MUHAMMAD (ﷺ) - THE IDEAL PROPHET

MUHAMMAD (ﷺ) - THE IDEAL PROPHET

Col (Retd) Ghulam Sarwar

(Courtesy: Da’vwah)

Over the ages, history has preserved the works and deeds of great men, who achieved eminence in one field or the other. All these have left their footprints on the sands of time. Prominent among these are the kings and emperors who were surrounded by the splendour of royal courts. Also, we come across mighty military commanders and generals. Philosophers, lost in their own thoughts, and poets singing encomiums of their sweethearts, are also seen strutting about on the stage of life. All luminaries fascinate their fellow humans. Yet we have to see who is the most befitting and worth-emulating model, under the sun.

 

A dispassionate study of history reveals that whatever light of goodness and virtue we find in the world today owes its existence to the noble souls known as Prophets and Messengers of Allah. The perennial message of their teachings is a source of constant inspira­tion for humanity. No other class of people except the Prophets has worked for the welfare and happiness of man­kind. They exerted very hard to see the force of virtue and goodness prosper. They stressed the modesty of heart and conduct. They were all commissioned by the Almighty to hold aloft the banner of Truth and Faith. It is mainly due to their teachings that the ruler and the ruled the rich and the poor and the learned and the illiterate have equally benefited.

 

Syed Suleman Nadvi is of the view that every Prophet came to this world either as a witness, or as a harbinger of good tidings, or as a warner, or as a summoner. However, history tells us that no other Prophet than Muhammad (ﷺ) combined all these qualities. He was sent to the world as the last Prophet, the final one, after whom none was to be commissioned by God as His Messen­ger. Obviously, he was given a Shariah (law) that was perfect and final and which required no alteration or amend­ment in times to come.

 

Syed Suleman Nadvi believes that a character held out as an ideal or model for humanity must fulfil certain condi­tions before such a claim could be uni­versally accepted. The foremost test to which the character of such a guide should be put is "historicity". By this term, he means that the genuineness of the accounts of life and character of any man presented as a perfect example should proceed not from any fable or a legendary tale. Instead, it should be bas­ed on reputed sources and authentic re­cords of what we call as history. Man is reluctant, by his frame of mind, to feel impressed by any event which he knows to be fictitious. For a lasting impression of any character, one needs to be assur­ed that every detail of the life, saying and doing of such a personality is per­fectly genuine and comprehensive. It should be perfectly authoritative in ac­cordance with the standards set for acceptance of any event as historical.

 

In this context, we must bear in mind that it is most essential to have the entire life of the model whom we accept as everlasting guide before us. No inci­dent, no part of the life of such a glow­ing example should remain in the dark. Like an open book, it should be tho­roughly known so that humanity could see for itself how far that life could serve as an ideal guide and teacher.

 

Viewed from this angle, no pre­acher or founder of any religion can stand the test of historicity except the Prophet of Islam. The uniqueness of Muhammad (ﷺ) in this regard provides ample testimony to the fact that he alone was chosen as the Seal of Prophets.

 

Moreover, an ideal biography is supposed to be comprehensive. In other words, whatever light and guidance peo­ple need in different walks of life, should be readily available in the life of the ideal personage. Seen against this backdrop, the life of the Prophet of Islam alone is exemplary. Historicity, comprehensiveness, perfection and prac­ticality are the prerequisites of an ideal character. It appears that the Prophets of yore were sent to their own people for particular periods of time. Their biographies were not preserved because poste­rity did not need them. It was only Muhammad (ﷺ) who was sent by God for the entire humanity till the end of this world.

 

The way history has recorded every detail of the Holy Prophet's life history, one can simply be tempted to believe in the marvel of Islam. The people, who have handed down, collected and codi­fied the sayings and doings and other incidents of his life are known as narrators, traditionists and biographers. Among these, we find the companions (Sahabq) of the Prophet, their wards and scholars belonging to the period up to the fourth century of the Islamic era. Not only this, even the biographical details of the narrators, that is, the antecedents and the character of people in any way connected with the transmission of the "narration" were also reduced to writ­ing. All this encyclopaedic compilation of about a hundred thousand bio­graphical sketches is known as Asma-ur-Rijal.

