The lot of my research work is the summary from Prof. Ramakrishna Rao’s book, “Muhammed, the prophet of Islam”. Even though wrote by Non Muslim, (The Professor do not profess Islam), The book has effectively covered the topic and brought to light many useful and silent issue concerning the topic.
“WHO SUBDUE THEIR ANGER” (HOLY QURAN 3.134)
To the Arab who would fight for the forty years on the slight provocation that a camel belonging to the quest of one tribe had strayed into the grazing land belonging to another and both side had fought till they lost 70,000 lives in all, threatening the extinction of both tribes, to such furious Arabs, the Prophet of Islam taught self-control and discipline to the extent of praying even on the battlefield.
WAR FOR SELF-DEFENCE:
When, after repeated efforts at conciliation had utterly failed, circumstances arose that dragged him into the battlefield purely in self-defence, the Prophet of Islam change the whole strategy of the battlefield. The total number in all the wars that took place during his lifetime, when the whole Arabian Peninsula came under his banner, does not exceed a few hundred in all. He taught the Arab barbarians to to pray not individually but in congregations to God Almighty even amidst the dust and storm of warfare. Whenever the time for prayer came, and it comes five times every day, the congregational prayer had not be to be abandoned or even postponed. A party had to be engaged in bowing their head before God while another was engaged with the enemy. After finishing the prayer, the two parties had to exchange their positions.
BATTLEFIELD HUMANIZED
In the age of barbarism, the battlefield itself was humanized and strict instructions were issued that not to embezzle, not to cheat, not to break trust, not to mutilate, not to kill a minor child or a woman or an oldman, not to hew dawn death palm nor burn it not to cut down a fruit tree, not to molest monks and persons engaged in worship. His own treatment of his bitterest enemies was the noblest example for his followers. At the conquest of Mecca, he stood at the Zenith of his power. The city which had tortured him and his followers, which had driven him and his people into exile and which had angrily persecuted and boycotted him even when he had taken refuge in a place more than 200 miles away, that city now lay at his feet. By the law of war he could have justly avenged all the cruelties inflicted on him and his people. But what treatment did he meet out to them, Muhammed’s heart overflowed with the milk of love and kindness as he declared. “This day, there is no reproof against you and you are all free’’.
BITTEREST ENEMIES PARDONED
This was one of the chief object why he permitted war in self-defence to unite human beings. And when this object was achieved, even his worse enemies were pardoned. Even those who had killed his beloved uncle, Hamza, mitilated his dead body, had vipped it open and chewed a piece of his liver.
THEORY MERGED WITH PRACTICE
The principle of the universal brotherhood and the doctrine of the equality of mankind which he proclaimed represent very great contribution of Muhammed to the social uplift of humanity. All great religions have also preached the same doctrine, but the Prophet of Islam had put this theory into actual practice and it’s value will be fully recognized, perhaps sometime hence, when international consciousness being awakened, racial prejudices would disappear and a stronger concept of the brotherhood of humanity come into existence.
PEASANT AND KING, EQUAL BEFORE GOD
Sarojini Naidu, speaking about this aspect of Islam , say “it was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy, for in the mosque, when the AZAAN (the muslim call to prayer) is sounded and the worshippers are gathered together the democaracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim, “God alone is Great”. The great profess of India Continue, I have been struck over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes a man instinctively a brother. When you Egyptian, an Algerian, a Nigerian and a Turk in London, what matters is that Egypt is the motherland of one and India is the motherland of the another.
PILGRIMAGE – HAJJ- A LIVING TESTIMONY
Every year, during the pilgrimage season, the worlds witness the wonderful spectacle of this International Exhibition of Islam in leveling all distinctions of race, colour and rank. Not only the Europeans, the Africans, the Persians, the Indians, the Chinese all meet together in Mecca as members of one divine family, but they are all clad in one dress every person in two simple pieces of white seamless cloth, one piece round the lion and the other piece over the shoulders, bare-headed, without pomp or ceremony, repeating “Here am I, O God: at Thy Command: Thou art One and the Only: Here am I”. Thus there remains nothing to differentiate the high from the low and every pilgrim carries home the impression of the international significance of Islam. In the words of Prof. Hurgronje “the league of the Nations founded by the Prophet of Islam put the principle of International Unity and human brotherhood on such Universal Foundation as to show candle to other nations”. He continues, the fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of League of Nations.
