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What
They Say
About Muhammad (PBUH)
During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were invented
against the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). But withthe birth of the modern
age, marked with the religious tolerance and freedom of thought, there
has been a great change in theapproach 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 its 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 has 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 stateman, 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
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 ill 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 bu upon them),
a basic requirement of faith without which no one could be a Muslim?
It is 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 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 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. 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, legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men
in
one-third
of then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altar, 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 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 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 humans 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 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 bu 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 pretentions,
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 Mohammed,
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 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, 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 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, 'And
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 for ever'.
James A.
Michener, 'Islam: The Misunderstood Religion', in the Readers Digest (American
Edition) for 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
religiousand 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.
