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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD
During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were
invented against the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). But with the
birth of the modern age, marked with religious tolerance and freedom of
thought, there has been a great change in the approach of Western
authors in their delineation of his life and character. The views of
some non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet Muhammad, given at the end,
justify this opinion.
But the West has still to go a step forward to discover the greatest
reality about Muhammad and that is his being the true and the last
Prophet of God for the whole humanity. In spite of all this objectivity
and enlightenment there has been no sincere and objective attempt by
the West to understand the Prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). It is so
strange that very glowing tributes are paid to him for his integrity
and achievement but his claim of being the Prophet of God had been
rejected explicitly or implicitly. It is here that a searching of the
heart is required, and a review of the so-called objectivity is needed.
The following glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) have been
furnished to facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision
regarding his Prophethood.
Up to the age of forty Muhammad was not known as a statesman, a
preacher or an orator. He was never seen discussing the principles of
metaphysics, ethics, law, politics, economics or sociology. No doubt he
possessed an excellent character, charming manners and was highly
cultured. Yet there was nothing so deeply striking and so radically
extraordinary in him that would make men expect something great and
revolutionary from him in the future. But when he came out of the Cave
(HIRA) with a new message, he was completely transformed. Is it
possible for such a person of the above qualities to turn all of a
sudden 'an impostor' and claim to be the Prophet of Allah and invite
all the rage of his people? One might ask: for what reason did he
suffer all those hardships? His people offered to accept him as their
King and to lay all the riches of the land at his feet if only he would
leave the preaching of his religion. But he chose to refuse their
tempting offers and go on preaching his religion single-handedly in
face of all kinds of insults, social boycott and even physical assault
by his own people. Was it not only God's support and his firm will to
disseminate the message of Allah and his deep-rooted belief that
ultimately Islam would emerge as the only way of life for the humanity,
that he stood like a mountain in the face of all oppositions and
conspiracies to eliminate him? Furthermore, had he come with a design
of rivalry with the Christians and the Jews, why should he have made
belief in Jesus Christ and Moses and other Prophets of God (peace be
upon them), a basic requirement of faith without which no one could be
a Muslim?
Is it not an incontrovertible proof of his Prophethood that in spite of
being unlettered and having led a very normal and quiet life for forty
years, when he began preaching his message, all of Arabia stood in awe
and wonder and was bewitched by his wonderful eloquence and oratory? It
was so matchless that the whole legion of Arab poets, preachers and
orators of highest caliber failed to bring forth its equivalent. And
above all, how could he then pronounce truth of a scientific nature
contained in the Quran that no other human-being could possibly have
developed at that time? Last but not the least, why did he lead a hard
life even after gaining power and authority? Just ponder over the words
he uttered while dying: "We the community of the Prophets are not
inherited. "Whatever we leave is for charity". As a matter of fact
Muhammad (Pbuh) is the last link of the chain of Prophets sent in
different lands and times since the very beginning of the human life on
this planet.
If greatness of
purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three
criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in
modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws
and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than
material powers which often crumbles away before their eyes. This man
moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties,
but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more
than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the
beliefs and souls....his forbearance in victory, his ambitions, which
was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an
empire; his endless prayer, his mystic conversations with God, his
death and his triumph after death; all these 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; the
one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea
with the words.
Philosopher,
orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of
rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty
terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As
regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may
well ask, is there any man greater than he?
Lamartine, Histoire de la Turquie, Paris 1854 Vol ll, pp. 276-77.
It is not the
propagation but the permanency of his religion that deserves our
wonder; the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca
and Medina is preserved, after the revolutions of twelve centuries by
the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran...The
Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the
object of their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and
imagination of man. 'I believe in One God and Mahamet the Apostle of
God', is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The
intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible
idol; the honors of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of
human virtue; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of
his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ocklay, History of the Saracen Empire, London
1870, p.54.
He was Caesar and
Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's pretensions, Caesar without
the legions of Caesar; without a standing army, without a bodyguard,
without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the
right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammad, for he
had all the power without its instruments and without its supports.
Bosworth Smith, Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London 1874, p. 92.
It is impossible
for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of
Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but
reverence for the mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the
Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things
which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read
them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty
Arabian teacher.
Annie Besant, The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, Madras 1932, p.4
His readiness to
undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral character of the
men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader, and the
greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his fundamental
integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it
solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly
appreciated in the West as Muhammad.
W. Montgomery, Mohammad at Mecca, Oxford, 1953, p.52
Muhammad, the
inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570 into an Arabian
tribe that worshiped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was always
particulary solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the orphan,
the slave and the downtrodden. At twenty he was already a successful
businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a wealthy
widow. When he reached twenty five his employer, recognizing his merit,
proposed marriage. Even though she was fifteen years older, he married
her, and as long as she lived remained a devoted husband.
Like almost every
major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of serving as the
transmitter of God's word, sensing own inadequacy. But the angel
commanded 'Read'. So far as we know, Muhammad was unable to read or
write, but he began to dictate those inspired words which would soon
revolutionize a large segment of the earth: "There is one God".
In all things
Muhammad was profoundly practical. When his beloved son Ibrahim died,
and eclipse occurred, and rumors of God's personal condolence quickly
arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced, 'An eclipse is a
phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such things to the
death or birth of human-being'.
At Muhammad's own
death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man who was to become
his administrative successor killed the hysteria with one of the
noblest speeches in religious history: "If there are any among you who
worshiped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshiped, He
lives for ever."
James A. Michener, 'Islam: The Misunderstood Religion', in the Reader's
Digest ( American Edition) for May, 1955, pp. 68-70.
My choice of
Muhammad to lead the list of world's most influential persons may
surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the
only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious
and secular level.
Michael H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most influential Persons in
History, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc. 1978, p. 33.
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Source:
WAMY SERIES On Islam
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
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