Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
To you O my Lord
During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were invented against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). But with the birth of the modern age, marked with religious tolerance and freedom of thought,there has been a great change in the approach of Western authors in
their delineation of his life and character. The views of some non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), 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 true and 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.
This is my first time writting something here in his village,i hope these few glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) will be a guideline for the nassebiates to understand more of him.I have tried to furnish, to facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision regarding his Prophethood.
Up to the age of forty, Muhammad was not known as a statesman, 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 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 will 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 be upon them), a basic
requirement of faith without which no one could be a Muslim?
Is it 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 calibre 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 possible have
developed at that time?
Last but not 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, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but
millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than
that, he moved the altars, 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 human 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. 276-277.
"It is not the 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 by 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 an 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 honours 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
pretensions, 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 Watt,
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 rumours of God's personal
condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,
'An 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 forever." --James A. Michener, "Islam: The
Misunderstood Religion," in READER'S DIGEST (American edition), 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
religious and 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.
their delineation of his life and character. The views of some non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), 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 true and 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.
This is my first time writting something here in his village,i hope these few glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) will be a guideline for the nassebiates to understand more of him.I have tried to furnish, to facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision regarding his Prophethood.
Up to the age of forty, Muhammad was not known as a statesman, 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 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 will 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 be upon them), a basic
requirement of faith without which no one could be a Muslim?
Is it 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 calibre 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 possible have
developed at that time?
Last but not 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, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but
millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than
that, he moved the altars, 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 human 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. 276-277.
"It is not the 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 by 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 an 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 honours 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
pretensions, 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 Watt,
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 rumours of God's personal
condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,
'An 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 forever." --James A. Michener, "Islam: The
Misunderstood Religion," in READER'S DIGEST (American edition), 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
religious and 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.
Comments on this journal