Rahmat lil-Alamin (Mutarjam) - al-Mansurfuri
- Author died
- 1348 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Salām lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Rahmat lil-Alamin (A Mercy to the Worlds) is a biography of the Prophet Muhammad written in Urdu in three volumes by the Indian Islamic scholar and judge Muhammad Sulayman al-Mansurfuri (d. 1348 AH / 1930 CE) .
Method and Scope
The work provides a documented and critically verified study of the prophetic biography, relying on classical sources as well as comparative scriptural and historical analysis . Al-Mansurfuri addresses the reality of prophethood, divine revelation, the necessity of the Muhammadan message, and scriptural prophecies regarding the Prophet in the Old and New Testaments, as well as arguments drawn from reason and the Quran . The book examines the Prophet's personal and public life, his human nature, miracles, intercession, foretelling of future events, and specific responses to criticisms and objections raised by Christian, Jewish, and Orientalist writers .
Reception and Influence
The book achieved widespread acclaim in the Indian subcontinent and within wider Islamic scholarship . In 1914, the Amritsar newspaper al-Wakil praised it, asserting that few subsequent works on the Sirah could match its merits . Sayyid Sulayman al-Nadwi highlighted its significance for its comparative study of earlier divine scriptures and its refutation of polemical claims against Islam . Abu al-A'la al-Mawdudi noted that the book stands at the forefront of Sirah literature because of its rigorous historical verification of events .
Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi recounted in his autobiography Fi Masirat al-Hayat that reading Rahmat lil-Alamin in his youth had an exceptional influence on his intellectual and spiritual development . Furthermore, Safiur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri drew heavily from al-Mansurfuri's work and cited it frequently in his award-winning biography al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar) .
Translations and Editions
Originally composed in Urdu, Rahmat lil-Alamin has been translated into multiple languages:
- Arabic: An initial Arabic translation was prepared by Dr. Muqtada Hasan al-Azhari and published by al-Dar al-Salafiyyah in Bombay (1410 AH / 1989 CE) . A second Arabic translation was rendered by Dr. Samir Abd al-Hamid Ibrahim, completed in 1416 AH / 1995 CE and published by Darussalam in Riyadh .
- Bengali: Translated into two volumes by Hasan Abd al-Khaliq and published by Lekha Prakashani in Kolkata .
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