The Luminous Moons – The Life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

‘The Luminous Moons : The Prophetic Biography’ as told by the Light of the Azhar; Shaykh Salih al-Jafari, may Allah have mercy upon his soul. Shaykh Salih always used speak about the Prophet’s life, may Allah bless him & grant him peace, and then wrote his biography in a summarised form for people of all levels, titled: “Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya al-Muhammadiyya – Al-Mawlid al-Jafari” [The Prophetic Muhammadan Biography – the Jafari Mawlid] which is known as “al-Aqmar al-Nuraniyya” [The Luminous Moons].

Shaykh Salih al-Jafari, may Allah have mercy upon him, was one of the most famous scholars of the Azhar, the Muslim world’s premier institution of religious learning and its most authoritative voice, in the 20th Century. He was also the Imam of its mosque and a famous teacher and spiritual guide. He authored many works on Islamic jurisprudence and spirituality. He was born in 1910 in the Sudan; he arrived in Cairo at the age of twenty to study at al-Azhar, where he obtained the highest degree at the time – the Alimiyya.

Shaykh Salih taught in al-Azhar Mosque and in 1953 earned a PhD from the faculty of Sharia. He became the Imam of al-Azhar Mosque and was known for his Friday lessons, which were popular and well-attended. He was the founder of the al-Jafariyya al-Ahmadiyya al-Muhammadiyya, which is active in education and social work and has followers around the world. Shaykh al-Jafari wrote approximately fifteen works on various Islamic sciences, edited many others, and compased twelve volumes of poetry. He died in Cairo in 1979.