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WAS
THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD, UPON HIM BE
PEACE AND BLESSINGS,
THE PROPHET SOLELY FOR THE ARABS
OR
FOR ALL NATIONS AND ALL TIMES?
There
is no source, no evidence which
indicates that the prophethood of
Muhammad, upon him be peace, was
peculiar to Arabs or only to those
who lived during his lifetime.
Quite the contrary, all available
sources and evidence confirm that
his prophetic mission is for all
times and for all beings. Even his
own life, during which he strove to
disseminate Islam all over the
world, proves that it is so.
Men
such as Alexander of Macedon or the
Roman Caesars and Napoleon and
Hitler and the imperialist
conquerors of Europe and Russia
and America, all those sought
extensive dominion for the sake of
worldly power and authority. But,
when the Prophet Muhammad ordered
his followers to spread Islam all
over the world, his aim was to
remove the obstacles which prevent
human beings from happiness in
this world and the next, to prevent
them (who are created as the pearl
of creation but can sink to the
lowest of the low) from rolling
down to the pit of hell, and to
enable them, instead, to recover
values they had lost and regain the
purity they were born with. As the
final Messenger of God, always under
His Guidance and Command, he strove
as long as he lived, before it
became too late for others, to
stretch the light of Islam as far as
possible so that those others might
hear the Divine Message. Certainly
he succeeded.
Let
us go over some points which
demonstrate the universality of
his mission.
While he himself was still in
Makka, he sent some of the
Muslims into Abyssinia.
Through the efforts of those
believers many Abyssinians had
the chance to know and embrace
Islam. The Muslims’ going
there was, outwardly, an
escape from the intense
persecution of the pagans,
however, the fact that the
king Negus and other nobles
around him converted to
Islam was one of the first
signs and evidence of the
universality of the
prophethood of Muhammad.
Among the early Muslims there
were Bilal from Abyssinia,
Suhayb from Rum (Byzantium),
Salman from Persia, and so on.
Although they were from
different nations and races,
they were in the first rank of
the Muslims. Furthermore, the
fact that those people and
many more non-Arabs were given
higher ranks and esteem than
many Arabs shows how Islam
set out, from the outset, with
a universal perspective.
Long before the conquest of
Iraq and Persia, the Prophet
gave Suraqa, who had chased
after the Prophet when he
emigrated from Makka to Madina,
the glad tidings that he,
Suraqa, would wear the
bracelets of Chosroes, the son
of Ormuz, the Emperor of
Persia (Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil
fi al-Tarikh, 2, 74). This
indicates that the Prophet
knew that Islam would be
carried to Iraq and Persia,
and implies that it had to be
carried there. This did happen
and Suraqa did wear the
bracelets of Chosroes after
the conquest.
While resting in the house of
Umm Haram bint Milhan (his
paternal aunt and the wife of
Ubada bin Samit), the Prophet
slept for a short while. When
he awoke, he said smilingly:
‘My Umma has been shown to
me. I saw my Umma waging war
on the seas like kings sitting
on the thrones’ (Ibn al-Kathir,
al-Bidaya wa l-Nihaya, 7,
152). Forty years later,
accompanying her husband,
Ubade, on the conquest of
Cyprus, she died and was
buried in Cyprus. Her grave is
still there. As before, it was
an indication from the Prophet
that his Companions would, and
must, carry the Divine
Messages overseas.
Once the Prophet told his
Companions. Egypt will be
conquered after me. Be kind
and benevolent to its people.
Deal with them gently. For,
there is kinship and duty (dhimma)
between you and them. (Ibn
Jarir al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Umam
wa’l-Muluk, 4, 228). So he
informed them that the light
of Islam would reach Egypt
during their lifetimes, and
asked them to preserve the
kinship established by his
marriage to Mary the Copt.
Before the Battle of Khandaq,
while he was digging the
ditches, he foretold the
conquest of Hira, the fall of
the columns of Chosroes’
palace (the fall of the
Persian Empire) and the
capture of Damascus. It
happened as he foretold (al-Bidaya
wa l-Nihaya, 4, 99).
Would
it be wise now to claim that the
prophethood of Muhammad is peculiar
to Arabs? Does not such a claim
require that the people of Hira,
Damascus and Persia were Arabs?
