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The Prophet of Islam (s)
What is Islam? , asked an Arab. The
Prophet Muhammad (s) replied, to obey Allah and to love His
Creation. When asked why was he ordained as an Apostle, the Last of
the Prophets (Khatam an nabi'iyyin), may Allah's Blessings be upon
him and his family, responded, with a smile: to perfect human
conduct.
Today, shall we not take a
close look at ourselves and examine closely our individual and
collective lives, to see if we live up to his simple message ?
The Orientalists traditionally painted very negative image of Islam
in the past. The old fear of the expanding Muslim Empire haunted the
Western Christians. It prevented them from being objective about the
Muslim faith and they did not refrain from discrediting Islam as a
blasphemous faith and its Prophet as a pretender. Very
unfortunately, they looked at Islam as a violent religion and a
fanatical faith.
Thanks to the Information Age, the world is fast becoming a global
village; people are getting to know one another better. The
stereotypes about Islam must give way to a better understanding
about the faith as well as its adherents. Lately there is an
upsurge of books on Islam and translations of Quran in English and
Spanish are available in any good Book Store. Yet surprisingly there
are not any significant biographies of the Prophet available to the
general reader. In order to understand Islam, a person needs to
first understand the spiritual, not only the political and military
aspects of the Prophet's life, which have been generally the focus
of the Western Biographers.
Who was Muhammad (s) ? Quran gives us a very clear description of
his life before he had received his prophetic vision at age 40.
" Did He not find you an orphan and
give you shelter ?
Did He not find you
unable to see and guide you ?
Did He not find you needy
and suffice you ?
(al-Zhuha 93:6-8)
Born an orphan (his father Abdullah bin Abd al- Muttalib bin Hashim
had died a few moths before his birth), he was only 6 years, when
his mother, Aminah also passed away. He grand father,
Abd-al-Muttalib took charge of him; he too passed away after
two years. His most beloved uncle, Abu Talib now took him in
his guardianship. He loved him more than his own children. He was
only 10 when he accompanied his uncle, Abu Talib on a business
trip to Syria. It was during this journey when a Christian Monk,
Bahirah, looking at the young boy's face, exclaimed that he
discerned signs of his future greatness. He cautioned Abu Talib to
be more careful about him because he was to receive a
Divine Call.
The young Muhammad (s) earned good name in Mecca. He was called al-Ameen
due to his integrity and great trust he always inspired in
others. At 25, he accepted a proposal to marry Khadijah, a virtuous
and righteous business-woman who had engaged him to watch her
business interests in travels to Syria where he
accompanied her trading caravans to sell things to the local
traders. Impressed by the accounts of his honest and square dealings
and an excellent conduct during the long travels, Khadija
offered to seek his companionship for life. The uncle, Abu
Talib recited the nuptial sermon. Khadija remained his only wife
until her death after 25 years of married life. She left behind the
only daughter, Fatimah (s), the apple of her father's eye. He loved
her so much that every time she would enter the room, he used to
stand up as a mark of respect, some thing unheard of in Mecca, a
male-dominated society with little or no respect for women. She was
wedded to Ali, the valiant son of Prophet's loving uncle, Abu Talib.
As destiny would have it, the progeny of the Prophet, known as
Sayyids were to spring from this noble union.
The grief and sorrow of Muhammad was compounded by the fact
that just three days before Khadija's death, his uncle who had been
his great support along with his wife, had also died. The Prophet
used to call that year, Am al Huzn, the year of grief because of the
loss of his two great comforters and helpers.
" Read in the the name of thy Lord who creates--Creates man
from a clot, Read and thy Lord is Most Generous, Who taught by
the Pen, Taught man that he knew not "-- it was ten years
before the sad demise of Khadija and Abu Talib that Muhammad
(s) had been revealed this most splendid message from God
through
archangel Gabriel during one of his solitary meditations in a
cave on the Mount Hira in the precincts of Mecca. He had just turned
40. He had been asked to admonish the pagans of Mecca, the idol
worshippers as well as his clan, the Ishmaelites, who had drifted
from the Abrahamic faith, making it subservient to the rituals and
superstitions.
They believed in Il-lah, one God but their belief was shallow. Their
practical life belied their claim. A hodge-podge and plethora of
rituals and sinister superstitions, essentially stemming from their
convoluted belief that God had delegated the control and
administration of the universe to others in whom he had vested all
powers, such as healing the sick, granting children and removing
famine and epidemic. This was the central idea of their faith, like
the decadent societies of the yore.
They worshipped ordinary objects of stone and wood as holy. They
would prostrate before them, circambulate them and offer meals and
sweets and sacrifices to them. There were also among them who
compounded their jahiliyya (ignorance) by associating the evil and
good with the stars and that their destiny and their fortune was
controlled by the movements of the star. This was no small act for a
man coming from such precarious circumstances as him that the
Prophet Muhammad (s), may Allah's blessings be on him and his
family, stripped not Mecca alone but the whole Arabia from such
debasing idolatry and decrepit rituals immersed in superstition and
ignorance, in just 23 years before he passed away at age 63 in
Madinah.
The Prophet of Islam had to face great difficulties after the
passing away of Khadija and Abu Talib. The Meccans would chase him,
yelling and ridiculing all the time. But it only strengthened the
belief and conviction of the Prophet even more and he continued his
efforts unabated to help reform the immoral, corrupt and iniquitous
society around him. His anguished and sorrowful soul turned to
another place, Taif hoping people there would listen to him. But the
Taifians pelted stones at him and forced him, while injured and
bleeding, to
leave the town.
