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THE
PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S
LIFE FOLLOWING HIS PROPHETHOOD
If
the Prophet Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, had
cherished selfish aims and
intentions, and if he had not
been a Prophet chosen by God to
guide people into truth, he
would not have had to wait until
he was forty to emerge with the
claim of Prophethood.
Muhammad
was unlettered. Until he was
forty, no one heard him utter an
eloquent speech, talk on
religious and metaphysical
issues, formulate any laws, and
handle a sword. But, this
reserved and quiet man, who had
never given any indication of
political interest or activity
before, appeared on the stage of
the world, as a greatest
reformer expounding the
intricate problems of
metaphysics and theology,
delivering speeches upon the
principles of the decline and
fall of nations, teaching
ethical canons and formulating
the laws of social culture,
economic organization, group
conduct and international
relations, the world history has
ever known. He turned suddenly
into such a brave soldier that
he did not even once retreat in
the fiercest battles. He changed
people’s modes of thought,
world-views, and their beliefs,
habits and morals.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, was not
only an undefeatable commander,
nor a most eminent statesman,
nor a most influential spiritual
and moral teacher. He is the
only example where all the
excellences in all the aspects
of life have been blended into
one personality.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, was not
only an undefeatable commander,
nor a most eminent statesman,
nor a most influential spiritual
and moral teacher. He is the
only example where all the
excellences in all the aspects
of life have been blended into
one personality. He is a man of
wisdom and a seer and also a
living embodiment of his own
teachings. He is a great
statesman as well as a military
genius. He is a legislator and
also a teacher of morals. He is
a spiritual luminary as well as
a religious guide. His vision
penetrates every aspect of life
and there is nothing which he
touches and does not adorn. His
orders and commandments cover a
vast field from the regulation
of international relations down
to the habits of everyday life
like eating, drinking, sleeping,
and cleanliness of the body. On
the foundations of his teaching
he established a civilization
and a culture and produced such
a fine, sensitive, and perfect
equilibrium in the conflicting
aspects of life that there is to
be found not even the slightest
trace of any flaw, deficiency or
incompleteness. What shortcoming
and imperfection does he have
when compared with other
Prophets so that he is not
confirmed as a Prophet and
Messenger of God?
Muhammad
lived as the humblest of all
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings lived a very simple
life, as the poorest of his
community. He spent all the
money he had earned by the trade
before His Prophethood to spread
his Message. In spite of his
greatness, his behavior toward
all people was that of the
humblest person, that of an
ordinary being. In the struggles
and endeavors of his whole life
he did not seek any reward or
profit for his own person, nor
did he leave any property for
his heirs. He did not ask his
followers to earmark anything
for him or his descendants, so
much so that although he and his
family were the poorest of his
community, he forbade not only
his family but also his progeny
from receiving from the benefit
of zakat.
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings,
was extremely merciful toward
all the creatures of God.
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, was extremely
merciful toward all the
creatures of God. In Makka, his
people inflicted on him every
kind of suffering, eventually
forcing him to emigrate to
Madina, and then waged wars on
him for five years. However,
when he conquered Makka without
bloodshed in the twenty-first
year of his Prophethood, he
forgave all of his enemies. His
mercy even encompassed
hypocrites and unbelievers.
Although he recognized the
hypocrites of his time, he never
disclosed them so that they
could enjoy the rights of full
citizenship to which their
outward confession of faith and
practice entitled them.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, was
particularly compassionate
towards children. When he saw a
child crying, he sat beside him
or her and shared his or her
feelings. He felt the pain of a
mother for her child more than
the mother herself. Once he
said: I stand in prayer and wish
to prolong it. However, I hear
the cry of a child and cut the
prayer short for the anxiety
which the mother praying in the
congregation is feeling. He took
children in arms and hugged
them. Sometimes he bore them on
his shoulders.
