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The Prophet
of Islam (s)
by Nasir
Shamsi
What is Islam?
, asked an Arab. The Prophet Muhammad (s) replied, to
obey Allah and to love His Creation. When asked why was
he ordained as an Apostle, the Last of the Prophets (Khatam
an nabi'iyyin), may Allah's Blessings be upon him and
his family, responded, with a smile: to perfect human
conduct.
Today, shall we not take a close look at ourselves and
examine closely our individual and collective lives, to
see if we live up to his simple message ?
The Orient-lists traditionally painted very negative
image of Islam in the past. The old fear of the
expanding Muslim Empire haunted the Western Christians.
It prevented them from being objective about the Muslim
faith and they did not refrain from discrediting Islam
as a blasphemous faith and its Prophet as a pretender.
Very unfortunately, they looked at Islam as a violent
religion and a fanatical faith.
Thanks to the Information Age, the world is fast
becoming a global village; people are getting to know
one another better. The stereotypes about 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 needs to first understand
the spiritual, not only the political and military
aspects of the Prophet's life, which have been generally
the focus of the Western Biographers.
Who was Muhammad (s) ? 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), 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-Ameen 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, Fatimah (s), 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-lah, 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 worshipped ordinary objects of stone and wood as
holy. They would prostrate before them, circambulate
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
Meccans 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 ascention 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 surroundings
We 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 mujhey
Keh alam-e bashriyat ki zad
mein hai gardo'n
( The ascention of Mustafa has revealed to me that the
heavens are within man's reach )
In another of his poems, Iqbal says,
sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi nein
abhi ishq ke imtehan aur bhi hain
( there are other universes beyond the Stars there 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 Meccans,
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
' Rehma ' extends to the galaxies, the farthest parts of
the universe. That explains Iqbal's almost proverbial
verse, " Sitaron se a'age jahan aur bhi hein ".
So 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 equalled 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 over viewing
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. His bodily ascention to an
infinitismally 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) subjeted 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 )
This humble tribute to my Prophet (s) is concluded with
the opening lines of Syed Ameer Ali's , "The Spirit of
Islam ", a book I deeply cherish and is highly
recommended to all readers, especially 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-Ameen, 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. "
What is Islam? ,
asked an Arab. The Prophet Muhammad (s) replied,
to obey Allah and to love His |
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