A mercy unto all mankind

THE primary and ultimate basis of this Quranic axiom — that the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is a mercy for all worlds (Rahmatul-Lil-Alamin) — is that he unequivocally preached and practised the religion that was firmly founded on strong faith in the Lord of the Worlds (Rabb-ul-Alamin).

The very opening sentences of the Quran, the last Book revealed to him and which he left with us intact as the ‘criterion of truth and falsehood’ (Al Furqan) for all times to come, introduce us to the Author of this Book in these words: ‘In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Abiding Dispenser of Mercy, All Praise is due only to Allah, The Lord Cherisher of all the worlds.’

The Prophet, by his most successful reforms in faith and action, thought and behaviour, dealt a powerful blow to all those cults and ideologies and the whole accumulations of the erstwhile attitudes that had been attached to tribal, parochial, or provincial notions of deities and religions, liturgies and rituals. All such attitudes had gradually boiled down to narrow schisms and had translated themselves into various kinds of cults of superiority and exclusivism inescapably resulting in class-ridden cultures and societies.

These dogmatic notions of native deities, instead of one universal concept of God, essentially led to the subjugation of men by men. They brought upon humanity untold tragedies of oppression and injustice rooted in shameful bigotry and ignorance. They retarded the growth of the human mind and inhibited the development of a universal human culture.

The Prophet liberated mankind from the masquerading ascendancy of all those theological systems that sought to enslave human mind and conscience in the name of religion. The emergence of the Prophet on the stage of world history coincided with the beginning of the end of all anti-human isms and ideologies of various colours and complexions.

The most significant outcome of the Prophet’s teachings and reforms was the establishment of a genuine human brotherhood. This brotherhood was firmly founded on two strong and logically sound principles: (i) The Unity of the Creator meaning the unity of the creatures. (ii) All men and women are children of Adam and Eve. This affirmation of one common source of creation and self-same parental origin did away with all cults and myths that perpetrated inter-human divisions and discords under one pretext or another. Instead of tolerating any division of the children of Adam and Eve into permanently superior and inferior classes, the Prophet introduced a new classification of humanity: the obedient and the disobedient; but obedient to whom? To other humans? To other created and concocted symbols of mythical greatness or fictitious power? Or even to one’s own egotistic whims and selfish desires? No: obedience to only One Single Supreme God, Creator of all mankind and Sustainer of the universe.

This absolute and uncompromising promulgation of tawhid and its fullest operationalisation in all spheres of socio-politics, ethics and spirituality provided a perennially viable basis for a real human society and polity. Acceptance of tawhid and its voluntary adoption by the Prophet’s followers in their existential scheme, meant affirmation of man as the best creature and vicegerent of Allah. In that capacity, man was enthroned as the real agent of change, reform and progress in history. This meant the recognition of the inherent value of every man and woman and the fruitful worth of all their endeavours and achievements.

In other words, the destiny of every man and woman was given in their own hands with unlimited potential and promise for self-realisation and development. Each individual henceforth became the real master of his present and architect of not only his own future, but also the veritable maker and builder of this universe as its rightful inhabitant.

The Prophet not only promoted man as the most important and august trustee and custodian of his environment and habitat, but also duly acknowledged the distinctive traits and tendencies of all individuals. Moreover, despite reiterating the value and honour of every individual in emphatic terms, he also accorded respect to and sympathy for natural human frailties and occasional personal failures.

He never frowned upon the weaknesses of human nature. He presented in his preaching and practice a kind of humanism that accepted man with all his given imperfections and fallibilities. He did not measure the greatness of men by the standards of angels. Nor did he preach celibacy or monasticism. There is no single precept or practice that the Prophet ever enforced or endorsed which demanded a neglect of natural human desires or needs. He himself never shunned matter or corporeality, nor exhorted others to do so. Nor did he reckon this material world and its positive potential and healthy attractions a taboo for his community.

