السيرة
A shelf in the garden of Seerah & History
Prophetic Footsteps walks with the Prophet ﷺ stage by stage, from Makkah to Madinah. This shelf holds the books behind it and the ones to read next: our own notes first, then a short path for where to start, then the shelf itself, from full biographies to the classics on his character and the lives of his Companions.
7 books, each with where to get it
فوائد
With our notes
Our chapter-by-chapter notes, in our own words, with every chapter linked to Prophetic Footsteps and our other sites. Read a chapter of the book, then its note.
Our reading notes
by Omar Suleiman · Kube, 2022
Thirty short scenes that place you beside him: at the Friday sermon, at your table, on his hardest days. Our notes take each chapter in turn and link every Companion and event to its page on Prophetic Footsteps.
His life in our other notes
ابدأ
A reading path
New to the seerah, or coming back to it? Read them in this order.
New to his life? Begin with who was Muhammad ﷺ, a first introduction on The Open Door.
الرفّ
The shelf
Each book with a line on what it is, who it suits, anything worth knowing before you start, and the pages on Prophetic Footsteps to read alongside it. How to Muslim isn’t paid by any publisher; the links go to each publisher’s own shop.
Three ways through the whole seerah: the classic most readers start with, a story told from the earliest biographers, and a modern study built on the lectures Prophetic Footsteps draws on.
Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri · Darussalam
His life from Arabia before Islam to his passing, told in order and in plain language. It won first prize in the Muslim World League’s seerah competition and is read worldwide.
Read it with
Martin Lings · Inner Traditions, revised 2006
His life told as one flowing story, drawn from the Arabic biographies of the eighth and ninth centuries, with many passages put into English for the first time.
Read it with
Yasir Qadhi · Second edition, 2024
The written version of his long seerah lecture series. It goes through the events with the Qur’an revealed around them and draws out what each one means for us now.
Read it with
Two classics that leave the timeline aside and look at the man himself: how he looked and lived, and the love and respect owed to him.
Imam at-Tirmidhi · Free to read on sunnah.com
The narrations about how he looked and lived, gathered chapter by chapter: his face and hair, his clothes, how he ate and slept, his laughter, his worship.
Read it with
Qadi ‘Iyad, translated by Aisha Bewley · Diwan Press
A twelfth-century classic on his rank with Allah, his character and miracles, and what every Muslim owes him: love, respect and following his Sunnah.
Read it with
The people who walked with him. Read a portrait here, then open the Companion’s page on Prophetic Footsteps for the sourced account.
Khalid Muhammad Khalid · Islamic Book Trust
Short portraits of some sixty Companions, from the first believers to the commanders, each written to bring one life to light.
Read it with
Companions on Prophetic Footsteps
المزيد
Keep going
Our sites to read alongside this shelf, and the next shelf along.