The Mission of Prophet Muhammad: THE PROPHET FOR ETERNITY

By Moin Qazi

The life of Prophet Muhammad has provided inspiration to Muslims for hundreds of years. The Prophet occupies a unique place in the life and conscience of Muslims. In this profound and stimulating biography, the author shows how the Prophet’s message can be used to address a vast range of contemporary issues. The author focuses on the continuing relevance of the Prophet’s life and teachings in the contemporary context and strives to underline those aspects which have made them the touchstones of faith and purity of thought and action

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Sep 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9789383808632

Book preview

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Introduction

Gentlemen! It is after a period of fifteen years that I have got this opportunity to visit Madras at the request of the Muslim Education Society, and present to you different aspects of the life of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) in the form of eight lectures which will be delivered at eight different gatherings in the following order:

Lecture 1 Prophets of Allah: The Only Ideals for Mankind

Lecture 2 The Life of Prophet Muhammad: The Most Comprehensive and Eternal Model

Lecture 3 The Historical Aspect of the Life of the Prophet

Lecture 4 The Perfectness of the Life of the Prophet

Lecture 5 The Comprehensiveness of the Life of the Prophet

Lecture 6 The Life of the Prophet: A Living Qur’an.

Lecture 7 The message of the Prophet

Lecture 8 The Prophet as Role Model

Madras has pioneered this unique series of Islamic lectures for its younger generation to enable them to understand their religion. Incidentally, Madras was the first province of India where the light of Islam appeared at a time when the soldiers of Islam had still not set foot on the Indian subcontinent. This rare blessing was just one of the many manifestations of the miracles of the Prophet (peace be upon him) wherein the full moon was caused to split into two and then return to its original shape. If the report of this pious miracle is authentic (as it was reported in Tuhfatul Mujahideen and supported by our Muslim brother Dr. Ghulam Mohammad who has himself come across an identical account of the event in an ancient manuscript of the Hindus in Sanskrit, and which he has subsequently published), we should not be surprised at this unique effort of the stewards of Muslim Education Society of Madras. They deserve to be the standard bearers in the service of Islam as well, and this historic privilege is not something new to them. It goes 1300 years back into history. Another factor in the spread of Islam was the far-ranging influence of Muslim traders, who not only introduced Islam quite early to the Indian east coast and south India but also proved to be the main catalytic agents (beside the Sufis) in converting people to Islam in Indonesia, Malaya, and China.

I hope the Muslim educational organizations in other parts of India will follow this enviable example set by Madras.

Gentlemen! I am speaking in Urdu but I do admit that despite the fact that the language is now better understood and spoken in most parts of India, these lectures should have been delivered here in English so that a much wider audience could have participated and benefited from them. I urge our ulema to learn English so that they can reach a wider audience. I hope that in times to come our ulema will be in a position to convey the message of Allah to all mankind in all the languages taught by Him.

LECTURE 1

Prophets Of Allah: The Only

Ideals For Mankind

This great universe of ours is a wonderful amphitheatre. It is a vast and unique canvas, inhabited by a rich and kaleidoscopic diversity of fascinating objects. Spread all across the planet are different creatures with unique traits and characteristics. A closer look at Allah’s universe reveals to us that in the entire universe, comprising both inanimate and animate objects, there is evident a gradual evolution of sense, perception and will. The basic forms of inorganic matter, of which atoms are the primary elements, exhibit a total absence of these mental powers. Some better evolved among them show faint traces of life. In plants, involuntary presence of senses can be observed. In the animal world, apart from the senses, there are signs of some form of cognitive abilities and they are therefore considered to be relatively more perceptive. In human beings, the cognitive abilities are fully developed and this trait makes them the most highly evolved creatures. This biological advantage casts on them a far greater responsibility for their actions. The degree of accountability expected of other creatures is commensurate with the degree of volition and freedom of will enjoyed by them. The inorganic matter is totally bereft of this obligation as it is shorn of these senses. Plants are subject to the laws of life and death and have therefore some degree of accountability. In the animal world, the responsibilities increase further, but it is mankind alone that has to shoulder the burden of a vast penumbra of obligations. Man is perpetually gripped by the albatross of responsibilities. Within their own categories, the mentally ill, idiots and children on the one hand and the adults, lettered, and intelligent on the other, are accountable in proportion to their cognitive abilities.

