Book Review: In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Prophet Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan

Available on Amazon

     In the Footsteps of the Prophet tells the story of Prophet Muhammad in a very straightforward, refreshing way. It reads more like a novel than just a fact laden biographical account since there is narrative interwoven throughout. What I liked about this book is that the sections are short and the organization is easy to follow. It begins with the story of Abraham and then the story of Muhammad starting with his birth and ending with his death.

     Many passages throughout the book are accompanied by verses from the Qur'an and hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) which helps give them context. Often times verses or hadiths are difficult to relate to but learning about the environment in which the Prophet lived and the thought processes that people had during his time helps to understand them better.

Muslims are like X-Men

Growing up one of my favorite cartoons was X-Men. I found it fascinating that people could fly, walk through walls, control fire, manipulate metal, ice, wind, water, read minds, and have countless other superpowers. These people who have superpowers are referred to as mutants in the series. I secretly wanted to be Rogue because she could absorb any other mutant's power and use it herself. But this came with a price, she couldn't touch anyone without hurting them. Her first kiss with a guy put him in a coma. I also liked Rogue because her outfit was green and that is my favorite color.

Words to live by: Silence

Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said,

"He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must not harm his neighbour, and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day must show hospitality to his guest, and he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent." (Bukhari and Muslim)

I wonder if the underlined part is also related to another hadith narrated by Ibn Umar,

"he who covers up (the faults and sins of a Muslim, Allah will cover up (his faults and sins) in this world and in the Hereafter." (Bukhari and Muslim)

Are you speaking good if you're speaking badly about others? Even if it's minor things? For example "She talks too much." Is there a such thing as a neutral category? It would be interesting to spend a whole day analyzing everything that comes out of my mouth and classifying it as good/neutral/bad and then eliminating all the bad stuff. I wonder how much silence would ensue thereafter.

Classes and Jumah

I'm taking 3 classes here, one about French grammar, oral expression and phonetics. All my teachers are humorous and encouraging to their students to improve our French. My grammar class is mostly doing exercises and going over them in class. Also if you arrive to class late you have to sing in front of the class. I was the first one to be late because I had to go to the clinic in the morning, but luckily she let it go that time. Oral expression is mostly discussion based and for the final we have to participate in a debate. Phonetics, my favorite class, is about the 'musique' of the the language. I'm learning so much about why words are pronounced the way they are and about the rhythmic nature of speaking French. If French phonetics is this cool Arabic phonetics must be awesome.

Books for my classes

Love me some Jesus

Muslim who loves Jesus

Narrated Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him):

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Jesus, seeing a man stealing, asked him, 'Did you steal?' He said, 'No, by Allah, except Whom there is None who has the right to be worshipped.' Jesus (peace be upon him) said, "I believe in Allah and suspect my eyes."

Bukhari Vol. 4 : No. 653

Legit.