 

The Prophet (ﷺ) performed his last Hajj, known as the Farewell Pilgrimage, with more than a hundred thousand Companions. History tells us about 11,000 Companions who had transmitt­ed Prophetic sayings or doings to others. Their narration of Traditions has made them a part of recorded history.

 

The era of the Companions' succe­ssors, known as Tabiyin, actually coincides with the Prophet's migration to Madinah. They had happened to con­verse with some of the Companions but not with the Prophet himself. They had devoted themselves to following his modes and manners. The Traditions, narrated by these masters, from the chief source of the Prophet's biography. The years in which they had died point out the fact that they lived long enough after the demise of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) to impart traditions to a large number of The Prophet (ﷺ) had, while insist­ing on the propagation of his words and deeds, also warned them that he who willfully distorted his teachings or spread any false report about him was doomed to perdition. This made even eminent Companions and erudite scholars shudder while narrating any Tradition, lest they should commit a mistake and incur the wrath of Allah.

 

These narrators had developed their reporting faculty to an unbelievable perfection. They would learn by heart every doing or saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) with the same care the Muslims still memorise the Qur'an. Every Traditionist could recite tens of thousands of Tra­ditions and though he often committed them to write, he could not expect to command the respect of others unless he could also reproduce them from his memory. Since consultation of one's writings was taken as evidence of forgetfulness and was a discredit to a scholar, one normally kept such annota­tions for private use only.

 

Why were Hadiths not written? The first reason was that in the initial stages, the Prophet (ﷺ) had forbidden to write anything save the Word of Allah. The Prophet is related to have instructed his Companions: "Do¹ not write anything of me except the Qur'an". This command was meant to guard against the mixing up of the revelation with the Traditions. But when the revelation had fairly been completed and people had learnt to distinguish between the two, the Prophet (ﷺ) permitted the Companions to take down what they heard from him. Yet there were Companions who were too cautions and scrupulous to do that. Another reason was that the Arabs would shun writing anything that could otherwise be memorized. Some of the Companions believed that once the Traditions were put to writing, people would give up the practice of learning them by heart. They dislike to write anything because it reflected short me­mory. And, for that reason, if anybody ever took down something, he tried to hide it from others.

 

Moreover, the earlier scholars were of the opinion that any thing kept in the heart was much safer and more lasting than what was written on paper. A written record was in their view always open to interpolation and destruction while something retained in memory was beyond the reach of any intrusion.

The Muslims have written innumerable biographies of their Prophet (ﷺ), and still, it is a continuing process. Each generation has studied afresh the origin­al sources, Traditions and reports, shed fresh light on the Prophet's life and passed on the fruits of its labour to the succeeding generations. Muwatta, the first compilation of Traditions, was learnt by 400 persons from its author, Malik bin Anas, and his disciples in­cluded rulers as well as scholars and legists.

 

The life of Muhammad (ﷺ), from his birth till death, is a source of inspira­tion for all of us. His Companions knew him quite intimately and they also took care to pass on to posterity whatever they knew about him. Not a single moment of his life was hidden from the gaze of his contemporaries. We know about his birth and childhood, his boy­hood and youth, his trading, his behav­iour with his friends, his domestic life, the battles he fought, his earning the title of "Trustworthy", the fixing of the Black Stone in the Kaaba wall by him, his meditations and prayers in the Him cave, the coming of revelation, his preaching and opposition by the Makkans, his wanderings in Ta'if, his ascension to Heaven and migration to Madinah, the epistles he wrote to the kings and rulers and his Farewell Pil­grimage, the completion of revelation and his death. In short, there is nothing of his life that is not known to the world. All was put to writing. To follow the Prophet (ﷺ) is the test of one's love for God. It is easy to burn oneself in a moment like a moth, but it is extremely difficult to follow in the footsteps of a guide. The Muslims are rightly proud of their beloved Prophet (ﷺ) because he is a universal touch-stone by which all humans can reform and edify their lives. They need nothing more than that for their social, cultural, moral and spiritual uplift. The world has failed to produce another exemplar like the Holy Prophet; he alone is the perfect model for the whole world.

