An interpretive reading of the biographical legacy of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)

Abstract

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) represents the light of guidance for humanity and the reason for bringing people out of darkness into light. Therefore, studies and research on prophethood have flourished in various fields, Their beliefs varied in their understanding of prophethood as a divine leadership for which God chooses whomever He wills from among His creation who are sincere to God Almighty and distinguished from others by their ability to fulfill their duties, succeed in their trials, and endure the greatest degrees of tribulation; thus, they become God's ambassadors on earth and strive for good among His servants. Hence, this leadership has become a subject of research and study to determine its limits and rights. Since the Prophet, who is capable of assuming the reins of prophethood, is the ruler of our lives and more deserving of us than ourselves, this confirms his greatness and status with God Almighty, who has entrusted him to choose for His creation what is important to them. If it is incumbent upon the individual, when making choices for himself, to be cautious and seek the truth and the limits of the Sharia in order to preserve the sanctity of the self, which we are obliged to protect and care for until God Almighty takes it, how can we imagine the magnitude of the responsibility that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) took upon himself when he made decisions for the entire ummah? Therefore, studying his biography (peace be upon him and his family) requires diligence, caution, and commitment to what is consistent with his status and greatness, otherwise we will cause the truth to be distorted from its course, without realizing the audacity of what we are doing, as has been the case with some studies based on foreign or obscure narrations. All this is because people have abandoned the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), who were the closest people to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in terms of character, logic, and lineage, and abandoning what has been proven about them is abandoning their right, which Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) have made obligatory for them.