MUHAMMAD (S. A. W. S.)

his person, life & teachings

LECTURES
based on Non Moslems Centuries Long Research
By
Professor
MASOOD AHMED ABBASI

THE TRUSTWORTHY (AL-AMEEN)

1-THE GOLDEN MEAN

Islam is not directly concerned with political & economic systems, but indirectly and, in so far as political and economic affairs influence man’s conduct, it does lay down some very important principles of economic life. According to Professor Massignon, Islam maintains the balance between exaggerated opposites and has always in view the building of character which is the basis of civilization. This is secured by its law of inheritance; by an organized, and not an optional, system of charity known as Zakat; and by regarding as illegal & anti-social practices in the economic field like monopoly, usury, securing of pre-determined unearned incomes & increments, concerning markets, hoardings and creating artificial scarcity of any commodity in order to force the price to rise. Gambling is illegal. Contributions to schools, to places of worship, hospitals, digging of wells, opening of orphanages are the highest acts of virtue. Orphanages have sprung for the first time, it is said under the teaching of the Prophet of Islam. The world owes its orphanages to this Prophet who was himself born an orphan. “Good all this”says Carlyle about Muhammad.

“The natural voice of humanity, of piety and equity, dwelling in the heart of this wild son of nature, speaks”.

2- THE TEST

A historian once said, a great man should be judged by three tests:

1. Was he found to be of true mettle by his contemporaries?

2. Was he great enough to rise above the standards of his age?

3. Did he leave anything as permanent legacy to the world at large?

This list may be further extended but all these three tests of greatness are eminently satisfied to the highest degree in the case of Prophet Muhammad. Some illustrations of the last two have already been mentioned. The first of the three is; was the Prophet of Islam found to be one of true mettle by his contemporaries?

3- IMPECCABLE CHARACTER

Historical record shows that all contemporaries of Muhammad, both friends and foes, acknowledged the sterling qualities, the spotless honesty, the noble virtues, the absolute sincerity and the absolute trustworthiness of the apostle of Islam in all walks of life and in every sphere of human activity. Even the Jews and those who did not believe in his message accepted him as arbitrator in their personal disputes on account of his scrupulous impartiality. Even those who did not believe in his message were forced to say “O’ Muhammad we do not call you a liar, but we deny Him who has given you a Book and inspired you with a message”. They thought he was one possessed. They tried violence to cure him. But the best of them saw that a new light had dawned on him and they hastened to seek that enlightenment. It is a notable feature in the history of the Prophet of Islam that his nearest relation his beloved cousin and his bosom friends who knew him most intimately, were thoroughly imbued with the truth of his mission and convinced of the genuineness of his divine inspiration. “If these men and women, noble, intelligent, and certainly not less educated than the fishermen of Galillee, had perceived the slightest sign of earthliness, deception, or want of faith in the Teacher himself, Muhammad’s hopes of moral regeneration and social reform, would all have been crumbled to dust in a moment”.

From “The Spirit of Islam” by Syed Ameer Ali.
On the contrary we find, that the devotion of his followers was such that he was voluntarily acknowledged leader of their lives. They braved for his sake persecutions and danger; they believed, trusted, obeyed and honoured him even in the most excruciating torture and severest mental agony caused by excommunication; even unto death. Would this have been so had they noticed the slightest backsliding in their leader?

4- UNDYING LOVE FOR THE HOLY PROPHET

Read the history of the early converts to Islam and every heart would melt at the sight of the brutal treatment of innocent men and women. Sumayya an innocent woman, is cruelly torn into pieces by piercing through with spears. An example is made of  Yasir whose legs are tied to two camels and the beasts are driven in the opposite direction. Khabbab bin Arth is made to lie down on a bed of burning coal with the brutal legs of the merciless tyrant on his breast so that he may not move and this makes even the fat beneath his skin melt. Khabbab bin Arth is put to death in a cruel manner by mutilation and cutting off his flesh piecemeal. In the midst of his tortures, when asked whether he did not wish Muhammad in his place while he was in his house with his family, the sufferer cried out that he was gladly prepared to sacrifice himself, his family and children and all to save Muhammad from the prick of a thorn. Scores of heart-rending incidents of this type may be narrated. But what do all these incidents show? Why was it that these sons & daughters of Islam not only surrendered to their Prophet their allegiance but made a gift of their bodies, hearts, and souls? Is not the intense faith and conviction on the part of the immediate followers of Muhammad, the noblest testimony to his sincerity and to his utter self-absorption in the task assigned to him? 

5- FOLLOWERS OF THE BEST CALIBRE

And these men were not of low station of an inferior mental calibre. Around him, in quite early days, gathered what was best and noblest in Mecca, its flower and cream, men of position, rank, wealth and culture, and from his own kith and kin, those who knew the ins and outs of his life. All the first four Caliphs, with their towering personalities, were converts of this early period.

The Encyclopedia Britannica says that “Muhammad is the most successful of all Prophets and religious personalities”.· But this success was not the result of mere accident. It was not a windfall. It is recognition of the fact that he was found to be of true mettle by his contemporaries. It was the result of his admirable and all compelling personality. Lamartine in ‘Historie de la Turquie’, Paris 1854 Vol. II, p276-277 has spoken about the qualities of leadership of Muhammad in the following words:

“IF GREATNESS OF PURPOSE SMALLNESS OF MEANS AND OUTSTANDING RESULTS
ARE THE THREE CRITERIA OF HUMAN GENIUS, WHO COULD DARE TO COMPARE
ANY GREAT MAN IN MODERN HISTORY WITH MOHAMMAD?

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
MOHAMMED MOVED NOT ONLY ARMIES, LEGISLATIONS, EMPIRES, PEOPLES, AND DYNASTIES,
BUT MILLIONS OF MEN; AND MORE THAN THAT, HE MOVED THE ALTARS, THE GODS,
THE RELIGIONS, THE IDEAS, THE BELIEFS AND THE SOULS. ON THE BASIS OF A BOOK,

EVERY LETTER OF WHICH HAS BECOME LAW, HE CREATED A SPIRITUAL

NATIONALITY WHICH, BLENDED TOGETHER PEOPLES OF EVERY TONGUE
AND EVERY RACE. THE IDEA OF THE UNITY OF GOD, PROCLAIMED AMIDST

THE EXHAUSTION OF FABULOUS THEOLOGIES WAS IN ITSELF SUCH A MIRACLE
THAT UPON ITS UTTERANCE FROM HIS LIPS IT DESTROYED ALL THE ANCIENT
SUPERSTITIONS. 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 … PHILOSOPHER, ORATOR, APOSTLE,
LEGISLATOR, WARRIOR, CONQUEROR OF IDEAS. RESTORER OF RATIONAL BELIEFS,
OF A CULT WITHOUT IMAGES; THE FOUNDER OF TWENTY TERRESTRIAL
EMPIRES AND OF ONE SPIRITUAL EMPIRE, THAT IS MOHAMMED.
AS REGARDS ALL STANDARDS BY WHICH HUMAN GREATNESS MAY BE
MEASURED. WE MAY WELL ASK,IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?”

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‘0 Muhammad We thee not save as a mercy for the peoples