The
Prophet’s compassion
encompassed not only human
beings, but also animals. We
hear from him that a prostitute
was guided to truth by God and
ultimately went to Paradise
because she gave water to a poor
dog dying of thirst, whilst
another woman was condemned to
the torments of Hell because she
left a cat to die of hunger.
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings,
was extremely mild in his
relations with people.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, was
extremely mild in his relations
with people. He was never angry
with anybody because of what was
done to him. When his wife ‘A’isha,
may God be pleased with her, was
made the object of a slander, he
did not think to punish the
slanderers even after ‘A’isha
was cleared. Bedouins often came
to his presence and behaved
impolitely, but he did not even
frown at them.
The
Prophet was also the most generous
of people
The Prophet was also the most
generous of people. He liked to
distribute whatever he had.
After Prophethood he and his
wealthy wife Khadija spent
everything they had in the way
of God. When Khadija, may God be
pleased with her, died, they had
no money to buy a shroud, and
God’s Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings, had to
borrow money in order to bury
the first person to embrace
Islam and his first supporter.
According
to the Prophet, the world is
like a tree under which people
sit to be shaded during a long
journey. No one can live forever
in the world, so people must
make in the world the necessary
preparation for the second part
of the journey which will end
either in Paradise or Hell. The
mission of God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings,
was to guide people to truth, so
he would spend whatever he had,
his life, and his possessions,
to this end. Once ‘Umar, upon
him be peace and blessings, saw
him lying on a rough mat and
wept, saying: ‘O Messenger of
God! While kings sleep in soft
weather beds, you are lying on a
rough mat. You are the Messenger
of God and therefore deserve
more than any other people an
easy life.’ The Messenger
answered him: Do you not agree
that [the luxuries of] the world
be theirs but those of the
Hereafter ours?
Islam
does not approve of monastic
life. It came to secure justice
and the well-being of mankind,
but warns people against
over-indulgence. It is for this
reason that many Muslims have
chosen an ascetic life. Although
the Muslims generally became
rich after the death of the
Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, some like the Caliphs
Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Ali
preferred an austere life. This
was partly because they felt to
live as the poorest of their
people and partly because they
chose to strictly follow the
Prophet’s example.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, was the
most modest of people. As he
attained a higher rank each and
every day, he increased in
humility and servanthood to God.
He preferred being a
Prophet-slave to being a
Prophet-king.
In
the construction of the Mosque
in Madina after the Hijra, he
carried two sun-dried bricks
while everybody else carried
one. In the digging of the ditch
around Madina to defend the city
in the Battle of the Ditch, the
Companions bound a stone around
their bellies because of hunger,
but the Messenger bound two,
because he was more hungry than
anybody else. Once, a man saw
him and, due to his
awe-inspiring appearance, began
to tremble out of fear. The
Messenger calmed him, saying:
Brother! Don’t be afraid. I am
a man, like you, whose mother
used to eat dry bread. Again, a
woman suffering from insanity
pulled him by the hand and said:
‘Come with me and do my
housework.’ God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings,
went with the woman and did the
work. As reported by ‘A’isha,
his wife, the Messenger patched
his clothes, repaired his shoes
and helped his wives with the
housework.
‘Ali,
the Fourth Caliph, may God be
pleased with him, describes the
Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings:
Whoever
attempted to describe Muhammad
would say: ‘I have, either
before him or after him, never
seen the like of him, upon him
be peace and blessings.’
·
God’s Messenger was the most
generous of people in giving out
and the mildest and foremost of
them in patience and
perseverance. He was the most
truthful of people in speech,
the most amiable and congenial
in companionship and the noblest
of them in family. Whoever sees
him first is stricken by awe of
him but whoever knows him
closely is attracted to him
deeply, and whoever attempts to
describe him says: ‘I have,
either before him or after him,
never seen the like of him, upon
him be peace and blessings.’
Other
than conveying God’s Message
to people, in other words,
performing the mission of Divine
Messengership, who bears such an
austere life as Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings,
lived, and what else other than
a Prophet, can such a man as
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, be? And what
substantial argument can one put
forward against his Prophethood?
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