Zainab Cheema reviews Zafar Bangash’s latest book entitled Power Manifestations of the Sirah: Examining the Letters and Treaties of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and published by Crescent International for the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (384 pages; soft cover, $30.00).
Muslim political thought seems to have drifted from the teachings of the Qur’an, and the Sunnah and Sirah of the noble Messenger of Allah (s). In Part I of this essay, Zafar Bangash, Director of the Institute of Contemporary Isla-mic Thought, places it back in the Sirah to enable the Islamic movement to transform wayward Muslim societies.
I must hasten to say that I did not write about the greatest of all the personalities, Muhammad (pbuh), 'Blessings and Peace be upon him' son of 'Abdullah, with this limited concept in mind. I am a Muslim through knowledge: I know why I believe in Allah (swt) 'The Exalted', (Lord) of the Worlds, and in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), and why I follow the Book he brought to us. Indeed, I know why I call others to believe in all this which has brought tranquility to my heart.
1For Muslims while the Qur’an is the revealed Word of God, the Prophet’s Seerah [life story/ prophetic model] is its practical manifestation.
