Early Days : From Al – Bidayah wan – Nihayah (H/B)

Prophet Ibrahim (AS) was known to be the friend of Allah. There was a reason why this was true. His Love for the Lord was unparalleled and so were his trials.However, through his life history one can learn a lot about life as well as the attributes of being a great human being. Includes the Life and times of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), explained in detail by the author. Every story of the prophet is linked to a moralistic and educational value. All stories provided in the book are authentic; they are taken from the Quran and the authentic Sunnah. Each story is supported by further research and commentaries from Muslim Scholars. The language level is easy to understand and it targets the students of Elementary school. Although everyone else is free to read it. The prophets were all Allah’s messengers, and they were the perfect example of what had to be offered in order to maximize the message of Allah. So why not learn from them, and make our world a better place?

Darussalam is proud to present the abridged English translation of the classic work: Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah, which covers the Caliphate of Bani Umayyah. It starts from the rule of Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan in the 41st year of Hijrah upto the rule of Caliph Marwan Al-Himar in year 132 of the Hijrah.

The Umayyad Caliphate ?(c. 661-750 CE/41-132 AH) was the second of the four major Islamic caliphates established after the death of Rasulallah. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the city of Makkah, their capital was Damascus. At its greatest extent, it covered more than five million square miles (13,000,000 km2), making it one of the largest empires the world had yet seen, and the seventh largest contiguous empire ever to exist.

In this book, the stories of the prophets have been compiled from ‘Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah’ (The Beginning and the End) which is a great work of the famous Muslim exegete and historian Ibn Kathir and has a prominent place in the Islamic literature. The stories of the prophets and all the events in their lives have been supported by the Qur’anic Verses and the Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet (S). Wherever it was necessary, other sources have also been reported for the sake of historical accounts, but on such places a comparative study has been made to prove the authenticity of the sources. Ibn Kathir has reproduced the views and interpretations of all the great exegetes of the Qur’an of his time. The systemic narratives of the Stories of the Prophets have been written in chronological order which renders a historical style to the book.

History stands as the most effective and valuable source of putting nation on the course of progress and prosperity and saving them from the path of disgrace and degradation.

At a time, when there is tough competition among the nations of the world to excel one another, the Muslim, despite having the most glorious history, appear to be detached and careless as regards their history.

This book presents the true Islamic events and their actual causes before the English readers because the other books in the English language found on the Islamic history have been written by such authors and compilers who did no justice in presenting the true picture of Islamic Era but their prejudice prevented them from doing so.