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Bidayat as-Sul Fi Tafdil ar-Rasul: The Beginning Of The Quest Of The High Esteem Of The Messenger
Bidayat as-Sul Fi Tafdil ar-Rasul: The Beginning Of The Quest Of The High Esteem Of The Messenger
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Translator
Aisha Bewley
Description
This is a small book that carries a large subject: the standing of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ above the rest of creation. Imam ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, known among scholars as the Sultan of Scholars for his contributions across the Islamic sciences, wrote it as a concise treatise rather than an exhaustive study, and that concision is part of its value. In just over 140 pages, he gathers forty distinctive virtues and characteristics of the Messenger ﷺ, moving through them with the discipline of a jurist rather than the flourish of a storyteller.
For a reader who wants to understand why the Prophet ﷺ holds the rank he does, without wading through volumes, this is a natural place to begin. It rewards a slow reading, ideally paired with reflection rather than rushed through in a sitting, since each virtue is presented as its own small case worth pausing over.
This Turath Publishing edition runs 147 pages and is also available as an eBook, making it easy to keep close at hand whether on a shelf or a device. It sits well alongside other classical works on the Sīra and shamāʾil for anyone building a small library on the life and merits of the Prophet ﷺ.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam: Imam 'Izz al-Din 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Salam al-Sulami rahimahullah (577-660 AH / 1181-1262 CE) was one of the most eminent Shafi'i jurists and legal theorists of the medieval Islamic world, widely titled Sultan al-'Ulama, the Sultan of Scholars. He studied and taught in Damascus and later in Cairo, where he served in positions of religious authority including the role of khatib at the Umayyad Mosque and later as a judge. He was known for his independence and moral courage in issuing legal opinions, including censure of the Ayyubid rulers. His scholarly output spanned Shafi'i jurisprudence, the principles and methodologies of Islamic law (usul al-fiqh), Qur'anic exegesis, the issuance of formal legal opinions (fatwa), questions of governance, and Islamic spirituality. His masterpiece Qawa'id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-Anam (The Bases of Legal Rulings in the Interests of Mankind) is among the foundational texts of Islamic legal theory (maqasid al-shari'a). He also wrote on the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, including Bidayat al-Sul fi Tafdil al-Rasul.
About the translator
Aisha Bewley: Aisha Bewley (b. 1948 CE) is one of the most prolific and respected translators of classical Arabic Islamic literature into English. Born in the United States, she earned a BA in French and an MA in Near Eastern languages at the University of California, Berkeley, and undertook further study at the American University in Cairo. She embraced Islam in 1968 and has since devoted more than four decades to rendering the texts of the Islamic tradition into clear, accessible English. Her best-known work is The Noble Qur'an, a translation of the meanings of the Qur'an produced with her husband, Abdalhaqq Bewley, and first published in 1999. Among her landmark translations are the Muwatta' of Imam Malik ibn Anas (1989), a foundational early collection of hadith and Maliki fiqh, and the multi-volume Tafsir of al-Qurtubi (2003 onward). Her wider output spans creed, law, and Prophetic biography, including abridgements and renderings of works such as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's writing on the soul after death and classical descriptions of the noble character and appearance of the Prophet, peace be upon him. WorldCat records her as author or translator of dozens of works across many editions, and in 2023 she was named Muslim Woman of the Year by The Muslim 500, which recognizes the world's most influential Muslims. Her translations are valued for fidelity to the Arabic and readable English, and remain in steady use among English-speaking students of the tradition.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9780954738037
Publisher
Turath Publishing
Author
Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam
Pages
42
Translator
Aisha Bewley
Year Published
2008
Size
W- | H- | D-
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