Amidst the commonly prevailing notions that spiritual excellence is essentially measured by the extent of one’s self-emancipation from the desires of the flesh typically reflected in rejecting marriage and matrimony, he emphatically declared: Marriage is my preferred practice! And he went on to say: ‘he who deviates from my practice, does not belong to me.’

Quite naturally and obviously, the basic substance of all reform is the rich capital of human resource. Any reform which proceeds on the basis of denying natural human wants can never adequately or abidingly succeed. That is why we find — and all fair-minded historians testify — that in the entire human existential career, none has ever succeeded in the comprehensive and sustainable reform of human life in all the spheres and domains of human enterprise, within the temporal limits of his own life-time, as Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah succeeded in the seventh century. His reform proved not only the most strikingly successful, but also fully showed its abiding viability, compatibility and relevance for all times to come.

This fact continues to shine on the horizon of time like the brightest sun and goes on fascinating or perplexing many sociologists and historians. The reason for this monumental success is quite simple: this reform was rooted in the doctrine of tawhid which meant more than anything else recognizing the active and august role of the human individual as the main actor in all reform, progress and development. Second, the value and worth of human initiative was fully recognized with all its attendant natural faults and failures.

This unique programme of human guidance and reform had been the greatest emancipating message of hope and optimism for the entire humanity throughout history and shall continue to be so until the end of time. This assertion is not only a matter of faith and conviction for us, but it has also fully stood the test of time as has been unmistakably proven by the overwhelming evidence of history.

The beauty of the Prophet’s humanistic reform is that the Prophet gave full credit of this reform and its enormous achievements to the personal efforts and sacrifices of the individuals who were guided and initiated by the Prophet into this corrective programme. In this programme, no individual was lower in rank than any other individual. For the sole criterion of respect was taqwa i.e. ‘voluntary identification of human intent with the will of God.’

The Prophet made this fact abundantly clear that the locus of taqwa brings the inner human self, the real state of taqwa was known to Allah alone. Hence the eventual acceptance of all human actions rests exclusively with Allah. Therefore, in this world, no one could take himself for granted, nor look down upon others on account of their supposed lack of piety. By this teaching, the Prophet uprooted all seeds of arrogance and vanity, pride and prejudice and all the self-proclaimed distinctions and superiorities of the past.

The message of the Prophet is indeed a living message of light and hope, a real harbinger of lasting peace and harmony for the whole of humanity. It is the only message that preaches true tawhid. And it is only under the soothing shadow of the evergreen flowering and fruit-giving tree of tawhid and the genuine adoption of this pivotal guiding principle in life that man is emancipated from every servitude and slavery, freed from all fears and phobias, liberated from all fetters of ignorance.

Preparing for the mission

IN the Quran, there are clear indications that all the prophets were prepared for their missions in one way or the other. Mohammad (PBUH) had no formal schooling nor could he read or write.

But the way he carried out his mission, the way he enlightened the people on various subjects and guided them in various matters and the way he faced and tackled various problems and situations, as reported by authentic sources, are reflective of the immense degree of knowledge and wisdom that Allah had bestowed on him and the guidance that Allah had provided him with (4:113).

Of particular significance was the way he was guided and prepared in the beginning of his mission. Through the revelation of the first few verses of the Quran (96:1-5), the importance of knowledge was highlighted which indeed could be the first step in the development of a person in the true sense. Then there was a pause for some time during which no further revelation came.

The revelation then started and the first surah revealed after the pause, according to the majority of commentators, was Surah Qalem (pen) wherein again the importance of knowledge was stressed. He was told that he stood on an exalted standard of virtues in order to create the requisite degree of confidence in him; virtues and confidence pertinent to the successful accomplishment of the type of mission entrusted to him. At the same time, he was promised unlimited rewards.

About the same time another Surah Al-Doha was revealed through which he was reminded that he was not forgotten by Allah nor was Allah displeased with him so that he was not discouraged by the pause in the coming of the revelation. Thereafter another, Surah Muzammil, was revealed in which some elements were specifically highlighted.