Look at it from another perspective. Allah’s power over the created universe takes care of the entire sustenance needs of his creatures. But over a period, with the development of cognitive powers, accountability for actions keeps shifting to individuals in direct proportion to the degree of maturity of their perceptive powers. The transfer of this responsibility is a gradual process and is directly related to the evolution of the senses.

Who creates and nurtures the rubies and diamonds in the depths of the mountains? Who nourishes the fish in the depth of oceans? Who looks after the beasts of jungles? Who cares about the beasts in the cruel chill of winter and the searing heat of summer and heals their sick victims? You will notice an apparent variation in the paws, hair and the colour of their skin and their general appearances even among the same species of beasts, depending on the diversity of their habitat and the protection they need from the hazards of their living environment. The needs of the dog of Europe and that of Africa are much different but nature itself provides for their divergent needs. For example: The hide of the European dog is woollier and denser than that of the African. These are some of the various ways by which nature empowers its creatures to cope with their divergent environments. It also demonstrates how nature offsets the weaknesses in sensory perception of various organisms by enhancing their other protective gear. In the case of those creatures that are endowed with these sensory powers, nature automatically withdraws once the senses acquire the desired maturity and leaves the creatures to fend for themselves. For example: Man has to provide for his wherewithal and sustenance through his own efforts. He has to cultivate crops for food. He doesn’t have a woolly skin for protection against severe winter; so he has to provide warm clothes to ward off the hazards of severe cold. He has to devise his own cure for his illnesses and has to himself nurse his wounds.

On the other hand, wherever the sensory perception is weak, nature itself takes care of protection of species. Different animals, both wild and domesticated, have been provided different tools of defence such as sharp claws, pointed teeth, the ability to fly, and the ability to sprint and to run fast. Some have been provided a lethal sting; others have poisonous fangs. In short, they have been endowed with armour of self defence. However, man has not been provided any of these natural weapons. He does not have the pointed teeth and strong paws of a lion, the long trunk and strong tusks of an elephant, the sharp horns of a bull, or the poison of a snake or the sting of a hornet or a scorpion. Outwardly, he appears virtually defenceless and totally vulnerable. But he has been armoured in other ways to offset these weaknesses. He is able to overpower the long tusked elephants, the fiercely strong-pawed lions and the deadly vipers that lurk in every possible habitation. He can cage the soaring birds into his snares and trap the creatures dwelling in deep waters. He can produce all kinds of defensive and offensive weapons. All of this has been made possible by his extraordinary mental prowess, strong sensory perception, sharp reasoning abilities and a free will. These are the traits that offset his outer defenselessness and distinguish him from other organisms.

My friends, no matter what your creed or religion might be, you cannot deny that it is the higher level of cognitive abilities that has burdened and saddled man with the highest level of accountability to the Creator. In the lexicon of Islam, these responsibilities have been clubbed under a metaphysical phrase, religious burden and the degree of this burden varies according to each man’s mental and physical abilities.

Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of man and of the entire universe, spells out this phenomenon in the final and supreme revelation, the Holy Qur’an:

On no soul doth Allah of Place a burden greater than it can bear.

Q: 2:286

In another verse of the Holy Qur’an, Allah alludes this burden and obligation to a catchall epithet, amanah. It is difficult to accurately and succinctly translate the term but the nearest word would be ‘trust’. This trust was offered to the heavens and earth and mountains but they were aghast. They shuddered and shrank from the consequences and spurned the offer. They preferred to follow the will of Allah so that they could avoid exercising their own free will in choosing between good and evil and in the process suffer for their errors. The Qur’anic verse states:

We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it; He was indeed unjust and foolish.