 

A cardinal principle of religion is to love God and make oneself worthy of the love and mercy of God. To achieve this, all religions teach their votaries to follow the way shown by their founders. Islam, however, raises the whole level of religious thought by placing the Book of Allah and its Prophet's Sunnah before the believers for their guidance. The book stands for Devine commandments while the Sunnah is their practical illus­tration. The practice of the Prophet (ﷺ) is contained in the Traditions in order to direct and guide the seeker on to a deep and real spiritual experience.

 

There has never been any dearth of the words of wisdom, couched in elo­quent phraseology, but what is lacking is their practical manifestation. If one goes through the biographies and writ­ings of religious preceptors, one would find interesting doctrines, engaging parables, elegant discourses and grace­ful utterance but one would labour in vain to discover how these great sages had themselves acted upon their precepts.

 

The Qur'an speaks of the concern of Muhammad (ﷺ) for the welfare of humanity. God cautions us in strong terms that the persistence of unbelievers in their ungodly ways is sure to invite Divine wrath, and this is heart-rending to His Apostle. The merciful nature of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his ardent desire to save mankind from the impending catas­trophe impels him to call people to the path of righteousness. The Qur'an testi­fies to the kindliness of Muhammad (ﷺ) for the whole mankind, in general, and to the Muslims, in particular.

 

The precepts of every religion can be divided into two components: one, which fulfils the innermost urges of human heart, and the other, which relates to his terrestrial existence. The first, which satisfies the soul, is known as Iman or faith, and the second, governing the body, is known as "Amal” or action. The latter can further be sub­divided into devotions of God or "Ibadat", dealings between people or "Muamalat'. These comprise the fundamental teachings of every religion, and in presenting a perfect concept of these, Islam excels all religions.

 

Islam is the only religion which is privileged to offer the last, final and universal message of God for the entire humanity. To draw a fascinating analo­gy, the religion preached by the last Prophet (ﷺ) is as perfect and universal as his own life and character to be followed by humanity for all time to come.

 

The first fundamental issue, as held up to the view of humanity by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), was the place occupied by a man in the universe, parti­cularly in comparison with other created beings. This really constitutes the basis of the doctrine of Devine Unity. Before the advent of Islam, man regarded him­self inferior to other phenomena of nature and he bowed his head in reverence before all that. But the Prophet (ﷺ) declared that none of these manifestations was his Master. He explained that man was the paragon of creation. It was the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) who said that man was not created to serve the world but the world was created for his service.

 

This was the message of the Prophet of Islam. He lifted man as the deputy of God and placed the crown of honour on his head and assigned him a central place in God's creation. To bow his head before other creatures became below his dignity, rather it meant tarnishing his image and prestige.

 

Earlier man would prostrate before kings and saints. The Pharaohs and Nimrods pops and pontiffs and monks and friars had always cheated the simple-minded people by laying claims to a superior position - the shadow of God and partakers in His divinity. This was an affront to human dignity which was rooted out by Muhammad (ﷺ). He proclaimed the Divine writ: "Worship none but Allah" and "ascribe no partner unto Him".

 

Muhammad (ﷺ) elevated man so high that now he could not prostrate before anybody save God; nor could he ask anyone, except God, for a favour. He told the man that God alone had the power to give and take away whatever He liked. Furthermore, the message of Muhammad (ﷺ) had another deep effect. Exclusive allegiance to the one and the only God means that man's heart is not involved in the non-God. A man believing in God's sovereignty would never agree to bow his head before that which is other than God. No earthly power could inspire him with owe or strike terror in his heart. To be brief, this spiritual principle lifts man from the lowest ebb and brings him closer to God.

