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 trueand 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. |