COUP D’OEIL
Introduction:
God has created the mankind, to live in
this world for a trial, which people undergo by either attaining ethical and
spiritual peace through leading their lives in accordance with the commands of
God hence becoming His obedient servant by totally surrendering to the will of
God (in Arabic known as Muslim) or follow the footsteps of Satan by disobeying
his Creator. Qur’an says: “God has created the heavens and the earth
to manifest the truth, and to reward each human being according to its deeds,
and none of them shall be wronged.”(Qur’an;45:22); “He who created
death and life, that He may try which of you is best In deed: and He is the
Exalted In Might, Oft-Forgiving;”(Qur’an;67:2). He has
not left the humanity in lurch; He has provided the guidance and freedom of
choice resulting in individual responsibility and accountability. God has provided the guidance essentially through
three ways: Firstly; the natural Guidance (instinctive cognition).
Secondly; through grant of intellect and providing Signs (ayah). Man is endowed with forms and faculties
exactly suited to what is expected of him, and to the environment in which his
life will be cast, giving due order and proportion to everything. He has
ordained laws and decrees, by which human can develop themselves and fit into His
whole scheme of progression for all His Creation. Thirdly; direct guidance through His Messengers and scriptures: “It is not the way of Allah to confound
people after He has guided them, until He makes clear to them what they should
guard against; surely Allah has the knowledge of everything.” (Qur’an;9:115); “..God draws unto Himself every one who is
willing, and guides unto Himself everyone who turns unto Him”(Qur’an;42:13).
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The Messengers:
The guidance has been provided in the
form of Revelations through especially chosen men, the Messengers (Rasool or Nabi). The Hebrew word for prophet is navi`, usually considered to be a loan word from
Akkadian nabu, naba`um, means;
"to proclaim, mention, call, summon": The title has a
general application to all selected people who received messages from God to
guide their community. Some scholars describe that, a Rasool (Messenger) is the Nabi
who has delivered the written revelations (scripture). Every Rasool (Messenger) is aslo Nabi, where as every Nabi is not necessarily Rasool. Muhammad (peace be upon him) has
been addressed as Rasool
(Qur’an;3:144) as well as Rasool and Nabi (Qur’an;7:157,33:40). The English
words; ‘Messenger’ and ‘Prophet’ has been used here for both i.e. Rasool and Nabi. The messengers and prophets were sent throughout the history for the guidance of mankind.
Allah says: “For We assuredly sent
amongst every People a Messenger (with the Command) "Serve Allah and
eschew Evil"..”(Qur’an;16:36 );“To
every people (was sent) a Messenger: when their Messenger comes (before them)
the matter will be judged between them with justice and they will not be
wronged.”(Qur’an;10:47 ).
Allah says: “And there never was a
people, without a Warner having lived among them (in the past)”(Qur’an;35:24).
Beginning with the first human and Prophet Adam (peace be upon him), there has
been many messengers and prophets from Noah (peace be upon him) through Abraham
(peace be upon him) for their respective nations. According to Muslim
traditions there has been more than 1,24,000 prophets sent to different nations
at different times, it includes 315 Rasool
(Messenger) granted scriptures (law). Allah says: “We did aforetime send Messengers before thee (O’ Muhammad) : of them
there are some whose story We have related to thee and some whose story We have
not related to thee” (Qur’an;40:78).
Some of the well known Messengers
mentioned in Bible and Qur’an are: Adam, Salih (Methuselah), Noah, Idris
(Enoch), Hud (Heber), Lut, Abraham
(early 2nd Millennium BC), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Ya'qub
(Jacob), Yusuf (Joseph), Musa (Moses, 14-13th Century B.C), Harun
(Aaron), Shu'aib (Jethro), Shammil (Samuel, 11th Century B.C), Dawud
(David, died 962 B.C), Sulaiman (Solomon, 10th Century B.C),
Al-Yas'a (Elisha, 9th Century B.C), (Elijah, 9th Century
B.C), Shia (Isaiah, 8th Century B.C), Yunus (Jonah, flourished
around 785 B.C at Nineveh), Aramaya (Jeremiah, 7-6th Century B.C),
Ayyub (Job, the Book of Job, 6-4th Century B.C), Elias, Dhul Kifl,
Hizqeel (Ezekiel, 6th Century B.C), Daniel (6th Century
B.C), 'Uzair (Ezra, 5th Century B.C, also considered a saint),
Zechariah, Yahya (John the Baptist, 1st Century C.E), 'Isa (Jesus, 4
B.C-28-30 C.E) and Muhammad (571-632 C.E) (peace be upon all of them).