ISLAM –A BEACON TO A DRIFTING WORLD
The Prophet of Islam brought the reign of democracy in it’s best form. Calip Umar, Calip Ali, the son in-law of the Prophet, Calip Mansur, Abbas, the son of the Caliph Maman and many other Calips and Kings had to appear before the judge as ordinary men in Islamic courts. Even today we all know how the black Negroes are treated by the so called civilized White races. Consider the state of Bilal, a Negro slave in the days of the Prophet of Islam nearly 14 centuries ago. The office of calling Muslim to prayer was considered to be a position of honour in the early days of Islam and it was offered to this Negro.
TRANSFORMATION EXTRAORDINARY
The Prophet of Islam thus brought such a might transformation that the noblest and purest among Arabs by birth offered their daughters in marriage to this Negro slave and whenever the second Calif of Islam, known to history as Umar the Great, the Commander of the Faithful, saw this Negro, he immediately stood in reference and welcome him by exclaiming “Here comes our Master”. What a tremendous change was brought by Quran and Prophet Muhammad in the Arabs. The proudest people at that time on earth. This is the reason why Goethe, the greatest of German poets, speaking about the Holy Quran declared that “This book will go on exercising through all age a most potent influence”. This is also the reason why George Barnard Shaw say, “If any religion has a change of ruling over England, nay, Europe, within the next 100 years, it is Islam”.
ISLAM – EMANCIPATED WOMEN
It is the same democratic spirit of Islam that has emancipated women from the bondage of Man. Sir Charles Edward Archibald say, “ Islam teaches the inherent sinlessness of man. It teaches that man and woman have come from the same essence, possess the same soul and have been equipped with equal capabilities for intellectual, spiritual and moral attainments”.
WOMEN HAD RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY
The Arabs had a very strong tradition that he alone can inherit who can smile with the spear and can wield the sword. But Islam come as the defender of the weaker sex and entitled women share in the inheritance of their parents. It gave women, centuries ago, the right of owning property. Yet it was only 12 centuries later, in 1881, that England, supposed to be the cradle of democracy, adopted this institution of Islam and an Act was passed, called “ The Married Women’s Act”. But centuries earlier, the Prophet of Islam had proclaimed that “Women are the twin halves of men. The rights of women are sacred.” See that women are maintained in the right granted to them.
THE GOLDEN MEAN
Islam is not directly concerned with political and economic systems, but indirectly and, in so far as political and economic affair influence man’s conduct, it does lay down some very important principles of economic life. According to Prof. Massigron, Islam maintains the balance between exaggerated opposites and has always in view the building of character which is the basis of civilization. This is secured by it’s law of inheritance, by an organized and not an optional, system of charity known as Zakat, and by regard as illegal all anti-social practice in the economic field like monopoly Usury, securing of pre-determined unearned incomes and increments, cornering markets, holding and creating artificial scarcity of any commodity in order to force the price to rise. Gambling is illegal. Contribution to schools, to places of worship, hospitals, digging of well, opening of orphanages are the highest act of virtue. Orphanages have sprung for the first time, it is said, under the teaching of the Prophet of Islam. The world owes it’s orphanages to this Prophet who was himself born an orphan. “Good all this” say Carlyle about Muhammed. “The natural voice of humanity, of piety and equity, dwelling in the heart of this wild son of nature, speak”.
THE TEST
A Historian once said a great man should be judged by three tests:
1. Was he found to be of true mettle by his contemporaries?
2. Was he great enough to rise above the standard of his age?
3. Did he leave anything as permanent legacy to the world at large?
This list may be further extended but all those three tests of greatness are eminently satisfied to the highest degree in the case of Prophet Muhammed. Some illustrations of the last two have already been mentioned. The first of the three is; was the Prophet of Islam found to be true mettle by his contemporaries.