In a state of utter helplessness, the Prophet turned to His Creator.
As if to comfort His messenger in this moment of deep sorrow, an
amazing thing happened. God called him as His own guest in the
Celestial regions of the Heavens. This event is called Mera'j
Mera'j, the ascention of the Prophet Muhammad to the Celestial
regions, the union of the Lover with the Beloved, is one of the most
significant events of the last prophet's life. It has fascinated the
minds and hearts of the believers, including mystics and poets ,
over the last fourteen hundred years.
Notwithstanding a small minority of believers who look at the Meraj
of the Prophet as a spiritual, not physical experience, most
Muslims--all Shias and majority of Sunnis--believe it was
Prophet's actual and physical experience. Mera' j also has a special
meaning and significance in the life of a Sufi. To him it is a real
experience, the highest ' maqam ' a person could achieve in ' Salook
', a final meeting with the ' Mahbub ' , the Beloved; a
Lover-Beloved union indeed ! Rumi, like other contemporary scholars
believed in the actual physical transportation of the Prophet to the
' Sidratul Munta'h'aa ', the Highest Point.
" Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night from the
sacred mosque (of Mecca) to the Distant Mosque, whose surroundings
We have blessed, so that We show him some of our Signs. He alone
hears all and observes all." ( Quran
17:1 )
The venerable poet-philosopher Iqbal , also a true ' Arif ' of
Quran and a great admorer of Rumi , further confirms the
generally held belief of most Muslims as well as Rumi, in this
verse:
Mila hey nukta yehy Meraj-e Mustafa se mujhey
Keh alam-e bashriyat ki zad mein hai gardo'n
( The ascention of Mustafa has revealed to me that the heavens
are within man's reach )
In another of his poems, Iqbal says,
sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi nein
abhi ishq ke imtehan aur bhi hain
( there are other universes beyond the Stars there are other
trials of ishq (Love) ahead ! )
The traditions reveal that the Prophet narrated the accounts of his
supernatural travel through the space onto the celestial regions
unknown to man, as his personal experience, not as a vision or
dream. This is quite evident from the shocking reaction of the
Meccans, including some of his companions who, according to the
Egyptian biographer of the Prophet, Mohammad Husain Haykal, turned
apostate on hearing accounts of the Prophet's Celestial travel.
Accustomed to the routine and the ordinary, they were unable to
fathom the esoteric nature
of the Divine grace. For a Sufi, it is not difficult to comprehend
the mira' j because he knows that the norms are for the ordinary
man. The love-journey is the journey to the extra-ordinary. Prophets
are no ordinary men. They are breakers of norm-- the norm of the
ordinary. Prophet Muhammad was no ordinary person. According to
Quran , .he was the Seal of the Prophethood. Being the Last Prophet,
his prophet-hood was not confined to a certain people, certain place
or certain time. God called him the ' Rahmatul lil A'alimeen ' ----
the
Blessing for the Universes; the jurisdiction of this
' Rehma ' extends to the galaxies, the farthest parts of the
universe. That explains Iqbal's almost proverbial verse, "
Sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi hein ".
So no wonder, Muhammad was made to ascend into the space with a
lightning speed unknown to his contemporaries and a continuing
challenge for the future man. Indeed an eternal Miracle of the
Prophet of the Universe ( Rasulal Thaqlain) ! A miracle that will
never be equalled or humbled. The Almighty made his
servant (abd) ascend into the Space, beyond the earthly hemisphere,
farther than the galactic clusters of the yet unknown stars, deep
into the Seventh Heaven, closest to the Ultimate Love (ishq-e haqiqi),
' at a distance of two bows length or yet nearer still '.
" Hence he (Muhammad) took an over viewing
position while he was in the highest horizon. Then he drew nearer,
and became pending. Thus was he at a distance of two bows-length or
yet nearer still. Then He revealed onto His servant......"
The cosmic transcendency of the Prophet in timelessness puts him in
a unique position in the universe; it also also points to the
widening horizon of human knowledge of the universe. His bodily
ascention to an infinitismally distant destination (maqam) where
" he was in the uppermost horizon (ufqul a'ala 53:7).,
yet his return to his earthly home , all within a night , perhaps
without any loss of time , points to possibilities, so far
unfulfilled, of
transcending time.
" For you (God) subjeted all that is in the heavens and on the
earth,
all from Him. Behold ! in that are are the Signs for people who
reflect. " ( Quran 45:13 )
This humble tribute to my Prophet (s) is concluded
with the opening lines of Syed Ameer Ali's , "The Spirit of
Islam ", a book I deeply cherish and is highly recommended to
all readers, especially the Muslim Youth growing up in the West:
" At the dawn of the seventh century of the Christian era, in
the streets of Mecca, might often be seen a quiet thoughtful man ,
past the meridian of life, his Arab mantle thrown across his
shoulders, his tailasan (scarf) drawn low over his face; sometimes
gently sauntering, sometimes hurrying along, heedless of the
passer-by, heedless of the gay scenes around him, deeply absorbed in
his own thoughts--yet withal never forgetful to return the
salutation of the lowliest, or to speak kindly word to the children
who loved to throng around him.
This is al-Ameen, the Trustee. " He has so honorably and
industriously walked through life, that he has won for himself from
his compatriots the noble designation of the true and trustee. But
now, owing to his strange preaching, his fellow-townsmen are
beginning to look suspiciously upon him as wild visionary; a crazed
revolutionist, desirous of leveling the old hallmarks of society, of
doing away with their ancient privileges, of making them abandon
their old creeds and customs. "
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