All the Messengers preached monotheism [Tawheed]:
They conveyed good news to
mankind and admonished them so that, after conveying the message through the
Messengers, people should have no excuse to plead against Allah.(Qur’an;4:165).
The Muslims do not discriminate against anyone of His Messengers (Qur’an;2:285)
and follow the eternal guidance provided to all of them being the same. Allah
says: “(O Muhammad) those were the
(prophets) who received Allah's guidance: Follow then their guidance;..” (Qur’an;6:90).
The Revelations were protected from the tempering of Satan in transmission
(Qur’an;22:52 ). The
Revelations were given in different ways: inspiration, from behind a veil or by
the sending of a Messenger (Qur’an;42:51). It is through these forms that God
revealed His scriptures to the messengers and prophets, who remained available
for the guidance even after the messengers, had left this world. Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) after successful trial of his faith, was rewarded
with the honour to be the spiritual leadership of the nations and later his
pious decedents (not the disobedient ones). (Genesis;17:7-10, Qur’an;2:124, 4:54 ). Initially the children of
Isaac through Jacob (Israel 17:19 -22, Deuteronomy;8:19-20,
Leviticus;26:15, Qur’an;21:71-73). Children
of Israel
Bible is the sacred book of Christianity, which includes the Old Testament
[also called Hebrew Bible] and the New Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures is also the sacred book of Judaism
containing remnants of Torah, (Law of Moses). As distinguished in Christianity,
the New Testament forms the record of the new dispensation belonging to the
Church. The gospels are claimed to contain the reveled scripture to Prophet
Jesus (peace be upon him). These books are not in their original revealed form,
even the Biblical traditions accept the doubtful authenticity of these books.
Previously the messengers were sent for
the particular nation or community for particular time. Once a new messenger or
prophet came it was obligatory to follow him, denying one messenger means
denying all the messengers. Once Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) came, he
showed the way to the God, when Jesus (peace be upon him) came, he provided the
way. However this system of messengers came to end with the last Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). Muslims while believing in all the previous
messengers of God and scriptures, adhere to the message preached by the last Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and The Qur’an as the final uncorrupted holy
scripture not restricted to any particular race but for the guidance of whole
humanity, while superseding all the previous scriptures.
Belief in the Messengers of Allah and
His revelations in the form of scriptures is appreciation of Allah's mercy and
care for His people for sending those great messengers to guide them to the
straight path. The prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, are free of all
sins, major and minor, of unbelief, and of all that is repugnant. It may be,
however, that they apparently commit insignificant lapses and errors in secular
matters but not in spiritual matters or faith (din). It is reflection of love and respect of the prophets and
their praise what they deserve, because they are Allah's messengers and His
choice among His people. They worshipped Allah according to the best of their
abilities, conveyed His message to mankind, gave sincere advice to the people,
and bore patiently whatever hurt they received.
The Israelites repeatedly disobeyed the
commandments of God, altered the scriptures and even killed some prophets. They
did not believe in Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) and even tried to
kill him, but Allah raised him to Himself. His followers deviated from the
monotheism of Abraham, Jacob and Moses (peace be upon them all), invented a
different religion known as Christianity based on the concepts of Original sin
and Trinity, disregarding the Law [Shari’a of Moses]. Prophet Abraham (peace be
upon him) had settled his eldest son Ishmael at Makka, a deserted place which
developed as town on the main trade route. Prophet Ishmael (peace be upon him)
became the ancestor of Arabs, promised to be a great nation in Bible (Genesis:21:18 ). His descendents also corrupted the original teachings of Abraham and
Ishmael (peace be upon them) to become polytheists and Idolaters. For a very
long period no messenger was sent to them (Arabs). Due to the persistent
disobedience and rebelliousness of the Children of Israel, and corruption of
original message of God; the leadership role was taken away by God from the
Children of Israel and granted to the Children of Ishmael (peace be upon them),
by appointing Muhammad, peace be upon him (an Arab, from the progeny of
Ishmael) as His last messenger in 610 C.E. This was continuation of initial
covenant of God with Prophet Abraham (peace be upon them), mentioned at Genesis;17:7-10,
21:18 and Qur’an;2:124, 4:54 . Many volumes may not suffice to touch upon
the life and achievements of the greatest human being and last Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him), here efforts have been made to present just coup d'oeil [glimpse] of his life.
