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PROPHET
MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W.)
“Certainly you have in the Apostle of Allah an excellent exemplar for
him who hopes in Allah and the latter day, and remembers Allah
much”.
(33:21)
“..by the pen and by what they (the men) inscribe. (O Muhammad) you are
not, by the grace of your Lord, possessed. Verily for you there is an
unending recompense. Verily, you (stand) on an exalted standard of
sublime morality”.
(68:1-4)
Today is
the 17th Rabee’ al-Awwal and on this day, we are celebrating
the birth of our great Prophet, Muhammad (saww).
MESSAGE
OF PEACE:
A major
part of the Holy Prophet (saww) was to bring ‘peace’ to the
world. One of the ways in which he strove towards this end was to
attempt to convince people that all men and women, from different
regions of the world, and seemingly different from one another in
colour, culture and language, were infact each others brothers and
sisters. His message was crucial, for a proper relationship of love and
respect can be established only if that is how human beings regard one
another. To inculcate such feelings, the Holy Prophet (saww) told his
followers: “You are all Adam’s offspring
and Adam was created of clay”. He (saww) would tell people
that: “Every religion has some special
characteristic, that of Islam being Modesty”.
In the
absence of such a virtue, no community can have lasting peace. The
Prophet (saww)’s own modesty couples with great strength of character,
is depicted in a well known story of an old Makkan woman who hated the
Prophet (saww). Every morning when the Prophet (saww) passed by her
house, she would empty a basket of rubbish on his head from the upper
storey of her house. He never once argued with her for this. One day, as
the Prophet (saww) passed through this area, no rubbish fell on his
head. Thinking that the old woman must be ill, he went upstairs to
inquire how she was and found her ill in bed. When she discovered that
the Prophet (saww) had come to visit her, she began to weep and said,
“I ill-treated you and now you come to inquire after my health!”
Ultimately she became one of his followers.
Those who
are ignorant and hold prejudice against Islam and the Muslims, must read
and understand the life of Prophet Muhammad (saww). Muhammad (saww) was
the true representation of Islam. Muhammad (saww) was the true
representation of Quran. To understand Islam & Quran, we must endeavour
to understand Muhammad (saww).
Sa’d bin
Hisham bin ‘Aamir says that:
[ One day
I asked ‘Aayesha, the wife of the Holy Prophet (saww), “O Mother of
faithful! Tell me about the character of the Messenger of Allah”.
She asked, “Don’t you read Quran?” I said, “Yes”.
Thereupon she said, “The character of the Apostle of Allah was the
Quran”.] (Saheeh Muslim)
The
essence of the message of Islam is ‘peace’. The personality of
Muhammad (saww) was sent to convey the message of ‘peace’. The
Mass Media, a powerful instrument in building public opinion and in the
developing of perceptions, tends to project historical prejudice in
portraying Islam in negative form as a religion of slitting off throats
and killing of the innocent. Prophet Muhammad (saww) is often portrayed
as someone who spread Islam by Sword.
Judgement
is being made about Islam from the likes of Osama and Saddam, who, the
whole world knows, were actually the creations-not of Islam-but
the very powers whose greed in the Middle-East resources knows no bound.
So were the many leaders of the Arab world. Suddenly today, the world is
told that they are the heroes of Islam, so Islam is our enemy!!
Isn’t it
unfair that when few American and British soldiers abuse the Iraqi
prisoners and in the wake of an uproar against the inhuman treatment
being accorded, it can be said that the few soldiers do not represent
our American and British values but at the same time, the same people
accuse Islam and the Muslims on account of the few dummies created by
themselves like Osama and make the life of Muslims miserable all over
the world??
September
11 episode is being used as an excuse to justify the atrocities being
committed against Muslims all over the world. In occupied Palestine,
innocent people including women and children are butchered daily and
hundreds have been rendered homeless by the oppressive Zionist regime,
but the educated world is only shown the desperate retaliation of the
Palestinians and deliberately so, in order to label them as terrorists
who are motivated in their acts by the teachings of Islam!
The
“true peace” which is the message of Islam brought by all the
prophets and which Prophet Muhammad (saww) preached, is based on the
foundation of Truth & Justice and certainly not on lies, lewdness or any
evil.
“…and say (O Muhammad), verily I believe in whatever Allah has sent down
of the book; and I am commanded to do justice between you. Allah is our
Lord as well as your Lord”.
(42:15)
“verily Allah enjoins justice, doing good to others, and giving to
kindred, and forbids lewdness, evil and rebellion. He exhorts you in
order that you may take heed”.
(16:90)
Mahatma
Gandhi speaking on the character of Prophet Muhammad (saww) said,
“I wanted to know the best of one who holds today’s undisputed sway over
the hearts of millions of mankind…I became more 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 intrepidity, 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”.
(Young
India)
Our sincere greetings and felicitations to Imam al-Mahdi (AJ) and to all
the Muslims on the birth of Prophet Muhammad (saww).
Mulla
Mujaheedali Sheriff
mulla@almahdi.org.uk |