THE sacred month of Rabiul Awwal, especially the 12th of the month, which falls today, is celebrated with religious zeal and zest across the Muslim world, for it is the day when Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born. There are many detailed accounts sketching the personality of the prophet. Khutbat-i-Madras is one such effort, which provides us a comprehensive analysis of the great life.

The book, written by Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, is a scholarly attempt to highlight the personality and character of the holy prophet, and has assessed different aspects of the prophetic life to raise rational thinking among the Muslims.

In the same century, Thomas Carlyle wrote a comparative analysis about the conquerors and the world leaders. The book has a dedicated segment on the prophet. The difference between the two books is that Carlyle evaluated the life of the prophet as a prophet, not as a person.

The world has witnessed, conquerors, scholars, philosophers, artists and poets as embodiments of success, but none of such personalities is enough to offer complete guidance to the people. For many reasons, they may inspire gloom and worldly desperation, but their lives cannot be of paramount significance for later generations.

Nadvi has mentioned in the book that Rabindranath Tagore was asked why the Brahmo Samaj movement did not succeed in its mission even though it had a noble and fair creed. The famed poet replied that it was so because it had no personality behind it to provide a practical incarnation of its precepts.

Islam had Prophet Muhammad as a great social reformer, philosopher, dip-lomat and a military commander. This is also evident from the book, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, written by Michael H. Hart, a Jewish American astrophysicist, author, amateur historian and white nationalist.

It might surprise many that it was not Jesus Christ or Karl Marx, but Prophet Muhammad, who was declared by Hart as the most influential personality in the history of mankind.

In the opening paragraph on the chapter dedicated to the prophet, Hart writes: “My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be ques-tioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.”

About 10 years after the book was first published, Hart was asked at an award ceremony if he still considered Prophet Muhammad as the most influential person in the world. He replied: “This is the first list of celebrities. If this number is raised to 200-300, the place of Muhammad at the top of the list is fixed.”

It is time for us in the Muslim world, to ponder whether we truly follow the sacred teachings of our revered prophet in letter and in spirit. If not, why not?

Misbah Anum
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2024