Q: 33:72

In his vainglorious brazenness and foolish bravado, man accepted the offer ignoring the fact that it was fraught with horrifying implications and consequences. On account of man’s own folly, this onerous burden of safeguarding the trust fell to his lot and he is now perpetually trapped in its clutches. In fact, man has thrust upon himself a highly onerous burden that is laden with hazards. The freedom of choice given to him and the ability to distinguish between good and evil has made him accountable for all his acts. The other creatures are exempt from this onerous responsibility.

The Qur’an refers to this folly of man as man’s act of injustice to himself. It describes him as ‘unjust’ and ‘ignorant’ and compares his folly with ‘mad love’ implying the loss of his mental equipoise. This has occurred primarily owing to the imbalance in his use of mental and reasoning abilities. In this context, ‘being unjust’ implies transgressing the limits of civilized behavior whereas being ‘foolish’ or ‘ignorant’ indicates crossing the limits of his cognitive abilities. The antonym (contrast) of ‘unjust’ is ‘just’ and that of ‘ignorant’ is ‘knowledgeable’. These are the qualities that are not inherent in man. In order to acquire them he needs to establish a proper equilibrium between his physical and mental faculties. He needs to moderate his physical power and substitute ignorance with knowledge and insight. In the Qur’anic schema the first faculty is known as ‘righteous deeds’ (amal-al-salih), whereas ‘knowledge’ (iman) implies faith in Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.

The strongest tie of semantic relationship binds amal-al-salih (righteous conduct) and iman (faith) together into an almost inseparable unit. It is like as shadow following the form. Wherever there is iman there is salihat so much so that we may feel justified in defining the former in terms of the latter and the latter in terms of the former.

Consider the following verses of the holy Qur’an:

By (the Token of) time (through the Ages)

Verily Man is in loss

Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

Q: 103:1-3

The loss referred to in these verses actually implies the serious consequences for man of the transgression of the laws of Allah, as a result of an imbalance in his physical and mental powers. Its remedy lies in faith (which means true knowledge) and in moderation (which means righteous deeds). In other words, man will be a perpetual loser till he is able to strike a perfect balance between physical and mental powers. This is possible only when he fortifies his decision making instincts with faith and moderation. As a witness to this fact, Allah has brought in the evidence from history as a witness. This covers events in the history of mankind, from the dawn of civilization to the present, which have been recorded and voluminously documented by eminent chroniclers. According to Thomas Carlyle The history of the world is but the biography of great men. The history of men and nations reveals that all great men and all nations who lacked faith and moderation were doomed. All the heavenly and divine texts, moral stories, chronicles of successes as well as failures and of the rise and fall of dynasties keep reminding us about the eternal conflict between good and evil, between darkness of ignorance and the glow of faith. On the one hand one can see the forces of oppression, ignorance, evil and gloom and on the other the forces of justice, righteousness and virtuousness. These tales are full of glory of those who recognized and discharged the burden of human responsibilities in accordance with the divine word, and the downfall of those who refused to honour it. The Greek Iliad, the Roman Parallel Lives, the Persian epic Shahnama and the ancient Indian Mahabharata, Ramayana and Gita are all classical tales reinforcing that eternal conflict. Every nation has learnt moral lessons from the biographies of its great men and also the distinction between positive and negative values, such as good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, oppression and justice, belief and disbelief, so that it could avoid the serious consequences of evil, ignorance and oppression and benefit from the benign powers of goodness, knowledge, justice and faith. Among the heavenly books like the Old and the New Testament and the Holy Qur’an, the primary themes centre around the woeful end of the wicked, the oppressive and unethical nations or individuals, and the triumph of the just, the good and the believers. Their basic focus is the transformation of oppressors into believers. Before Prophet Muhammad, the last of Allah’s Prophets, many Prophets were sent throughout the ages in every corner of the world to preach the divine message so that the people could have a model for emulation. The Prophets were recipients of a direct message from Allah. The Prophetic soul was the highest on the human ladder, thus overlapping with the angelic realm. Allah grants Prophetic souls the ability to rise to a station where divine revelation can descend on them.

