Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 2/114
Newsletter for February 2011
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Muhammad (s), the Prophet of Islam
by Nasir Shamsi
What is Islam, asked a stranger. To obey Allah and to love His
Creation, replied the Prophet. When another person asked him why
he had been sent as Prophet, he answered: To perfect human
conduct. Some orient lists had painted negative image of Islam
in the past. The fear of the expanding Muslim Empire had haunted
the west and it prevented the orient lists from being objective
about the Muslim faith. They did not refrain from discrediting
Islam as a blasphemous faith, and its Prophet as a pretender.
After the tragic incident of 9/11, the western media has found
further excuse to portray Islam as a violent and fanatical
faith.
The information age has turned world into a global village.
Quite naturally, the internet and other technology was expected
to bring the people of the world closer together. However, the
scourge of extremism, the terrorist attacks, rise of the
neo-cons in America and their aggressive and hostile ideology,
aided and abetted by the Rightist Christians and the Evangelist
church and the anti-Islamic media in the west have served only
to polarize the people of faith.
The only way to restore peace in these turbulent times is to
provide just and equitable solution to the political issues of
Palestine, Kashmir and Iraq (which have provided breeding ground
for the extremism phenomenon). Several Muslim and non-Muslim
organizations in the west have launched movements to promote and
encourage inter-faith dialog and understanding, which must be
supported. Caricaturing all Muslims as terrorists must stop and
stereotyping of 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 must first try to understand
the spiritual aspect of the Prophet's life.Who was Muhammad ?
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),
in Makkah, 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-Amin 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, Fatima (a), 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-ah, 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 worshiped ordinary objects
of stone and wood as holy. They would prostrate before 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 Makkans 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 ascension 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 surroundingsWe 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 mujheyKeh alam-e
bashriyat ki zad mein hai gardo'n ( The ascention of Mustafa has
revealed to methat the heavens are within man's reach )In
another of his poems, Iqbal says, sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi
neinabhi ishq ke imtehan aur bhi hain( there are other universes
beyond the Starsthere 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 Makkans, 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' Rahma ' extends to the galaxies, the
farthest parts of the universe. That explains Iqbal'sproverbial
verse, " Sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi hein ".
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 equaled 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 overviewing 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.
The Prophet's bodily ascension to an infinitismaly 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) subjected 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 )I will like to conclude this
humble tribute to the Prophet (s) with a quote from the opening
chapter of Syed Ameer Ali's 'The Spirit of Islam', a book that I
recommend to all readers, particularly 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-Amin, 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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