Intro to Haykal

----

LIFE OF MUHAMMED BY HAYKAL

Prophet's Sirah Altered by Religious Authorites:

Life of Muhammad is a famous biography of the Prophet was written by Sunni author Dr. Haykal of Egypt. It was originally publised in 1930.

The readers should be aware that alterations were made by to this sirah by Haykal. The original book was changed many times by "certain mysterious authorites" before it was translated into English more than forty-five years later by Ismail Faruqi. Attempts in 1964 by Chicago Univerity to accuratly translate the entire original book were thwarted in 1968.

Article below by Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi illustrates how the biography was corrupted over the years. The book has been mutilated so many times that, today, it is not the same work which the famous Egyptian author once wrote. Haykal was constantly pressured into removing historical references which show evidence that Prophet named Ali as his successor.

Dr. Haykal protested against the authorities that to write his book, he relied only on the famous Sunni books of history. However, he was eventually forced to take out sections that might make Sunnis reconsider Shia claims about Ali. To see the numerious attempts at censorship by these officials, the readers needs simply to look at the number of prefaces and forwards to Dr. Haykal's work. It is apparent that a so many introductions were written to hide the history of its publication. It is quite interesting just to read one preface after another, one forward upon another. This shows the lengths to which the authorities went go keep Sunnis hostile the idea of Ali's rightful succession to Muhammad.

The translator of the English version of the book hints that certain vested interests tried their best to prevented the western translation of the book. He reveals the extent of reach of these "players". Authorities were even able to pressure the University of Chicago and Temple University in Philadelphia to stop publication of the historial work of Dr. Haykal. Therefore, the first 1930 edition of Haykal's original book, and its official translation in 1968 by Chicago University has never been seen by the public. It was scandalous interference in acadamics.

Professor Faruqi then decided to make his own independent translation in 1975. The numerous "Prefaces", and "Forwards" are included for the readers. There is also a valuable insight to history of textual alterations: How different books of history have been corrupted by different publishers. Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi of Toronto, Canada has given details of the amendments made to Hakyal's original work. Presented below is the re-edited version in two parts. Many changes have been made to the translated text:

--

Self-Censorship in Modern Times

By Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

A modern writer of Egypt, Dr. Muhammad Husayn Haykal, wrote a famous book on the Prophet's biography known as Hayat Muhammad (Life of Muhammad).

Haykal had first published the Prophet's biography in his weekly paper as-Siyasa.

The event of the Feast was published in the supplement of Issue Number 2751 (12 Dhul-Qadah 1350) page 5, column 2.

One of his critics wrote a letter to the paper accusing Haykal of using Shi'ite sources for that statement about Imam Ali.

Haykal responds to this accusation in the supplement of Issue Number 2758, page 6, column 4, by denying that he used a Shia source "since all traditions do speak of this behaviour of Ali"; and, quotes the hadith from Sahih of Muslim, Musnad of Ahmad and others.

Haykal resisted the pressure to omit the Prophet's statement about Ali when the biography was finally printed in a book form.

In the first edition of Hayat Muhammad, Haykal narrates the "Event of the Feast" as follows:

"...When they had finished eating, he [the Prophet] said to them, 'I do not know any person among the Arabs who has come to his people with something better than what I have come to you; I have come to you with the best of this world and the hereafter. My Lord has ordered me to call you unto him. So who among you will help me in this matter, so that he may be my brother, my successor, and my caliph among you?'. All of them turned away from him and wanted to leave him but Ali stood up although he was still a child who had not reached maturity and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I shall be your helper! I will help you against whomsoever you fight.' The Banu Hashim smiled, some of them laughed, and their eyes moved from Abu Talib to his son; and then they left in the state of ridicule."

Haykal has quoted the important words in the initial statement of the Prophet asking for support; but conveniently left out the Prophet's entire response to Ali's readiness to help him!

In the second edition, Haykal seems to have given into the pressure of the bigots and even deleted the crucial words of the Prophet and just wrote:

"He said to them: 'so who among you will help me in this matter? All of them turned away from him"

This clearly shows that he doesn't doubt the actual "Summoning of the Family" event but he lacked the intellectual courage to stand by the logical conclusion of his initial findings in the study of history.


Self-Censorship by At-Tabari

The case of Ibn Jarir Tabari (d.310 AH) is even more interesting.

The event of Dawat dhil-Ashira given above is based on the version of at-Tabari's monumental work in history: Tarikhul-Umam wal-Muluk.

At-Tabari has also authored a famous commentary of the Quran: Jamiul-Bayan an Tawil ayail-Quran.

It is interesting to compare the history of at-Tabari with his Quranic commentary in relation to the present topic.

In his "Tarikh", Tabari has quoted the words used by the Prophet for Ali in the Feast in its entirety:

"akhhi wa wasiyyi wa khalafat: My brother, my successor, my caliph."

But in his Tawil (volume 19, page 74), while discussing the relevant verse in which the Prophet was ordered to call his relations to Islam, at-Tabari exercises self-censorship and has concealed the clear and the explicit impact of the Prophet's words by recording it as follows:

"akhhi wa kadha wa kadha: My brother, and so-and-so, and so-and-so."


