The ongoing campaign against Islam and our Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) by certain sections of Western media is not just a serious challenge to the Muslim Ummah, but could be seen as a historical opportunity for us to teach those who don’t know him.
It is obvious that recent developments are bringing the world of Islam into more and more contact with other cultures. This fact in itself makes it very important for all Muslims to join hands in an attempt to help others have access to the proper teachings of Islam, know the true image of Islam and its Prophet who was sent as a mercy for all humanity. We should make it clear that a proper understanding of Islam and its Prophet is very important for mutual understanding and world peace.
Today after the lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of our Prophet still inspire men and women all over the world, who hold deep-rooted love and reverence for him. This fact could offer an ideal answer for the question frequently asked by Western media:
“What is it about Islam and its Prophet that motivates such fervent enthusiasm among some adherents?” The answer is: Most media circles are primed to present Islam and its Prophet as a threat and problem, not as a solution for the ills we are suffering.
The Encyclopedia Britannica confirms: “...a mass of detail in the early sources that he (the Prophet) was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise honest and upright men.” (Vol. 12)
During the short period of 23 years of his Prophethood, Prophet Muhammad changed the Arabian Peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God, 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 bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such complete transformation of a people or place before or after him. All these unbelievable wonders took place in just over two decades.
It is for this reason that the famous writer George Bernard Shaw said: “He must be called the savior of Humanity. 1 believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modem world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it much needed peace and happiness.” (The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1,No. 8,1936)
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.
Alphonse de Lamartine, French historian, politician and poet who was considered one of the pioneers of the French Romantic school, speaking on the essentials of human greatness wonders: “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, legislation, 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 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 two-fold: 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 the standards by which Human Greatness may be measured, we may well ask, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?
(Lamartine, Historire De la Turquie, Paris, 1854, Vol. 11, pp. 276-277)
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. The lives and teachings of these great personalities of the world are shrouded in the mist of time. There is so much speculation about the time and place of their birth, the mode and style of their lives, the nature and details of their teachings and the degrees and measures of their success or failure, that it is impossible for humanity to reconstruct accurately the lives and teachings of these men.
Not so this man.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) accomplished so much in such diverse fields of human thought and behavior in the fullest blaze of human history.
Every detail of his private life and public utterances had been accurately documented and faithfully preserved to our present day.
The authenticity of the records so preserved are vouched for not only by the faithful followers but even by his prejudiced critics. The Prophet Muhammad was not just a religious leader or teacher, but was a social reformer, a moral guide, an administrative colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving and caring father — all in one. No (other) man in history ever excelled or even equaled him in any of these different aspects of life; it was only the selfless personality of this Noble Prophet that made him achieve such incredible perfections.
Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India’s freedom struggle, speaking about the character of the Prophet wrote in his journal “Young India”: “I wanted to know the best of one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.. . I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.
When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life.”
Thomas Carlyle in his “Heroes and Hero-worship” was amazed as to say: “How one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades?”
The Prophet Muhammad was nothing more or less than a human being. But he was a man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of one and only one God and to teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of Allah Almighty. He always described himself as “A Servant and Messenger of Allah,” and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
Speaking on the aspect of equality before God in Islam, the famous poetess of India, Sarojini Naidu says: “It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: “God Alone is Great” ... I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother”. (S. Naidu, Ideals of Islam, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, pp 169).
In the words of prof. Hurgronje, professor of the Arabic language in the University of Leiden, Holland and a pioneer in the scientific study of Islam: “The league of nations founded by the Prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations 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 toward the realization of the idea of the league of Nations”.
K.S. Ramakrishna Rao, an Indian professor of Philosophy in his booklet, “Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam” calls him the “Perfect Model for Human Life”. He explains his point by saying, “The personality of Muhammad, 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 picturesque scenes? There is Muhammad, the Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman, Muhammad, the Orator; Muhammad, the reformer; Muhammad, the Reformer of Orphans; Muhammad, the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the Judge; Muhammad the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human he is alike a hero”.
