Our Sources
Read Sirah is built on three pillars of modern Sirah scholarship. Each scene we illustrate is grounded in these works.
1. Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)
Author: Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri (1942–2006)
First published: 1979 (Arabic) · 1995 (English translation)
Pages: ~750
The Sealed Nectar won the 1979 Saudi Awards prize for the best biography of the Prophet ﷺ, chosen from 171 submissions worldwide. It is the most-cited modern Sirah work in Sunni scholarship, used as a curriculum text across Islamic schools globally. Mubarakpuri synthesises the earliest classical Sirah works — Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, al-Tabari — into a single accessible narrative.
Why we use it: The Sealed Nectar is our backbone for chronology, geography, and traditional Sunni framing. When two early sources disagree, we follow Mubarakpuri's judgement.
2. Hadha al-Habib Muhammad ﷺ Ya Muhibb (This is the Beloved Muhammad ﷺ, O Lover)
Author: Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri (1921–2018)
First published: 1989 (Arabic)
Pages: 608
Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri taught at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah for over 50 years. Hadha al-Habib is his life's devotional Sirah work — written in the warm, intimate voice of someone who has spent decades teaching the Prophet's life to students of every age. It complements Mubarakpuri's scholarly precision with emotional depth.
Why we use it: Al-Jaza'iri's voice shapes the tone of Read Sirah. We want Muslim children to feel love for the Prophet ﷺ, not just facts about him.
3. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
Author: Dr. Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din, 1909–2005)
First published: 1983 (English)
Pages: ~360
Goodreads: View on Goodreads
Martin Lings was a British scholar, Cambridge graduate, and one of the foremost Western specialists on Islam in the 20th century. His Muhammad is based directly on the earliest Arabic sources — particularly Ibn Ishaq's Sirah as preserved by Ibn Hisham, and the Maghazi of al-Waqidi. The Islamic Council of Europe named it the best biography of the Prophet ﷺ in English in 1983.
Why we use it: Lings translated and arranged the earliest Arabic accounts directly. When we want to know how a moment was originally narrated — before later commentary — we go to Lings.
What this means for the book in your hands
When your child reads Read Sirah, every panel has been cross-checked against at least one of these three works. Where the sources agree, we follow them. Where they differ, we choose the most widely-attested version and note our reasoning in the editorial endnotes (forthcoming).
We don't make things up. We don't add scenes for drama. We adapt for visual storytelling and age-appropriate language — nothing else.