WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD (PBUH)
During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were
invented against the Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him (pbuh). With the birth
of the modern age, however, 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.
The West has still to go a step forward to discover the greatest
reality about Muhammad, and that is his being the true and last Prophet of God
for all of humanity. In spite of all its objectivity and enlightenment here has
been no sincere and objective attempt by the West to understand the Prophet
hood 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 has been rejected explicitly and implicitly. It is here that a searching of
the heart is required, and a review if 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 Prophet
hood.
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 into 'an imposter' and claim to be the Prophet of Allah and
thus invite the rage of his people? One might ask, for what reason did he
suffer all the hardships he did? 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 the 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 humanity, that he stood like a mountain in the face of all opposition 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 Prophet hood 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 at his wonderful eloquence and oratory? It was so matchless that the whole
legion of Arab poets, preachers and orators of the highest caliber failed to
bring forth its equivalent. And above all, how could he then pronounce truths
of a scientific nature contained in the Qur'an that no human being could
possibly have developed at that time?
Last but not 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 beginning of human life on
this planet. Read the following writings of the western authors:
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
crumbled 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...the forbearance in victory, his
ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for
an empire; his endless prayers, 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 unit 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 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 II, 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 Mahomet 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 sanding 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 Mohammed, for he had all the
power without its instruments and without its supports.
Bosworth Smith, Mohammed 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 that 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, an 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 worshipped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was always
particularly 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 his 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, an 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 a 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
worshipped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshipped, He lives
forever.'
James A. Michener, 'Islam: The Misunderstood Religion'
in Reader's Digest (American Edition)
May 1955, pp. 68-70
My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the 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
|
|
Source: Institute of Islamic Information
and Education. |