[Ref. See the 1879 edition of E.J. Brill, Leiden (v.3,p.1173), the 1908 edition of Darul-Qamusil-Hadith, Cairo (v.1,2,p.217), and also, the 1961 edition of Darul-Maarif, Cairo, edited by Muhammad Abul-Fadl Ibrahim (v.2,p.321) in which the original words are intact. Even Tabari's 1988 English translation published by State University of New York,volume 6 (translators: WM Watt and MV McDonald) p. 90-91 has maintained the original words of the Prophet without any omission.]


Ibn Kathir, another famous Damascene author of "al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah" (volume 3, page 40), has used Tabari’s book "Tarikh" as his main reference.

However, when he comes to the event of the Feast, he abandons the Tarikh of at-Tabari and uses the altered version of Jamiul-Bayan of at-Tabari! This is not surprising since it is known that Ibn Kathir had anti-Shia sentiments.

Many students of Islamic history begin with the assumption that if an event or a statement has not been reported in the earliest sources of Muslim history or hadith like as-Sirah an-Nabawiyya of Ibn Hisham or Sahih of al-Bukhari, it must be a later fabrication and therefore not credible. They tend to ignore the biases and limitations that are imposed on the writer by the ruling powers as well as by self-inclination. Biases are not only relevant in fabrication of mythical persons, events and statements; they are equally relevant in ignoring and silently bypassing certain historical figures and stories.

This paper intends to examine the way Muslim historians have dealt with the first open call to Islam known as Dawat dhul-Ashira.


Prophet's First Open Call to Islam

Islam began when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) became forty years old.

Initially, the mission was kept a secret. Then three years after the advent of Islam, the Prophet was ordered to commence the open declaration of his message.

This was the occasion when Almighty Allah revealed the verse "And warn thy nearest relations." (26:214)

When this verse was revealed, the Prophet organized a feast that is known in history as "Summoning the Family - Dawat dhul-Ashira".

The Prophet invited around forty men from the Banu Hashim and asked Ali bin Abi Talib to make arrangements for the dinner. After having served his guests with food and drinks, when the Prophet wanted to speak to them about Islam, Abu Lahab forestalled him and said, "Your host has long since bewitched you."

All the guests dispersed before the Prophet could present his message to them.

The Prophet then invited them the next day.

After the feast, he spoke to them, saying:

”O Sons of Abdul-Muttalib! By Allah, I do not know of any person among the Arabs who has come to his people with better than what I have brought to you. I have brought to you the good of this world and the next, and I have been commanded by the Lord to call you unto Him. Therefore, who amongst you will support me in this matter so that he may be my brother (akhhi), my successor (wasiyyi) and my caliph (khalifati) among you?”

This was the first time that the Prophet openly and publicly called the relations to accept him as the Messenger and Prophet of Allah.

He also uses the words "akhi wa wasiyyi wa khalafati - my brother, my successor, and my caliph", for the person who will aid him in this mission.

No one answered him. They all held back except the youngest of them - Ali bin Abu Talib.

He stood up and said, "I will be your helper, O Prophet of God."

The Prophet put his hand on the back of Ali's neck and said:

”Verily this is my brother, my successor, and my caliph amongst you; therefore, listen to him and obey."

This was a very explicit statement because the audience understood the appointment of Ali very clearly.

Some of them, including Abu Lahab, even joked with Abu Talib that your nephew, Muhammad, has ordered you to listen to your son and obey him!

At the least, this shows that the appointment of Ali bin Abu Talib was clear and explicit, not just implied.


[References: Most Muslim historians and commentators of the Quran have quoted this event. See the following Sunni sources:

Tabari's "Tarikh", v.1, p171 (Leiden, 1980 offset of the 1789 edition)
Ibn al-Athir's "al-Kamil", v.5, p62 (Beirut, 1965)
Abul-Fida's "al-Mukhtasar fi Tarikhi l-Bashar", v.1, p.116 (Beirut, n.d.)
Khazin's "Tafsir", v.4, p.127 (Cairo, 1955)
al-Baghawi's "Tafsir (Maalimut-Tanzil)", v.6, p.131 (Riyadh: Dar Tayyiba,1993)
al-Bayhaqi's "Dalailun-Nubuwwa", v.1, p428 (Cairo, 1969)
Suyuti's "Durrul-Manthur", v.5, p97 (Beirut, n.d.)
Muttaqi al-Hindi's "Kanzul-Ummal", v.15, p100 (Hyderabad, 1968)

For further references, see Al-Amini's "al-Ghadir", v.2 (Beirut, 1967) p278

In English, see Saeed Akhtar Rizvi's "Imamate: the Vicegerency of the Prophet" (Tehran: WOFIS, 1985) p57.

For an elaborate discussion on the isnad and meaning of the Prophet's hadith in this event, and also the variations in the early Sunni and Shia sources, see Dr. Sayyid Talib Husayn ar-Rifai, Yawmud-Dar (Beirut: Dar al-Azwa, 1986).]

Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

--

[ Dr. Haykal's book is presented below in its later english version.]

----