A GLIMPSE AT THE LIFE OF THE LAST PROPHET
[pbuh]:
Prevalent Environments:
During end of 6th century after Prophet Jesus Christ (peace
be upon him), Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), was born at Makka in 571 C.E (according to a research
by Dr.Hamidullah, the corresponding date according to Gregorian calendar was 17 June 569 C.E). He was
chosen to be the last messenger of God for the guidance of humanity till
eternity. He was not from the progeny of Israel 13:18 , 16:12 , 17:20 ). Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him), was chosen by God to revive the
original faith of Abraham(peace be upon him) in its true form, for the
humanity, which over the time had been distorted and corrupted by the decedents
of Prophet Israel (Jacob) and followers of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon them). Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as the
fulfillment of prayer, of Prophet Abraham and Ishmael, who while raising the foundations
of House of Lord (Kabah) around 1800 B.C, had prayed: "Our Lord! send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall
rehearse Thy Signs to them and instruct them In Scripture and Wisdom, and
sanctify them: for Thou art the Exalted In Might, the Wise."
(Qur’an;2:129).
The Birth, Early Life and Prophethood:
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him (571-632 C.E) was born as orphan in
the ruling tribe (Quraish), descendent of Prophet Ishmael (peace be upon him)
at Makka Arabia. This tribe was the custodian of Kabah, the house of worship of
Allah, originally rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael but, during 7th
century C.E, it was packed with idols. He was initially brought up by his
grandfather and later by his uncle Abu Talib. He was illiterate but extremely
honest and trustworthy. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was one of
few among pagan Arabs known as hanafi
who, did not worship idols and believed in only one God. At the age of forty he
started meditation in cave Hira where in 610 C.E he was visited by the angel
Gabriel, to deliver the first revelation from God. He continued to receive the
Revelations during next 23 yeas (till his death) which were promptly and
accurately recorded by scribes, which is known as Qur’an, the basis of Islam.
The mission of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was remarkable, Allah says: “It
is He who hath sent His Messenger with guidance and the way of life (Din) of
truth, to proclaim it over all (false) way of life (Din), however much the
idolaters may be averse. They desire to extinguish the light of God with their
mouths but God will not allow it to happen, for He seeks to perfect His light
even though the disbelievers may dislike it. (Qur’an;9:32 -33, similarly at 61:8-9 & 48:28).
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) began to preach publicly in 613 C.E,
urging the rich to give to the poor and calling to worship and obey Allah (one God, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Ishmael,
Isaac, Jacob and all) instead of idols. Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not introduce a new religion but was sent
to revive Islam (surrender to the will of One God) the original faith of Adam,
Noah, Abraham (the common ancestor of Israelites, Christians and Arabs) Moses
and all other messengers up to Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon them all).
The restrictions imposed upon Children of Israel due to their hardness of heart
and rebelliousness were to be relaxed, as
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last messenger of God
for all the humanity till eternity. Allah says: “We have not sent you
(O’ Muhammad) but as a universal (Messenger) to the entire mankind giving them
glad tidings and warning them (against sin) but most men understand not.”
(Qur’an;37:28). “O mankind! There hath come to you a direction from your Lord
and a healing for the (diseases) in your hearts and for those who believe
Guidance and a Mercy.”(Qur’an;10:57 ). Hence being a messenger of God for the
mankind, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) preached to all without
discriminating to any race, group or clan. Among his first ‘companions’ and
converts, beside the Arabs can be counted Bilal the Abyssinian, Salman the
Persian and Abdullah Bin-Salaam the Jew.
The new Muslim converts and the Prophet
had to suffer worst oppression, from Quraish, his kinsmen for initial 13 years
at Makkah, but they bore the torture and humiliation with patience. The Prophet
(peace be upon him) along with his family and guardian uncle Abu Talib were
isolated and confined in a valley for two years. The social and economic boycott
failed to dent their resolve and faith. They were not permitted to fight even
in self defence, patience and peaceful preaching was the only way. They were
commanded to make Mighty Jihad (Jihad
Kabira) against unbelief with the Qur'an (Al-Furqan-25:52). Hence scholars
opine that warfare (Jihad with sword) by stateless elements is not permissible.
Having filed to confront the message of
Islam through wisdom, logic or argument, unbelievers planed to kill him. By
this time many people at Median had accepted Islam, consequently he had to
migrate from Mecca Yathrab Medina Medina Medina 22:39 -40).”
