Allaah, The
Name I start with
Most Gracious, Most Merciful
|
The Lord of the universe, The Most Merciful and Compassionate
sent about 124,000 prophets and messengers to every nook and corner of this
earth to guide humanity towards understanding the purpose of its creation and
thereby surrender to His Divine Laws and achieve its final destiny of Eternal
Peace in His Paradise. The last messenger of Allah who brought His last
revelation the Holy Quraan to humanity is Muhammad bin 'Abdullah, born in
Mekkah, approximately 550 years after Jesus, son of Mary, peace and blessings
of Allah be on them both. This is the account of this last Messenger of
Allah, the most remarkable man, that human history has known. |
You may be an atheist or an agnostic; or you may belong to
anyone of the religious denominations that exist in the world today. You may be
a Communist or a believer in democracy and freedom. No matter what you are, and
no matter what your religious and political beliefs, personal and social habits
happen to be - YOU MUST STILL KNOW THIS MAN!
He was by far the
most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion,
founded a state, laid divine laws, gave women the rights that were not
existent, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numberless social
and political reforms, established a dynamic and powerful society to practice and
represent his teachings, and completely revolutionized the worlds of human
thought and action for all times to come. He refreshed respect and
honesty towards woman. At the time when he was doing so, the same time
women were being punished in Europe and Asia. Thus being an source of
light for them. A different article would be need to enlighten his role
in providing the best possible laws.
HIS NAME IS MUHAMMAD,
peace and
blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him and he accomplished all these uncountable
wonders in an unbelievably short span of twenty-three years.
Muhammad, peace and
blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him was born in Arabia on the 20th of
August, in the year 570 of the Christian era, and when he visibly died after 63
years, the whole of the Arabian Peninsula had changed from paganism (one who
does not have any religion) and idol-worship to the worship of One Allah;
from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion; from
drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety; from lawlessness and anarchy
to disciplined living; from utter moral bankruptcy to the highest standards of
moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation
of a people or a place before or since!
The Encyclopedia
Britannica calls him "the most successful of all religious personalities
of the world". Bernard Shaw said about him that if Muhammad were alive
today he would succeed in solving all those problems which threaten to destroy
human civilization in our times. Thomas Carlysle was simply amazed as to how
one man, single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into
a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades. Napoleon and
Gandhi never tired of dreaming of a society along the lines established by this
man in Arabia fourteen centuries ago.
Indeed no other human
being ever accomplished so much, in such diverse fields of human thought and
behavior, in so limited a space of time, as did Muhammad, peace and blessings
of Allah Almighty be upon him. He was a religious teacher, a social reformer, a
moral guide, a political thinker, a military genius, an administrative
colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving
father - all in one. No other man in history ever excelled or equaled him in
any of these difficult departments of life.
The world has had its
share of great personalities. But these were one sided figures who
distinguished themselves in but one or two fields such as religious thought or
military leadership. None of the other great leaders of the world ever combined
in himself so many different qualities to such an amazing level of perfection
as did Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him.
The lives and
teachings of other great personalities of the world are shrouded in the mist of
time. There is so much speculation about the time and the place of their birth,
the mode and style of their life, the nature and detail of their teachings and
the degree and measure of their success or failure that it is impossible for
humanity today to reconstruct accurately and precisely the lives and teachings
of those men.
Not so this man
Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him. Not only was he
born in the fullest blaze of recorded history, but every detail of his private
and public life, of his actions and utterances, has been accurately documented
and faithfully preserved to our day. The authenticity of the information so
preserved is vouched for not only by faithful followers but also by unbiased
critics and open-minded scholars.
At the level of ideas
there is no system of thought and belief-secular or religious, social or
political-which could surpass or equal ISLAAM-
the system which Muhammad peace and blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him
propounded. In a fast changing world, while other systems have undergone
profound transformations, Islaam alone has remained above all change and
mutation, and retained its original form for the past 1400 years. What is more,
the positive changes that are taking place in the world of human thought and
behavior, truly and consistently reflect the healthy influence of Islam in
these areas. Further, it is not given to the best of thinkers to put their
ideas completely into practice, and to see the seeds of their labors grow and
bear fruit, in their own lifetime. Except of course, Muhammad, peace and
blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him, who not only preached the most
wonderful ideas but also successfully translated each one of them into practice
in his own lifetime. At the time of his death his teachings were not mere
precepts and ideas straining for fulfillment, but had become the very core of
the life of tens of thousands of perfectly trained individuals, each one of
whom was a marvelous personification of everything that Muhammad peace and
blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him taught and stood for. At what other
time or place and in relation to what other political, social, religious
system, philosophy or ideology-did the world ever witness such a perfectly
amazing phenomenon?
Indeed no other
system or ideology secular or religious, social or political, ancient or modern
- could ever claim the distinction of having been put into practice in its
fullness and entirety EVEN ONCE
in this world, either before or after the death of its founder.
Except of course ISLAAM,
the ideology
preached by Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him which
was established as a complete way of life by the teacher himself, before he
departed from this world. History bears testimony to this fact and the greatest
skeptics have no option but to concede this point.
In spite of these
amazing achievements and in spite of the countless absolutely convincing and
authentic miracles performed by him and the phenomenal success which crowned
his efforts, he did not for a moment claim to be God or God's incarnation or
Son - but only a human being who was chosen and ordained by God to be a teacher
of truth to man kind and a complete model and pattern for their actions.
He was nothing more
or less than a human being. But he was a man with a noble and exalted
mission-and his unique mission was to unite humanity on the worship of
ONE AND ONLY GOD and to teach them the way to
honest and upright living in accordance with the laws and commands of Allah. He
always described himself as A MESSENGER AND SERVANT OF GOD, and so indeed every single action and movement of
his proclaimed him to be.
A world which has not
hesitated to raise to Divinity individuals whose very lives and missions have
been lost in legend and who historically speaking did not accomplish half as
much-or even one tenth-as was accomplished by Muhammad, peace and blessings of
Allah Almighty be upon him should stop to take serious note of this remarkable
man's claim to be Allah's messenger to mankind.
Today after the lapse
of some 1400 years the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him, have survived without the slightest
loss, alteration or interpolation. Today they offer the same undying hope for
treating mankind's
many ills which they did when Prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings of Allah Almighty be upon him, was alive. This is our honest claim
and this is the inescapable conclusion forced upon us by a critical and
unbiased study of history.
The least YOU should
do as a thinking, sensitive, concerned human being is to stop for one brief
moment and ask yourself: Could it be that these statements, extraordinary and
revolutionary as they sound, are really true? Supposing they really are true,
and you did not know this man Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah Almighty
be upon him or hear about his teachings? Or did not know him well and
intimately enough to be able to benefit from his guidance and example? Isn't it
time you responded to this tremendous challenge and made some effort to know
him? It will not cost you anything but it may well prove to be the beginning of
a completely new era in your life.
Come, let us make a
new discovery of the life of this wonderful man Muhammad, peace and blessings
of Allah Almighty be upon him the like of whom never walked on this earth, and
whose example and teachings can change YOUR LIFE and OUR WORLD for the better.
May Allah shower His choicest blessings upon him!