One was offering of prayers during the night (the number of times for which prayers were to be offered regularly was commanded later in the Prophet’s journey during Mairaj). The other was the reading of the Quran to the extent one could easily read it.

The third was giving requisite time to worldly affairs. The fourth was giving charity on a regular basis. And the fifth, and the most important of all, was the weighty message in the offing which obviously meant the command for starting his mission openly and in the face of all opposition in the near future. Along with it, the need for remembrance of Allah and devotion to His service was also stressed which of course was sine qua non to the successful accomplishment of his mission.

At last came the weighty message through Surah Mudassir whereby the Prophet was commanded to arise i.e. to come openly into action. Then he was given three specific tasks. One was to warn i.e. to tell the people about the Day of Reckoning. The other was to Magnify and highlight the Unity, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Graciousness and Mercy of Allah.

The third was to explain the consequence of not paying any heed to the warning. At the same time, he was provided with specific guidelines requisite to the successful accomplishment of his mission. They were:

Keep your garments clean and free from stains (47:4): In the context of the surah, this admonition meant more than merely keeping one’s garments clean. It implied avoidance of all those acts, ways and behaviour that could possibly soil his reputation.

As history tells us, the people of Quresh were desperately searching for any blemish concerning the life and character of the Prophet that could possibly be utilised as slander to thwart his mission. And when they couldn’t find any such blemish they contented themselves with labelling him as the person having enough skill to separate father from son and brother from brother. That is why he was cautioned in advance so that he could be on guard against all such tactics. Allah undoubtedly knows best where and how to carry out His mission (6:124).

The guideline to shun all pollution (74:5) implied the shunning of all traditions, ideas, practices and legacies of the days of ignorance. With the coming of the new religion based on the concept of the Unity of Allah, all traditions, ideas, practices and legacies of the days of idolatry obviously became irrelevant and obsolete and had, therefore, to be discarded. There had to be some positive and visible changes to convince the people about the rationale, credibility and efficacy of the new religion.

The guideline to “show not favour, seeking worldly gains” (74:6) was of utmost importance to the success of the Prophet’s mission. For the successful accomplishment of the Prophet’s mission, it was necessary to convince the people first that he had no intention whatsoever to achieve any worldly gains. In order to prove that, he was specifically advised not to seek any worldly gains in return for any favour whatsoever. The Prophet practically demonstrated this when he rejected all material offers, including kingship, in return for abandoning his mission.

In the guideline to be patient and remain steadfast (74:7), the Prophet was specifically advised to be patient and remain steadfast while carrying out his mission.

If we analyse the factors for the success of Mohammad in his mission, steadfastness could be second in the order of importance. The first of course was the strength of his faith. He endured all kinds of pressures put on him and the hurdles created in his way.

People threw rubbish on him, spread thorns in the streets through which he used to pass, socially boycotted his family for a full three years but he was not deterred. He remained steadfast and inspired his companions with the same spirit. It was because of the above and similar other Divine admonitions from time to time that he remained steadfast under the worst possible conditions.

There can be no better or more systematic way of preparing a person for carrying out an important mission than the way in which the Prophet was prepared. At the outset he was informed about the importance of knowledge, an element that plays a vital role in the overall development of a person. Then it was made sure that he had all the qualities necessary for the successful accomplishment of his mission and that he had no such defect that was usually attributed to the exponents of the type of mission entrusted to him. He was also assured of appropriate rewards in this world and in the Hereafter.

Unique position of the Prophet

“THE Prophet (PBUH) is aula to the believers than their own selves, their own souls,” the Quran declares (33:6). The Quranic word aula, is pregnant with multiple meanings and connotations, all of them equally sound, applicable and relevant. It means ‘more near’, it also indicates ‘more dear’; moreover it denotes ‘having a better claim upon, being more rightful than’.

