In the Name of
ALLAH, Beneficent, Merciful God
Who is the man who has over a billion followers in the
world today? Who is the great man who was ranked #1 in a
list, penned by a Christian, of the 100 most influential
persons in history? Again who is the man who raised his
contemporaries from a life of sin and vice 1400 years
ago? The man is none other than Muhammad ibn
Abdullah(Peace be upon him) the prophet of Islam
All Muslims, regardless to sect, believe in this man
named Muhammad and the book he presented to us, from the
Lord of the worlds. If we accept this book, called in
Arabic the Qur’an, as being revealed from Almighty God
ALLAH then we must re-view deeper the great man through
whom the Qur’an was revealed. We cannot accept the
book(Quran) and deny the man through whom the book was
revealed. What was the heart and character of such a man
that ALLAH would let his precious word come through? The
same must be done with any servant of ALLAH, but as
Muslims we believe that Muhammad(PBUH) is the last of
ALLAH’s prophets and the Holy Qur’an the last revealed
book to this world. So, we as Muslims, must look deeper
into the inner sanctuary of Muhammad and discover deeper
understanding of not only the book(Qur’an) but of the
man.
The Man
A few days after the death of the Prophet some men came
to his wife Aiisha bint Abu Bakr and inquired about
Muhammad. They put questions to his wife concerning his
character and other aspects of his life, and she replied
have you ever read the Qur’an? The men replied in the
affirmative, then she replied: “Muhammad was the
living embodiment of the Qur’an.” What a description
of this Prophet of ALLAH from one who was most privy to
his private character and morals. What his wife was
saying is that all the good teachings of the Holy Qur’an
were reflected in the man named Muhammad; from the
Quran’s teachings on beneficence and mercy, to love,
forgiveness and brotherhood, and even warfare when it is
acted in self-defense, Muhammad excelled in all of these
Quranic teachings.
The Holy Qur’an our most accurate portrait of Muhammad
says of him:
“Certainly You have in The Messenger of ALLAH an
excellent exemplar for him who hopes in ALLAH and the
latter day, and remembers ALLAH much.”(33:21)
Also
“By the inkstand and the pen and that which they
write! By the grace of thy Lord thou art not mad. And
surely thine is a reward never to be cut off. And surely
thou hast sublime morals. So thou wilt see, and they(too)
will see.”(68:1-5)
Some critics of Islam and the Prophet of Islam have
claimed that Muhammad didn’t bring any special
“miracles” like we read of the prophets of old in the
Bible. Prophet Muhammad claimed that his “one” and only
“miracle” was The Holy Qur’an and the work of
reformation he produced in his countrymen and women.
Many have written that what Muhammad produced in Arabia,
1400 years ago, with his Holy Qur’an was nothing short
of a miracle itself. The country of Arabia was renowned
for its sin and evil. The abuse against women and girls,
the drinking orgies, warfare, materialism also filthy
and foolish song and dance is well known.
Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ali speaks of the
savage condition of Arabia prior to its “savior”.
"At the time of his birth Arabia was steeped deep in the
worst form of idolatry that has ever prevailed in any
country. The Ka'ba itself was full of idols, and every
household had, in addition, its own idols. Unhewn
stones, trees and heaps of sand were also worshipped. In
spite this vast and deep-rooted idolatry, the Arabs
were, as Bosworth Smith remarks, materialistic. "Eat and
drink is," as he says, "the epicurean tone of the
majority of the poems that have come down to us." There
was practically no faith in the life after death, no
feeling of responsibility for one's actions. The Arabs,
however, believed in demons, and diseases were
attributed to the influence of evil spirits. "
"Ignorance prevailed among the high as well as the low,
so much so that the noblest of men could boast of his
ignorance. There was no moral code, and vice was
rampant. The sexual relations were loose obscene poems
and songs were recited in public assemblies There was no
punishment for adultery, nor any moral sanction against
it. Prostitution had nothing dishonourable about it, so
that leading men could keep brothels. Women were "in the
most degraded position, worse even than that in which
they were under the laws of Manu in Hindustan." Woman
was looked upon as a mere chattel. Instead of having any
right to inheritance of property, her own person formed
part of the inheritance, and the heir could dispose of
her as he liked, even if he did not care to take her as
a wife. There was no settled government, no law in the
land, and might was practically right.