IMPECCABLE CHARACTER
Historical record show that all contemporaries of Muhammed, both friends and foes acknowledged the sterling qualities, the spotless honesty, the noble virtues, the absolute sincerity and the absolute trustworthiness of the apostle of Islam in all work of life and in every sphere of human activity. Even the Jews and those who did not believe in his message accepted him as Orbitrator in their personal disputes on account of his scrupulous impartiality. Even those who did not believe in his message were forced to say “O Muhammed we do not call you lair, but we deny Him who has given you a Book and inspired you with a message”. They thought he was one possessed. They tried violence to cure him. But the best of them saw that a new light has dawned on him and they hastened to seek that enlightment. It is a notable feature in the history of the Prophet of Islam that his nearest relation, his beloved cousin and his bossom friend, who knew him most intimately, were thoroughly imbibed with the truth of his mission and convinced of the genuineness of his divine inspiration. “If those men and women, noble, intelligent, and certainly not less educated than the fishermen of Galilee, had perceived the slightest sign of earthliness, deception, or went of faith in the Teacher himself, Muhammad’s hopes of moral regeneration and social reform, would all have been crumpled to dust in a moment.” From “ The Spirit of Islam by Sayed Amir Ali.” On the contrary we find, that the devotion of his followers was such that he was voluntarily acknowledged leader of their lives. They braved for his sake persecutions and danger. They believed, trusted, obeyed and honoured him even in the most excruciating torture and severest mental agony caused by excommunication, even unto death. Would this have been so had they noticed the slightest backsliding in their leader?
UNDYING LOVE FOR THE HOLY PROPHET
Read the history of the early convert to Islam and every heart would melt at the sight of the brutal treatment of innocent men and women. Sumayya, an innocent woman, is cruelly torn into pieces by piercing through with spear. An example is made of Yasir whose legs are tied to two camels and the beasts are driven in the opposite direction. Khabbah Bin Arth is made to lie down on a bed of burning coal with the brutal legs of the merciless tyrant on his breast so that he may not move and this makes even the fat beneath his skin melt. Khabbah Bin Adi is put to death in a cruel manner by mutilation and cutting off his flesh piecemeal. In the midst of tortures, when asked whether he did not wish Muhammed in his place while he was in his family, the suffer cried out that he was gladly prepared to sacrifice himself, his family and children and all to save Muhammed from the prick of a thorn.
PERFECT MODEL FOR HUMAN LIFE
The personality of Muhammed, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picstuque scenes? There is Muhammed, the Prophet, there is Muhammad, the General, Muhammad, The King, Muhammed, the Warrior, Muhammed, the Businessman, Muhammed, the Preacher, Muhammed, the Philosopher, Muhammed, the Stateman, Muhammed, the Orator, Muhammed, the Reformer, Muhammed, the Refuge of Orphans, Muhammed, the Protector of Slaves, Muhammed, the Judge, Muhammed, the Emancipator of women, Muhammed, the Saint. And in all those magnificent roles, in all those department of human activities, he is like a hero. Orphanhood is the extreme of helplessness and his life upon this earth began with it. Kingship is the height of the material power and his life ended with it. From an orphan boy to a prosecuted refuge, then to an overlord-spiritual as well as temporal of a whole nation and orbiter of it’s destinies, with all it’s trials and temptations, with all it’s vicissitudes and changes, it’s light and shade, it’s up and downs, it’s terror and splendor, he has stood the fire of the world and come out uncatched to serve as a model in every phase of life. His achievements are not limited to one aspect of life, but cover the whole field of human conditions.
MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H) THE GREATEST
If for instance, greatness consists in the purification of a nation, steeped in barbarism and immersed in absolute moral darkness, that dynamic personality who has transformed, refined and uplifted an entire nation, sunk low as the Arabs were, and made them the torch-bearers of civilizations and learning, has every claim to that greatness. If greatness lie in unifying the discordant elements of society by the ties of brotherhood and charity, the Prophet of the desert has got every title to this distinction. If greatness consists in reforming those wrapped in a degrading superstition and pernicious practices of every kind, the Prophet of Islam had wiped out superstition and irrational fear from the hearts of millions. If it lies in displaying high morals, Muhammed has been admitted by friends and foes as Al-Amin and As-Sadiq, the trustworthy and truthful. If a conqueror is a great man, here is a person who rose from a helpless orphan and a humble creature to be ruler of Arabia, the equal to Khosros and Gaesars, one who founded a great Empire that has survived all these 14 centuries. If the devotion that a leader commands is the criterion of greatness, the Prophet’s name even today exerts a magic charm over millions of souls, spread all over the world.