The Quran, by employing this word, purports to convey the unique position of the Prophet in relation to the believers. Unique in the sense that so far as the knowledge of the religious scriptures of the extant or extinct religions of the world goes, none of them seems to have laid down or described the relationship between the followers and the originator of a religion in so meaningful, emphatic, unequivocal, and picturesque a way as the Quran does to portray the position of Mohammad and the nature of the bond as it exists between him and the believers.

The Quran drives home the point that the incomparable position of the Prophet in relation to the believers is that he is closer to them than their own souls, that their love for him overshadows, eclipses, overrides the love for their own lives, that their surrender to him is so profound, so deep-rooted and all-pervading as to supersede any claim upon their own existence. In fact this unfathomable nearness, this incomparable love, this total surrender, as denoted by the Quranic word aula, is the fountainhead wherefrom gushes that overpowering, breathless deluge which inundates the entire intellectual, emotional, and physical life of man, blesses him with a completely new orientation toward the ultimate aims and objectives of human existence and transforms him into a momin. It is the genesis of iman.

The Quran, purposely uses the word the Prophet (An-Nabiyy) instead of citing the proper name Mohammad to signify that the central point wherefrom iman emanates is that closeness, that love, that surrender which focuses Mohammad as the Messenger of God and not simply as an Arab, or the son, father, brother, husband or a relative of a particular person or even as the most accomplished human being. Claiming to love him, to be close to him, to surrender to him, but at the same time disbelieving him as a Prophet, is accusing him of dishonesty, falsehood and deceit which demolishes any claim to love, proximity or surrender.

It is interesting to note that the Quran makes a mention of another type of ‘closeness’ in Surah Quaf but in a different context, with different consequences. Allah says, “Verily We created man and We know what evil ideas are suggested to him by his wicked self and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein”, (50:16). The jugular vein is the channel through which flows the blood stream, the vehicle of life and consciousness. In other words Allah is nearer to man than his own self, his very life. There is, however, a world of difference between the nearness of Allah to man, which is expressed by the word Aqrab, and the nearness of the Prophet to the believers as denoted by the word aula. Allah’s nearness to man, a mere creature of Him, is not affected adversely in the least whether he denies or recognizes the existence or bounties of his Creator. It is beyond human power to sever the bond of creation existing between him and his Creator. Conversely, the moment a momin lets the string of love for the Prophet slip out of his hand, he throws himself outside the fold of iman. The burning flame of iman is instantly extinguished for good.

Loving the Prophet more than one’s own life is the life-blood, the moving spirit, the vital principle of iman. This has been distinctly expounded by the Prophet himself. He has been authentically reported to have said, “None of you could become a momin unless he loves me more than his father, his offspring, and all the human beings.” His assertion has been upheld by the Quran. Allah declares, “Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your spouses, your kindred, the wealth that you have earned, the business whereof you fear a slump, and the dwellings that you enjoy, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihad in His way, then wait until Allah brings about His decision. Allah does not provide guidance to those who defy Him,” (9:24).

History bears testimony that lovers of Allah and His Prophet have always been at the beck and call of the Messenger to sacrifice their lives. It is particularly true about the Companions who many a time left the comforts of their cosy homes, the pleasures of the company of their wives, children and close relatives, endangered their trade and commerce, gave up their possessions, fought against their kith and kin out of love for Allah and his Messenger. The anecdotes and instances are so numerous as to defy the mention of even a few of them.

The Prophet is at the centre of all religious beliefs and convictions. He is the hub of the entire spectrum of religious activities. The whole spectrum of Islamic thought and action revolves round him and draws authority and authenticity from him. He is the only link between man and God. It is through him, and him only, that man comes to know God. He is the sole receiver, provider and distributor of Divine guidance. It is only through his agency that man is enabled to attain the proximity to God. A claim to the love of God acquires credence only by following in his footsteps. “If you do love God, follow me: God will love you,” (3:31). Thus the reciprocity for one’s love for God is attainable only by following him.

