MUHAMMAD ﷺ- THE UNIVERSAL MESSENGER, LETS KNOW HIM
The best solution to unawareness and misunderstanding is education. Now, more than ever, Muslims need to answer to such questions as: "Who was Muhammad?" "Why is he loved so much by some and hated so much by others?" "Was he really a prophet of God?" "What did he teach?" "Did he live up to his claims?" "Did he encourage war and terrorism?" "What is the truth about this man?
An introduction to the Messenger of Allah i.e., Muhammad Bin Abdullah (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace), who was sent 1400 years ago to call all mankind to follow the true path, no matter where or when; no matter if white or black, his message is for all whether Muslim or Non-Muslim, Male or Female.His message is the last and the lasting one, no messenger will come after him, he is the last Messenger. Success in the hereafter is only possible through the way which He has shown.And seek knowledge about Him with an open mind rather than biased western sources. Before going in detail about Him let’s know about the religion Islam first.
The religion Islam is based on the teachings of Qur’an and Sunnah. Qur’an is the verbatim words of Allah (Glory be to Him) and Sunnah is the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace). The word "Islam" is an Arabic word which is derived from two root words i.e., Salaam and Silmun, Salaam means Peace and Silmun means Submission. In the Islamic context, Islam means peace acquired by submitting one’s will to the will of Allah (Glory be to Him). This means to act on what Allah (Glory be to Him) commands all of us to do (In the Quran) and what His beloved Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace) demonstrated through his Sunnah (His Lifestyle and His Sayings) as per the understanding and practice of His Sahaba (Companions of Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace)).
Islam is based on five Pillars i.e.,
(1) To give witness about Allah and His Messenger Muhammad (Shahadah),
(2) Compulsory prayers (Salah),
(3) Almsgiving (zakat),
(4) The pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj) at least once in a lifetime if one has ability to do so and
(5) Fasting during Ramadan (Sawm). (Sahih Al Bukhari Vol 1:7)
The first pillar of Islam is ‘to give witness’ or ‘to testify’ in the oneness of Allah (Glory be to Him) and His last Messenger Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace) who was sent for the entire mankind. Therefore practicing Islam by Muhammad’s (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace) way is the basic and the utmost requirement in all departments of life. [1]
Criteria for acceptance of any form of worship in Islam are when the following is true
A form of worship is only acceptable when the following is true:
- One dedicates it to Allah alone, with a desire for the Hereafter. It cannot be done with the intention of being seen among men or for worldly gain.
- One follows the Prophet's example, in words and deeds. This cannot accomplished except knowledge of the Sunnah. [2]
Qur’an
Criteria for paradise
All of mankind must believe in him and follow his sharee’ah in order to enter the Paradise of their Lord: “and whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace)) will be admitted to Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise), to abide therein, and that will be the great success”[Qur’an.Surah Nisa 4:13]
Allah (Glory be to Him) praises those among the People of the Book who believe in the Messenger, and He gives them the glad tidings of a two-fold reward, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “Those to whom We gave the Scripture [i.e. the Tawraat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] before it, they believe in it (the Qur’an).
Sunnah
The Prophet (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace) said: "Whoever obeys me, he obeys Allah, and whoever disobeys me, he disobeys Allah, and whoever obeys the ruler I appoint, he obeys me, and whoever disobeys him, he disobeys me." Sahih Al Bukhari Vol 9: 251, Sunan Nasai Vol 5: 4198
He (May Allah honour Him and grant Him Peace) also said:"All of my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse." They said: 'O Allah's Messenger! Who will refuse?' He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)."Sahih Al Bukhari Vol 9: 384 [4]
History of Mankind
Allah (Glory be to Him) Almighty repeatedly commands the Muslims in the Quran to observe, consider, and reflect upon the lessons from the history of bygone nations. The fact that majority of Allah's Final Message consists of stories of moral struggle of earlier peoples is an indication of the significance of learning history, and learning it with the right perspective of seeking lessons. Successful teachers and preachers of Islam always have a good grasp of history.
According to the Quran, Allah (The God) (Glory be to Him) has created the universe with a certain purpose, and all its parts are strictly under His control, carrying out His divine scheme without the slightest deviation. Similarly, man too has been created with a certain purpose. Yet man, is completely free to do what he wants, and act upon his own decisions. However, in spite of this freedom, he is watched constantly by Allah (Glory be to Him), for He does not allow any such deviation over a long period that would nullify the plan of His creation.