Finally, Prophet Muhammad, ‘the Mercy to the Worlds’, was sent so that he should leave a perfect, serviceable and eternal model for humanity for all times to come. The divine revelation itself presents the pure and virtuous life of the Prophet (before he was ordained a Prophet by Allah) as a testimony to his prophethood. A Qur’anic verse states: Say: If Allah had so willed, I should not have rehearsed it to you, nor would He have made it known to you. A whole life-time before this have I tarried amongst you: will ye not then understand?

Q: 10:16

Human history is awash with narratives of thousands of great men who left their deeds as metaphors of their regimes for future generations. You may find among them majestic emperors presiding over their magnificent and luxurious courts and occupying resplendent thrones; squadrons of soldiers headed by great commanders and generals; a galaxy of profound thinkers and sagacious philosophers; intimidating conquerors; bards lost in their rapturous world; and the rich and great masters of fortunes living in opulence. The life of each one of them was colourful in it its own way and captivated the common people. Be it Hannibal of Carthage, Alexander of Macedonia, Caesar of Rome, Darius of Persia or Napoleon of France, all of them colonized the mind of the laity. Similarly, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes and other Greek philosophers, along with Spencer and their ilk, exercised tremendous influence. Nimrod, the Pharaoh, Abu Jahal and Abu Lahab (father of flames) also distinguished themselves with a variant but equally pernicious blend of traits. Qaroon (or Korah) shows yet another devilish facet of human character. In short there are hundreds of examples of men who fired the mind of ordinary folks and gravitated them by the delusory greatness.

Of all personality types, which one can guarantee a peaceful and blissful life and guide people to the path of eternal salvation? Among these examples, which one deserves to be followed?

There are conquerors who reconfigured the world with the might of their swords. But did they leave any lasting legacy for the prosperity of humanity? Their glory was confined to the battlefield alone and they failed to liberate mankind from the yoke of superstition and devilry. They did not offer any solution to the complex problems of humanity or a blueprint for mending the flawed world. Did they leave any roadmap for the future generations of human civilization? Did they have any clear answers to our spiritual problems, our sufferings and despair? Did they guide or inspire humanity on ways of building a noble moral character?

This world of ours has produced a legion of great poets. But these masters of the fanciful world failed miserably when they were confronted with the real world. Plato had no place for them in his ideal Republic. From Homer to the present, do we have any bards who came up with perfect solutions to problems confronting humanity? They composed ballads which provided only temporary gratification to human emotions. The fantasy world of pains and pleasures conjured by poetic visions has no relevance to our perplexities. The great bards failed to create a healthy impact on human life because they never practiced what they preached. The holy Qur’an says:

And the Poets - It is those straying in Evil, who follow them:

Seest thou not that they wander distracted in every valley?

And that they say what they practice not?

Except those who believe, work righteousness.

Q: 26:224-227

The divine verses of the Qur’an have exposed the shallowness of the gilded verses of the bards and have explained why they failed to leave a lasting impact on humanity. They were insincere (they preached what they themselves did not practice.) They lacked seriousness of purpose. They lived in a world built out of their own fantasies. If they had faith and sincerity they would have made at least some impact on life. But they were totally incapable of guiding the world. The chronicles of human history bear witness.

It is an irony that great thinkers and philosophers who changed the course of life several times over and who have expounded great theories to explain the riddle of life have failed to offer any practical and realistic solutions to human problems. They have failed to lighten the burden of humanity because their grand theories were not backed by any practical demonstration of the tenets.

Plato is acclaimed for his great ideas in ethical philosophy. But, realistically speaking, all his profound theories were philosophical abstractions. How many have shunned their evil ways and chosen the right path in response to the exhortations of Plato? Today, in every university of the world, you will find highly erudite professors and scholars of ethics, but their scholarship and influence is confined to the cloistered precincts of their academies. The reason is that in their own personal lives, they were no different from ordinary human beings. There is the old adage: man is not made by words alone; actions speak louder than words.

In the theatre of this world, great kings and powerful rulers have made appearances. They did exert total control over vast empires. They plundered and dominated several nations. They devastated many countries and built many others. They ravaged one nation and raised the other, impoverishing one and enriching the other. The holy Qur’an sums it up in the words of the Queen of