The offensive by army of polytheists and idolaters of Mecca Medina
Conquest of Mecca
Ultimately Mecca Arabia
(estimated total area of about three million square kilometers) at the total
loss of 240 enemies, the Muslim losses were even lesser. People started
embracing Islam in large numbers. Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) continued to stay at Yathrab [now called Medina-tu-nabi, The city of Prophet Mecca Mecca AL- Medina Temple Jerusalem
The Achievements and Legacy:
Within few years after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his devout
followers brought major parts of neighboring empires under their influence as
far as up to southern France, through Spain, central Asia, India to the
Atlantic Ocean. Islamic rule and political influence continued to expand, in
the intervening centuries, far beyond the borders of the original Muslim
conquests. Renowned scholar Michael Hart, in his famous book, placed Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the top of the list of 100 most influential men
in history of mankind. According to him, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the
only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and
secular levels. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) preached and promulgated
one of the world’s great religion, and became an immensely effective political
leader. Even fourteen centuries after his death, his influence is still
powerful and pervasive; there are around 1.5 Billion Muslims in the world. The
majority of influential men of history had the advantage of getting born and
raised in centers of civilization, highly cultured or politically pivotal
nations, while Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born and raised at
Mecca, the most remote and isolated corner of the world. He single-handedly
accomplished the great mission with almost no means and resources. Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was also an ideal leader who lead from front and left
the land marks for the Muslims in all secular and spiritual spheres. He is the
legislator-jurist who defined ritual observance and Islamic law in the light of
Qur’an i.e. Allah repeatedly ask the believers to offer prayers (salah),
but how to offer the prayers? The jurists find in the traditions (Sunnah)
of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He is the ideal seeker of spiritual
perfection for the mystics. Philosophers and statesman find a role model of
both as conqueror of hearts and just ruler in him. The ordinary Muslims can
find a model of reflection of God’s grace and salvation in him. He was an
effective administrator, legislator, judge and military commander as well as
teacher, preacher and prayer leader of the Muslim community.
At the end of his last sermon during last Hajj (632 C.E) the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said: “Remember, one
day you will appear before Allah and answer for your deeds. So beware, do not
astray from the path of righteousness after I am gone. O’ People, no messengers
or prophet will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well,
therefore, O’ People, and understand my words which I convey to you. I leave
behind me two things, the Qur’an and my example, the Sunnah and if you follow
these you will never go astray. All those who listen to me shall pass on my
words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my
words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness oh Allah that
I have conveyed your message to your people.” History is witness to the
fact that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did convey the Message very
effectively and successfully. Before his demise Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) being universal messenger of God for the humanity, extended the invitation
of Islam to the neighboring Kings and rulers through epistles and emissaries.
The most prominent are, Hercules the Eastern Roman Emperor (610-641 C.E),
Khusro Parvaiz of Perisa, Najashi, the
King of Habsha (Abyssinia ),
rulers of Bahrain Oman Medina
All previous messengers and scriptures were meant for the guidance of
specific nations and that period, where as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
and Qur’an is the guide for the humanity for ever. Hence it is now mandatory
for all the humanity, including the Jews and Christians to believe and follow
the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Qur’an, to attain
salvation. Allah says: “As for those who
are bent on denying the truth and on barring (others) from the path of God -
all their (good) deeds will He let go to waste; whereas those who have attained
to faith and do righteous deeds, and have come to believe in what has been
bestowed from on high on Muhammad - for
it is the truth from their Sustainer – (shall attain to God’s grace) He will
efface their (past) bad deeds, and will set their hearts at
rest”.(Qur’an;47;2-3); “If instead of this rebellious attitude the People of
the Book (Jews and Christians) had believed and become God fearing, We would
certainly have removed their iniquities and admitted them to the gardens of
Bliss”(Qur’an;5:65). The custodians of the Qur’an after the holy Prophet
are the People of Islam. They are chosen for the Book, not in any narrow sense,
but in the sense that the Book is given for their age and they are charged to
believe, read, understand, obey, preserve and propagate it, so that all mankind
should receive the Message. In this present era of high-tech communications and
media, with the efforts of believers this guidance is available to the ever
increasing numbers of people, who are embracing Islam in great numbers. There
is no doubt that this Message will remain available to the humanity till the
Day of Judgment. The legacy of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon them) continues
at universal level through the legacy of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them).