After creating a favorable world in the form of the Earth, Allah (Glory be to Him) created the first man Prophet Adam (Peace be upon Him) and his feminine counterpart, Hawwa (Peace be upon Her). Adam (Peace be upon Him) was the first man as well as the first Prophet. The way of Allah (Glory be to Him) is to select a man as His Messenger from amongst human beings themselves, in order to send His revelations to humankind. Therefore, Allah (Glory be to Him) revealed to Prophet Adam (Peace be upon Him) through an angel the purpose of man's inhabiting the earth.
Muslims believe in all the prophets and messengers sent by Allah (Glory be to Him). The Qur'an states that prior to its revelation, at least one prophet or messenger had been sent at some time to every nation. Every prophet was an outstanding man in his community, both morally and intellectually. Each one stated clearly that what he conveyed was not from himself, but an inspiration from Allah (Glory be to Him) for the benefit of mankind.
Each was supported by miracles granted by Allah (Glory be to Him) as proof of his prophethood. Prophets were human beings who, during particular periods of world development, conveyed a divine message to their peoples, supported by signs and miracles. All prophets were inspired with guidance which they taught exactly as they were commanded.
Finally the last Prophet and Messenger sent to the world was named Muhammad bin Abdullah (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace). He was a descendant of Prophet Ishmael, the son of Ibrahim (Peace be upon them). And was from the Arab tribe of Quraysh. All good qualities and virtues were perfected in him even though he had not received any formal education or training.
The Messenger of Allah (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace), as he was called, was appointed to instruct all of mankindandinvite humanity to the same objective as did by the prophets before him i.e., to worship Allah alone without associates or intermediaries. And the Qur'an confirms the finality of his prophethood, stating that he is the "seal of the prophets", Qur’an.Surah Ahzab 33:40.
Allah's message of Tawheed, monotheism, in history and the various human responses to it. After about 1000 years, the perversion became so all pervading that they were completely distanced from the path of the Sharee'ah (Divine Law) as shown by Prophet Adam (Peace be upon Him). Allah (Glory be to Him) subsequently sent Nuh (Noah) as His Messenger. He was granted an exceptionally long life of 950 years, during which he continued to show people the right path, generation after generation. In this way a long period elapsed between Adam and ‘Eesaa (Jesus); whereas earlier Allah's Messengers continued to come to the world in almost every generation. However, only a few people believed in them while the majority rejected these prophets in every age.
The Reasons for Perversion
What were the reasons for this continued transgression? There were two main reasons: political absolutism and ignorance about the world of nature. The other factor was ignorance. In ancient times, man knew too little about the world and its phenomena. Political absolutism had placed an almost total ban on scientific research. Therefore, all kinds of superstitions prevailed regarding natural phenomena. It was generally held that the Sun, Moon and the stars possessed supernatural powers.
Summary of Events
World Before Prophethood
Before the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), humanity was going through one of the worst periods in its history, a truly “dark age” and humankind was immersed in a state of degeneration. Nothing was untouched by this darkness. It pervaded the lives of the people in every way: religiously, morally, socially, politically, and economically. Humanity was going through endless turmoil. Ignorance pervaded all aspects of a life typified by vain desires, deficiency, bigotry, and deviance.
The effects of the divinely revealed teachings of before had all but disappeared. They had become corrupted with alterations and substitutions to such an extent that they lost their relevance as Allah’s Message to humanity. The adherents of these faiths engaged in ideological conflicts with each other caused by the effects of human interference with the original religious teachings. This often led to violent wars between them. Those who remained on the uncorrupted faith were extremely few. They found no place for themselves in the societal framework in which they lived. Therefore, they preferred to be reclusive and live a life of seclusion.
The people who possessed the scripture had thrown the true teachings of their religion behind their backs, inventing religious laws for themselves in which Allah (Glory be to Him) had vested no authority. They the East and another in the West. In the East there was the Persian Empire, and in the West, the Roman were barely a footnote in the history of world events. There existed two great powers on earth: one in Empire.
Arabs during this Time
The Arabs were living under no better conditions. They were families and tribes comprising different attitudes and feelings; but they were all similar in one respect: they were slaves of habits and impulses. They used to take pride in invasion and plunder. Moreover, they were so low in their moral affairs that a number of them used to bury their daughters alive.
