhammad in his effort to reform his people, These personal, one might say partly, speeches are valuable only to the biographer and historian of the times, They throw but little light on the character of the man Muhammad himself. They show him indeed, to be-what we knew him before--a sensitive man. But for this purpose one instance is sufficient. We do not form our estimate of a great statesman from his moments of sensitivity, but from those larger utterances which reveal the results of a life's study of men and government. So with Muhammad, we may abandon the personal and temporary element in the Qur'an, and base our judgement upon those utternaces which stand for all times, and deal not with individuals or classes, but with man as he is, in Arabia or England, or where we will. This position is not taken with the object of saving Muhammad from himself. His attacks upon his opponents will bear comparison with those of other statesmen. They are doubtless couched in more vigorous language than we are accustomed to, and where we insinuate, Muhammad curses outright. But in the face of a treacherous and malignant opposition, the Arabian Prophet comported himself with singular self-restraint. Leaving out the Jewish stories, needless repetitions, and temporary exhortations or personal vindications, the speeches of Muhammad may be set forth in very moderate compass. One speech--Sura, or chapter, as it is generally called--follows another so much to the same effect, that a limited number will be found to contain all the ideas which a minute study of the whole Qur'an could collect. I believe there is nothing important, either in doctrine or style, which is not contained in the twenty-eight speeches which fill the first part (containing the Quranic suras) of this small volume, If I Were a Mohammadan, I think I could accept the present Collection as a sufficient representation of what the Qur'an teaches.

Contents

Introduction 1
The Speeches at Mekka 39
I The Poetic Period. Ayat 40-44, A.D. 609.613
The Night 41
The Country 42
The Smiting 43
The Quaking 44
The Rending Asunder 45
The Chargers 46
Support 47
The Backbiter 48
The Splendour Of Morning 49
The Most High 50
The Wrapping 51
The News 53
The Fact 55
The Merciful 59
The Unity 64
The Fatihah 65
II The Rhetorical Period. Ayat 44-46, A.D. 613-615 67
The Kingdom 69
Tile Moon 72
Q. 76
Y.S. 79
The Children Of Israel 85
III The Argumentative Period. Ayat 46-53, A.D 615-622 97
The Believer 99
Jonah 109
The Thunder 122
The Speeches Of Medina 131
The Period Of Harangue. Ayat 53-63, A.D. 622-632
Deception 133
Iron 135
The Victory 140
Help 145
The. Law Given At Medina
Religious Law 147
Civil And Criminal Law 154
The Table-Talk Of Muhammad 159
Concerning Prayer 163
Of Charity 164
Of Fasting 166
Of Reading the Qur'an 167
Of Labour and Profit 168
Of Fighting for the Faith 171
Of Judgments 172
Of Women and Slaves 173
Of Dumb Animals 175
Of Hospitality 176
Of Government 177
Of Vanities and Sundry Matters 178
Of Death 181
Of the State after Death 183
Of Destiny 187
Notes 189
Index of Chapters of the Qur'an Translated 203
Sample Pages










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