THE UNLETTERED PROPHET
He had not studied philosophy in the School of Athens or Rome, Persia, India or China, yet he could proclaim the highest truths of external value to mankind. Unlettered himself, he could yet speak with an eloquence and favour which moved men to tears of ecstasy. Born Orphan and blessed with no worldly goods, he was loved by all. He had studied at no military academy, yet he could organize his forces against tremendous odd and gained victories through the moral force which he marshaled. Gifted men with a genius for preaching are rare. Descartes included the perfect preacher among the rarest kind in the world. Hitler in his “Main Kamp” has expressed a similar view. He says “A great theorist is seldom a great leader”. An agitator is far more likely to possess these qualities. He will always be a better leader. For leadership, means the ability to move masses of men. The talent to produce ideas has nothing in common with the capacity of leadership.” But he said” The Union of the Theorist, organizer, and a leader in One man is the rarest phenomenon on this earth, therein consists greatness”. In the person of the Prophet of Islam, the world has seen this rarest phenomenon on the earth, walking in flesh and blood. And more wonderful still is what Reverend Bosworth Smith remarks: “Head of the State as well as the church, he was Caesar and Pope in One but he was Pope without the Pope’s Pretensions, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar, without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a police force, without a fixed revenue. If ever a man had the right to say that he ruled by a right divine, it was Muhammed, for he has all powers without their supports”. He cares not for the dressing of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life.
MUHAMMED (P.B.U.H) – UNTAINTED AND PURE
After the fall of Mecca more than one million square miles of land lay at his feet. Lord of Arabia, he mended his own shoes and coarse woolen garments, milked the goats, swept the hearth, kindled the fire and attended to other menial offices of the family. The entire town of Medina, where he lived, grew wealthy in the later days of his life. Everywhere there was gold and silver in plenty and yet in those days of prosperity, many weeks would clapse without a fire being kindled in the heart of the King of Arabia, his food being date and water. His family would go hungry many successively because they could not get anything to eat in the evening. He slept on no soft bed but on a palm mat after a long busy day, to spend most his night in prayer, often bursting with tears before his creator to grant him strength to discharge his duties. As the reports go, his voice would get choked due to weeping and it would appear as if a cooking pot was on fire and boiling had commenced. On the day of his death his only assets were few coins, a part of which went to satisfy a debt and the rest was given to a needy person who came to his house for charity. The clothes in which he breathed his last had many patches. The house from where light had spread to the world was in darkness because there was no oil in the lamp.
CONSISTENT UNTO DEATH
Circumstances changed, but the Prophet of Islam did not in victory or in defeat, in power or in adversity, in affluence or in indigence, he was the same man, disclosed the character like all the ways and the laws of God, Prophets of God are unchangeable.
MUHAMMED THE GREATEST
If greatness of Purpose
Smallness of means
And astounding result.
Are the three of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammed?
The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only they founded, if anything at all no more than material power which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man Muhammed moved not only armies, legislations, empires, people and dynasties but millions of men and more than that he moved the alters, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the belief and the souls.
On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual nationality which blend together people of every tongue and of every race…….
The idea of the unity of God, proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of fabulous theologies, was itself such a miracle that upon it’s utterance from his lips it destroyed all the ancient superstitions…….
His endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death: all those attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God, the former telling what God is the latter telling what God is not:
……”PHILOSOPHER, ORATOR, APOSTLE, LEGISLATOR, WARRIOR, CONQUEROR OF IDEAS, RESTORER OF RATIONAL BELIEFS, of a cult without image, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammed. AS REGARDS ALL STANDARD BY WHICH HUMAN GREATNESS MAY BE MEASURED, WE MAY WELL ASK, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?” (Lamartine, Historic de la Turquie, Paris 1854, Vol 11 Pp, 276 -277)
Baba Ali Mustapha is of Ngranmam Ward, Bolori II, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
Reference: For further knowledge, look for the book MUHAMMED, THE PROPHET OF ISLAM by Prof. K.S Ramakrishna Rao, published by Islamic Propagation Centre International (UK), IPCI, 481 Conventry Road, Small Health, Birmingham, UK.
No comments: