al-Rahiq al-Makhtum ma Ziyadat

al-Rahiq al-Makhtum ma Ziyadat (The Sealed Nectar with Additions) is an expanded and revised edition of the contemporary biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ authored by the Indian scholar Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakfuri (1362–1427 AH / 1943–2006 CE) al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

Background and Composition

The book was originally composed for the global competition on the Prophetic biography organized by the Muslim World League, which was announced following the first International Conference on the Prophetic Biography held in Pakistan in Rabiʿ al-Awwal 1396 AH (1976 CE) al-Taliq ala al-Rahiq al-…+1. al-Mubarakfuri completed the manuscript at al-Jamiʿah al-Salafiyyah in Varanasi, India, on 24 Rajab 1396 AH (23 July 1976 CE) al-Raheeq al-Makhtum. It was awarded first prize in the competition by the Muslim World League al-Taliq ala al-Rahiq al-…+1.

Structure and Method

In his preface, al-Mubarakfuri noted that he aimed for a medium-length work that avoided both tedious elaboration and inadequate brevity al-Raheeq al-Makhtum. When encountering discrepancies among classical sources regarding the chronology or details of events, he conducted independent research and incorporated his preferred conclusion into the main text without presenting extensive proofs, except when necessary to prevent misunderstanding or when prevailing writers had adopted an unsound view al-Raheeq al-Makhtum.

The book is structured chronologically, opening with a comprehensive pre-Islamic background al-Raheeq al-Makhtum+1:

• Pre-Islamic Arabia: The geography and tribes of the Arabian Peninsula; governance and leadership in Yemen, al-Hirah, the Levant (Sham), and the Hijaz; and the religious, social, economic, and moral conditions of pre-Islamic Arab society al-Raheeq al-Makhtum+1.
• Lineage and Early Life: The Prophet's genealogy and household, his birth, upbringing among the Banu Saʿd, the deaths of his mother and grandfather, the custody of his uncle, his journey with Bahira the monk, the Fijar War, the Alliance of the Virtuous (Hilf al-Fudul), his marriage to Khadijah, and the rebuilding of the Kaʿbah al-Raheeq al-Makhtum.
• The Meccan Period: The beginning of divine revelation in the Cave of Hira, the three years of clandestine preaching, the transition to public daʿwah, persecution by the Quraysh, the migrations to Abyssinia, the boycott in the mountain pass, the Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra wa-l-Miʿraj), the Pledges of al-ʿAqabah, and the emigration to Medina al-Raheeq al-Makhtum.
• The Medinan Period and Demise: The establishment of the nascent state in Medina, military campaigns and major engagements—including the battles of Badr, Uhud, and al-Khandaq, the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah, and the Conquest of Mecca—the arrival of tribal delegations, the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet's final illness, his death, and a concluding description of his physical appearance and character traits al-Raheeq al-Makhtum+1.

Revisions and Reception

In subsequent editions of the work, known as the revised edition with additions (maʿa ziyadat), al-Mubarakfuri adjusted various textual elements, rectified certain oversights from earlier printings, and updated portions of the narrative and references al-Taliq ala al-Rahiq al-…+1.

The work achieved widespread circulation and became one of the most prominent modern texts on the Prophetic biography, widely adopted as an instructional reference in Islamic universities, scientific institutes, and educational curricula al-Taliq ala al-Rahiq al-…. It also attracted scholarly commentary and critical evaluation, such as Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Mallah's al-Taʿliq ʿala al-Rahiq al-Makhtum, which documented the variations and authorial amendments between the older and newer editions, along with critical evaluations of certain historical narrations and phrases al-Taliq ala al-Rahiq al-…+1.