There are many ahadith and verses
from the Quran which indicate
very explicitly this prophethood was
for all nations and all times. Here
are a few of them.
In one hadith, the Prophet
says: Each Messenger was sent
to his own nation. I was sent
to all mankind (Sahih al-Bukhari,
‘Jihad,’ 122). In another
tradition, it is narrated as
‘to blacks and whites’.
Confirming this, al-Tabari
narrates a different hadith: I
was sent to all both as a
mercy (rahma) and a prophet.
Do complete my mission. May
God’s mercy be on you (al-Tabari,
2, 625).
When Chosroes’ envoy visited
him, the Prophet said to him:
In the near future, my
religion and its sovereignty
will reach Chosroes’ throne
(al-Kamil, 2, 146).
Centuries ago, before the
conquest of Anatolia and
Constantinople, he foretold
that the victorious armies
of Islam would arrive at the
gates of Europe, and gave
tidings that Constantinople
(now Istanbul) would be
conquered by Muslim hands.
Many attempts were made to
realize this and be worthy of
the encouragement in these
words of the Prophet:
Constantinople will be
conquered. Blessed is the
commander who will conquer it,
and blessed are his troops (Ibn
Hanbal, Musnad, 4, 335). Since
that city was itself a symbol
of a large dominion, the
Prophet was thus directing his
umma to carry Islam all over
the world.
The verses related to the
Prophet’s mission in the Quran
are all clear, and need no
explanation and
interpretation. They say
unmistakably that the Divine
Revelation, through the
Prophet, was not meant for one
family or tribe, or one race
or group of people, but for
all mankind. Muhammad, upon
him be peace, was commissioned
to warn all the living,
whether jinn or man. Those who
reject him and the truth he
brought will endure the fate
of unbelievers. For
instance:
This
is no less than a message
to (all) the worlds.
(38:87)
This
is but a warning; an
eloquent Qur’an to
admonish the living and to
pass judgment on the
unbelievers. (36:70)
We
have not sent you but to
all men as a whole, giving
them glad tidings, and
warning them, but most men
understand not. (34:28)
Say:
‘O Men! I am sent unto
you all, as the Messenger
of God, to whom belongs
the dominion of the
heavens and the earth...
(7:158).
The
Quran expressly tells us
that the former prophets were
sent each to his particular
community or nation, and draws
our attention to the
difference between them and
the Prophet Muhammad. For
instance:
We
sent Noah to his people.
He said: ‘O my people!
Worship God! You have no
other God but Him...’
(7:59)
To
the Ad, We sent Hud, one
of their own brethren. He
said: ‘O my people!
Worship God! You have no
other god but Him...’
(7:65)
To
the Thamud, We sent Salih,
one of their own brethren.
He said: ‘O my people!
Worship God! You have no
other god but Him...’
(7:73)
We
also sent Lut; He said to
his people... (7:80)
To
the people of Madyan We
sent Shu’ayb, one of
their own brethren...
(7:85)
Moreover,
almost wherever these prophets
are mentioned in the Quran,
it is stated that they were
raised from among their own
brethren and sent to their own
nation. In this way, the Quran
leaves no ground for ambiguity
on who was a prophet for his
own nation and the one who was
for all mankind.
Since
the day he was given the first
revelation, Muhammad, upon
him be peace, has been heard
and respected almost all
over the world. His teachings,
which have established a way
of life for peoples as far
apart as China and Morocco,
and touched the hearts of
millions in every part of the
world, have been and remain
the most enduring model for a
balanced, civilized life, and
given the lead to human
development in every field. In
spite of the most vicious
and sustained oppression of
Muslims, the vandalizing of
their culture, the
misrepresentation of their
values and their history, the
principles and the ideals of
Islam remain fresh and vivid
in the hearts of the great
majority of Muslims
everywhere. Indeed, they are
looked up to everywhere,
with many, even non-Muslims,
agreeing that the grave
problems which face mankind
can only be resolved by
applying those principles. The
sheer endurance of Islam,
through conquest and defeat,
among a great diversity of
peoples and languages,
cultures and climates, is
irreversible proof that the
mission of the Prophet
Muhammad was not meant for one
time but for all peoples and
all times.
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