The Arabs belonged to one race and spoke one language,
yet they were the most disunited people. Tribe made war
on tribe, and family on family, on the most trivial
excuse. The strong among them trampled upon the rights
of the weak, and the weak could not get their wrongs
redressed. The widow and the orphan were quite helpless
and slaves were treated most cruelly.”
“Amongst this people was born Muhammad.”
In a short period of “twenty three” years Muhammad wiped
away these evil practices. This reform by Muhammad was
seen as a miracle, because all previous attempts at the
reform of his land failed; the Christian failed,
indigenous movements failed, Jewish teachers failed they
all tried but nothing worked except “The Man and The
book.”
Muhammad’s
Sunnah(way)
The word Sunnah is translated as meaning mode of life
and specially the course of The Holy Prophets life.
Another word Hadith meaning news is another source of
knowledge of Prophet Muhammad and the God he
represented, ALLAH.
Muhammad is reported to have said in his last speech to
his followers,
I leave you two things, which if you follow you will
never deviate, "The Qur’an and my Sunnah”
As I have pointed out earlier Muhammad was voted “The
most successful of all religious personalities”.
Also his wife spoke of him as being a living Qur’an.
Considering these facts it would be incumbent upon us to
follow the way established by Muhammad ibn Abdullah.
There has been a misunderstanding among Muslims, both
common believers and scholars, concerning what is the
true Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. There has been in some
quarters a tendency to attach more importance to the
Sunnah than The Qur’an, while others reject the Sunnah
all together. What was the source of Muhammad’s
teachings other than the Qur’an? The Qur’an says of
itself that it is the “Best Hadith”. I remember reading
The Prophet once said: “Islam compels us to take the
middle course in all things”. If we adopt this
advice we as Muslims will accept the Qur’an(First) and
then naturally accept the man of God’s explanation of
the book.
When we say of ourselves that we are following
Muhammad’s Sunnah we must be careful to not make a
superficial example of him, like having a beard as the
prophet or dressing like the prophet. These things in
and of themselves are not bad, but Muhammad didn’t make
a change in the world because of facial hair or his
dress style. Muhammad’s Sunnah to me is Belief in ALLAH,
prayer, fasting, giving in charity, doing good to
others, respecting women and living a clean life.
Muhammad’s
disciples
After twenty three years of his office as Prophet of
ALLAH Muhammad’s life came to an end like all other men
of God who went before him. The Holy Qur’an reminds us
that,
“Muhammad is but a messenger---messengers have
already passed away before him. If then he dies or is
killed, will you turn back upon your hills? And he who
turns back upon his heels will do know harm at all to
Allah. And Allah will reward the grateful.”(3:143)
Many didn’t want to believe that The Holy Prophet was
dead. Some Muslims threatened to kill anyone who would
say that Muhammad was dead. One of Muhammad’s trusted
friends and earliest converts, Abu Bakr, rose to the
occasion to address the mourning crowd. His famous words
were:
“All that worship Muhammad know that Muhammad is
dead. But those that worship ALLAH know that ALLAH
lives!”
What a soothing affect these few words had on the crowd.
These simple words reminded the crowd that ALLAH is the
ever living and is present.
The death of Muhammad ends one chapter in the Muslims
history only to open another called “Khilafah Rashidah”
or the “rightly guided companions.” A great man is not
only known by the wisdom that he imparts during his
life, but also the wisdom that comes through his
students or disciples. Four men stand out in this period
after the death of Muhammad. These four men names were
Abu Bakr, Umar ibn Khataab, Uthman and Ali ibn abu Talib.
Much like the Disciples of Christ before these men had a
duty to continue the message and work of Muhammad. These
four men carried the message of Islam far into the world
and helped continue the revolution started by their
master-Muhammad ibn Abdullah(Peace and Blessing be upon
him).
Read Pt. 2 of this article
Thank you for reading these few words
Copyright2006Mustafaa Muhammad