But if still you have not derived beneficial lessons from it...

But if still you have not derived beneficial lessons from it then what did you earn and learn during all these years?" (1).

Al-Ghazali remarks on another occasion "If one considers the sayings of the Messenger of God (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) and what is related in the Tradition about his concern for showing to people the true way and his graciousness in leading men by various acts of sympathy and kindness to improve their character and con- duct and to better their mutual relations - lead- ing them, in fine, to what is the indispensable basis of all betterment, religious and secular alike - if one considers this, one comes to the necessary knowledge that his good will to- wards his people is greater than that of a father towards his child." (2) The study of the life of the Prophet can never be overemphasized for only by a careful examination of his personality throughout a life-long struggle can one understand the spirit of the Divine Message with which he was entrusted.

Says the Qur'an: "Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and remembers Allah much". (Qur an, 33:21) It also states: "...... And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take (accept) it, and whatsoever he forbids you, give it up". (Qur'an, 59:7) Clearly, these two Quranic verses are sufficient to urge a Muslim to undertake a serious study of the Prophetic Traditions and behave accordingly.

Fortunately the way of life of God's Messenger, private and public, has been record- ed in considerable detail. His followers went so far as to count the number of grey hairs in his beard and even write detailed descriptions of his shoes. The first written work (siyar) relating to the life of the Prophet is ascribed to `Urwah, who is said to have met some of the companions of the Prophet, and his stu- dent az-Zuhri.

Some have ascribed the first written work to Ibn Is'haq who passed away in Baghdad in the year 150 A.H. The oldest and most reliable of such books that have come down to us are those written by al- Waqidi (d.207 A.H.), Ibn Hisham (d.313 A.H.) and at-Tabari (d.315 A.H.) (3). A great deal of the sayings of the Prophet, however, started to be written during his lifetime (4) and were compiled after his passing away.

It need hardly be stated that the "science of Tradition" is highly developed and the method of authenti- cation is very impressive.…