Their hearts were enamored with the legacy of their forefathers. They would slavishly follow in their ways and traditions of their forefathers, no matter how misguided, twisted, or corrupt some of those traditions might have been. This is why they worshipped idols. Each tribe had its own patron idol. They had replaced the monotheism of Ibraheem with the worship of idols, stars and demons, turning the Ka'bah, which was built for the One and Only Creator, into a pantheon of idols. In addition, tribal rivalries and blood feuds ran among them like the burning desert sands of Arabia.
Along with these major idols, there were countless minor ones, some of them seasonal. Abu Raja’ al-`Utaridi recalled: “We used to worship stones. When we saw a stone that was choicer than the one we had, we would discard our stone and substitute it with that one. When we could not find a stone, we would pile together a mound of dirt. Then we would bring a sheep and milk it over the mound. Then, we would circumambulate the mound.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Though they claimed that their idols merely acted as intermediaries between them and Allah, these false gods had taken complete possession of their hearts, their deeds, their behavior, and every aspect of their lives. Their consciousness of Allah was very weak.
Allah says: “And they assign to Allah a share of the tilth and cattle that He created. They say, according to their whims: ‘This is for Allah and this is for Allah’s partners.’ But the share of their “partners” does not reach Allah, while the share of Allah reaches their ‘partners’! Evil is the way they judge!” [Qur’an.Surah An’am 6:136]
Even what remained of the religion of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was not free from corruption and substitution. The pilgrimage had become a season for boasting, fostering enmity, and competing with one another. What remained of the pure beliefs of that religion had become weak and obscure, having been distorted by superstitions and fables that cut them off from their noble origins.
Nevertheless, no matter how corrupt people become and no matter how far they stray from guidance, as long as there remains a group of people on Earth who forbid corruption and proclaim the truth openly, clearly, and without hesitation, neither faltering nor fearing anyone, then success will be theirs, one way or another. Success will continue to alternate between truth and falsehood in the ongoing conflict between truth and unbelief. Allah (Glory be to Him) says: “Such days we give to people in turns.” [Qur’an.Surah Imran 3:140]
The people of Makkah used to practice usury on a large scale with very high interest rates -- sometimes a hundred percent. When the debtors were not able to repay -- and that was most often the case -- they were enslaved or obliged to force their wives and daughters to commit certain sins, in order to be able to collect enough money to repay the debt.
World during this time
Ignorance was not confined to the Arabs alone. On the fringes of Arabia where the desert gives way to hospitable lands, met the ever-changing borders of 'world arrogance', the two super powers of the age: the Persian and the Roman Empires.
The fire-worshipping Persians, with their strange concept of dualism were further plagued by the still weirder Mazdakite doctrine (i.e. a socio-religious movement that flared up in the Sasanian Kavad (488-531 CE) founded by Mazdak son of Bamdad), that advocated communal ownership and even ruled that women were the common property of all men. Like Mani a few centuries earlier, who had claimed a new religion by combining the teachings of Jesus and Zoroaster, Mazdakite's movement was also a reaction to the corruption of the traditional priestly class. Both creeds died away after the execution of their proponents, who more or less depended on royal patronage. On the other hand, the Sasanian aristocracy aligned with the Zoroastrian clergy was steeped in pleasures, burdening the oppressed masses with heavy taxes and oppression.
At the other end was the Byzantine world, which though claiming to profess a divinely revealed religion, had in fact polluted the monotheist message of Prophet Eesa (Jesus) (Peace be upon Him) with the sediments of ancient Greek and Roman pagan thoughts, resulting in the birth of Christianity. In 381 CE, the Greco-Roman Church council rejected the doctrine of Arius of Alexandria, to which most of the eastern provinces of the empire adhered, and in its place the council had coined the belief that God and Jesus are of one substance and therefore co-existent. Arius and his followers had held the belief in the uniqueness and majesty of God, Who Alone, they said has existed since eternity, while Jesus was created in time.
There were colonies of Jews scattered across West Asia and North Africa, to whom several Messengers had been sent by Almighty Allah (Glory be to Him). However, even these divine favors had failed to reform them. The laws sent to Prophet Moses had been distorted and tampered with.