The belief in the Quran as the Word of God hinges on his credibility and authority. In short, all the issues, major or minor, primary or secondary, fundamental or peripheral, in the wider and all-pervasive sense and context of man’s religious life, as envisaged by Islam, have to be referred to the Prophet for authentication, validation, approval and sanction. In fact Prophet, per se, is the embodiment, the personification, the totality of deen, of religion in its broadest possible sense. He is the Islam integrate. Without his love, his nearness, total and unquestioned surrender to his authority, deen comes to nought, it is rendered a non-entity, it simply ceases to exist.

Allama Iqbal in one of his Persian couplets thus unveils the centrality and inevitability of the personality of the Prophet. “Try hard to get nearest to Mustafa who is the deen in totality. Non-accessibility to him is nothing but Bu-Lahabi (heathenism) pure and simple.”

The Quran is very explicit regarding total surrender to the Prophet. “By thy Lord! They cannot be said to have become momin until they make you the judge in all the disputes arising among them and do not feel in their hearts any inkling of vexation regarding your decision but accept it with full cheer and total submission,” (4:65).This attitude which the Quran enjoins upon the believers and which is cited as the prerequisite of iman is impossible to adopt unless one has intense love for the Prophet. As regards an unconditional surrender to the Prophet, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal informs us that the Quran mentions it in at least 33 different places.

Most exalted character

THE Encyclopedia Britannica describes Mohammad (PBUH) as “the most successful of all Prophets and religious personalities.” But his success was not a stroke of luck. It was “the result of his admirable and all-compelling character.” Why would the Bedouins obey and recognize him unless he had the mesmerizing power of sincerity and the magic of truth?

They were wild men, bursting ever and anon into quarrel and fierce fights; no one without right worth could have commanded them. Yet they accepted Mohammad as the Prophet of Allah, because there he stood face to face with them; “bare, not enshrined in any mystery; visibly clouting his own cloak, cobbling his own shoes; fighting, counselling, ordering in the midst of them.” They had seen what kind of a man he was, judged him before they bowed before him.

Even though he received Divine revelations, yet he identified with his companions as a “human like unto them,” sharing their joys and sorrows and, in the Battle of Khandaq, joined them in digging the trench. And even at the pinnacle of his glory he led an austere, humble and unostentatious life. Character, then, was the key to Mohammad’s success. Addressing the Prophet Allah says, “And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character” (68:4), far above the average, the very pinnacle of it.

It was character born of sincerity and nurtured by truth. He had earned the sobriquet of Al Amin, “The Faithful,” long before Allah ordained him as His messenger. He was recognized as a man of truth and fidelity; true in what he did, in what he spoke and thought. That was why, when he broke the news of his first revelation to his wife, Khadijah, his friend Abu Bakr, his nephew Ali and his slave, all of them greeted it without questioning the veracity of his statement and the authenticity of his experience.

The conquest of Makkah stands out as a unique example of the Prophet’s forbearance. He was at the zenith of his power. The city which had refused to listen to his mission, which had tortured him and his followers, driven him and his people into exile and which had unrelentingly persecuted him even when he had taken refuge in a place more than 200 miles away, now lay at his feet. By the laws of war he could have justly avenged all the cruelties inflicted on him and his people. But he declared, “This day, there is no reproof against you and you are all free. This day I trample under feet all enmity between man and man.”

This was because Mohammad fight was not for any personal glory but totally in the way of Allah. Once that object was achieved, all enmity ceased. Revenge was out of the question. Everybody was pardoned, even those who killed his beloved uncle, Hamzah.

In triumph humble, before danger calm, under oppression patient, like a rock steadfast these were some of the brightest aspects of Mohammad’s character. The conquest of Makkah illustrated the first. The episode of the cave where he was hiding with Hazrat Abu Bakr during hijrat exemplifies the second. The long period of boycott by the pagans portrayed his perseverance, and the Peace of Hudaibiyah is testimony to how he kept his word.