 

The next principle taught by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is that man is born guiltless, free of all stains. He is born with an upright nature it is his actions which make him good or bad. Only bad actions degenerate man's primordial nature and blemish his character. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) gave a message of hope to human beings who had earlier been told to hang their heads in shame. In China, Burma and India, the eastern religions had preached the doctrine that the fate of man is pre­determined by deeds of his previous life. The rebirth concept resulted in a passive life. He was pushed under a heavy stone that could not be removed by any moral rectitude. What was more, man's birth in the world was itself projected as a sign of one's sinfulness. Christianity too marked no improvement. Instead of presenting a saner principle of life, it preached the gospel of Adam's original sin. It disclosed that man was instinct­ively evil because he inherited the sin of his first forefather. And this burden of guilt needed a sinless divine redeemer who could alone for the sin of human beings by sacrificing his own life. Such were the soul-chilling beliefs which prevailed at the advent of Muhammad (ﷺ). He proclaimed that human destiny was not a pre-determined phenomenon, rather man's own actions shaped it.

 

Before the dawn of Islam, humanity was divided into tribes and clans, each being indifferent to the other. To the sages of ancient India, the voice of God could be heard only in their sacred land. Their's was the God whose blessings were limited to a few selected castes and clans of rulers and priests of the Aryaverta. Zoroaster listened to the message from on High, but only for the people of blessed Iran. Israel believed in the voice of prophecy, but the Prophet of peace, whom they await­ed, could not come from any people except the linage of David. No nation was willing to share even God's grace with another nation. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) told the world that divine guidance admitted of no racial, linguistic and territorial distinctions. All peoples and all lands were equal in the estimation of God. The world was told for the first time that God has sent His Apostles to every country and nation for the guidance of man. The Prophet (ﷺ) placed so much emphasis on the universal character of divine guidance that no Muslim could claim to be a believer unless he believed in all previous Prophets and Scriptures.

 

Today mankind is preached on the horns of a moral dilemma and is eagerly looking for a saviour. And who could be a better saviour than Muhammad (ﷺ)?

 

His message denounces the use of force reaping political benefits. Nor does it sanction war for expansionism. It stands for the unity of mankind, and this is what the world needs most today. Because chaos, bloodshed and injustice are reproaches to the civilized world. Human equality, to which Islam is committed, can bring on a single platform.

 

With the advancement of modern science and technology, human fortunes expanded and so did the influence of the haves, machines replaced manual labour, communications advanced and speed increased, trade expended and the gap between poverty and wealth widen­ed. The world favoured landowners, traders and those who controlled the means of transportation. And so the new capitalistic order thrived at the cost of human relations. Consequently, people drifted farther and farther apart in their thinking and their lifestyles and grew quite antagonistic towards one another.

 

No modern "ism", including nationalism and racism, has any place in Islam. Racism, or a fanatic attachment to tribe, nation, colour, language or culture, is rejected by the Message as a product of pre-Islamic idolatry. The Prophet (ﷺ) declares, "He who preaches bigotry is not of us".

 

World disturbances, arising out of materialistic attitudes, would be eliminated if we adopted Muhammad's Message. It declares that human dignity is based on piety and the fear of God, instead of the possession of worldly riches. The Prophet (ﷺ) has expressed it in these moving words: "Truly, I am the brother of every pious man, even if he is a slave from Abyssinia, and opposed to every villain, no matter if he is a Qurayshi noble".

 

The Message of Muhammad (ﷺ) expresses concern for the spirit and its purification and strikes a balance between the demands of this world and those of the hereafter. And, as compared to other religions, this is the unique aspect of Islam. (Courtesy: Da’vwah)