Further to the east lay the once flourishing cultures of China and India, which were groping in darkness. Confucianism was spread the Chinese, robbing their minds of any positive thinking. On the other hand, Hinduism had no universal pretensions whatsoever, and was peculiar to the geographical confines of India, or more properly Northern India and its Aryan invaders. Conversion of foreigners was difficult because one had to be born in a particular caste and it was the mystery of ‘Karma’that determined one's fate.
In short, wars, bloodshed, slavery, oppression of women and the deprived held sway everywhere, might ruled over right. The world was in dire distress but no one seemed capable of delivering it from darkness. No religion, ideology, creed or cult during those times, could offer any hope to the agonies and frustrations of humankind.
None of the religions in currency had any universal outlook or even pretensions and were limited to insurmountable geographical and psychological barriers, preaching discrimination and the narrow-minded superiority of a particular race.
Need for Prophet
In short, wars, bloodshed, slavery, oppression of women and the deprived held sway everywhere, might ruled over right. The world was in dire distress but no one seemed capable of delivering it from darkness. No religion, ideology, creed or cult during those times, could offer any hope to the agonies and frustrations of humankind.
None of the religions in currency had any universal outlook or even pretensions and were limited to insurmountable geographical and psychological barriers, preaching discrimination and the narrow-minded superiority of a particular race.
Thus, it was in such a chaotic state of depression that Almighty Allah (Glory be to Him) sent His last great Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace), with the universal Message of Islam to save humankind from disbelief, oppression, corruption, ignorance and moral decadence that was dragging humanity towards self-annihilation.
Differences and disputes arose among the Children of Israel. They introduced alterations and changes in their beliefs and laws. Thus truth was extinguished and falsehood prevailed, oppression and evil became widespread, and people needed a religion that would establish truth, destroy evil and guide people to the straight path, therefore Allah (Glory be to Him) sent Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as Allah said (interpretation of the meaning):
“And We have not sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to you (O Muhammad, except that you may explain clearly unto them those things in which they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe” [Qur’an.Surah Nahl 16:64]
Lineage of Prophet Muhammad to Ibrahim (Peace be upon them)
With respect to the lineage of Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace), there are three versions: The first was authenticated by biographers and genealogists and states that Muhammad’s genealogy has been traced to ‘Adnan. The second is subject to controversies and doubt, and traces his lineage beyond ‘Adnan back to Prophet Ibrahim. The third version, with some parts definitely incorrect, traces his lineage beyond Prophet Ibrahim back to Prophet Adam (peace be upon them).
The first part: Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abdul-Muttalib (who was called Shaiba) bin Hashim, (named ‘Amr) bin ‘Abd Munaf (called Al-Mugheera) bin Qusai (also called Zaid) bin Kilab bin Murra bin Ka‘b bin Lo’i bin Ghalib bin Fahr (who was called Quraish and whose tribe was called after him) bin Malik bin An-Nadr (so called Qais) bin Kinana bin Khuzaiman bin Mudrikah (who was called ‘Amir) bin Elias bin Mudar bin Nizar bin Ma‘ad bin ‘Adnan. [Ibn Hisham 1/1,2; Talqeeh Fuhoom Ahl Al-Athar, Rahmat-ul-lil'alameen 2/11-14,52]
Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon Him) is widely regarded as the Patriarch of monotheism and the common father of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Through his second son, Isaac, came all Israelite prophets including such towering figures as Yakub(Jacob), Yousuf(Joseph), Musa(Moses), Dawud(David), Suleman(Solomon) and Eesa(Jesus), (May peace and blessing be upon them all). The advent of these great prophets was in partial fulfillment of Allah’s promises to bless the nations of earth through the descendents of Prophet Ibrahim(Peace be upon Him), Qur’an.Surah Jumu’ah 62:2. Such fulfillment is wholeheartedly accepted by Muslims whose faith considers the belief in and respect of all prophets an article of faith.
After Jesus, the last Israelite messenger and prophet, it was time that Allah’s promise to bless Prophet Ismael (Peace be upon Him) and his descendants be fulfilled, Qur’an.Surah Baqrah 2:129. Less than 600 years after Jesus, came the last messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace), from the progeny of Prophet Ibrahim (Peace be upon Him) through Prophet Ishmael (Peace be upon Him). Prophet Muhammad (May Allah honour Him and grant Him peace) was a descendant of Prophet Ismail (Peace be upon Him) through the lineage of his second son Kedar. Allah’s blessing of both of the main branches of Ibrahim’s family tree was now fulfilled.
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