issue 8 june

FeatureAnd Muhammad (s)is His Last MessengerWhen pondering God’sdivine plan, we sooncome to the realisationthat appointing prophetsfrom among the people is part of Histradition. Like Moses (a) who was raisedin the heart of Egypt and in the lap ofthe Pharaoh, Muhammad (s) was alsoraised among the most powerful tribe ofArabia, the Quraish. Both were chosenby God from among the people of theirtime to undertake a divine mission -‘forbidding evil and encouraging good’.The circumstances surrounding themission of each divine prophet variedfrom one to another. However theirvirtues, willingness and submission tothe directives of the Almighty remainedthe same: prophets were chosen due totheir extraordinary characters, perseveranceand piety.Professor Omid Safi, in his book ‘Memoriesof Muhammad; Why Muhammadmatters’ describes the circumstancessurrounding the Prophethood ofMuhammad (s) : ‘Some six hundred yearsafter the time of Christ, in an age whenthe teachings of the prophets weremostly forgotten, and in a region of theworld where no prophet had been sentby God before, a young man namedMuhammad found himself unwillingto worship the gods of his forefathersand unable to bear the injustices of hisown society. Troubled by the sufferingof the poor and the downtrodden inhis society, Muhammad (s) was in thehabit of climbing a mountain calledLight and retreating into a cave calledHira to ponder upon meaning andexistence. Before he was the Prophet,Muhammad was known to be a sensitiveman and a trustworthy soul, andthose around him trusted their goodsto him to take for caravan-led tradesat long distances. Soon almost allthe members of his society would findthemselves entrusting Muhammad (s)with much more than their goods.This time it would be their hearts andsouls that they entrusted to the onethey had come to call the Amin, “theTrustworthy.”Commencement of RevelationThe most delightful hours forMuhammad (s) were those during whichhe prayed in seclusion. He would spendtime in solitude in the Cave of Hira,seeking religious purification for severalnights before returning to his wife. Hewould prepare himself, then go back toKhadijah, who would give him provisionsto return again to Hira’, where onone such occasion the Truth took himby surprise and the Archangel Gabrielcame to him and said: “As long as theworld stands, my religion will stay alive.”(Qur’an 96: 1- 5).It is said that the Prophet had metGabriel on previous occasions andthat by the time he received his firstrevelation he was spiritually ready for it.Nevertheless the Prophet was extremelyafraid of him since this was the first timethat Gabriel had appeared to him not inhuman form, as he had previously, butjust as God had fashioned him, in allhis glory encompassing the entire sky.Gabriel soon returned to his humanform and embraced Muhammad (s)holding him to his chest. HenceforthGabriel would only come to him inhuman form.The above verses encapsulate theprogramme of the Holy Prophet andestablish that the foundation of hisreligion is provided by recitation andreading, learning and wisdom, and useof the pen.The Archangel Gabriel accomplishedhis assignment and after the revelationthe Prophet descended the Mountain ofLight and proceeded towards his house.When he returned home, the HolyProphet related to his wife Khadijahwhat had happened. Contrary topopular belief, despite the intense experienceof receiving the divine revelation,the Prophet Muhammad (s) was neverafraid or unsure of what was happeningto him and did not need reassurancefrom other human beings.And this was the starting point of hismission. At the age of forty and bythe command of God, Muhammad (s)became His last messenger. The exactdate of this appointment is disputedamong the different schools of thought.Some believe the revelation took placein the month of Rajab and some believeit to be in the holy month of Ramadhan.At first the Prophet Muhammad (s)invited his family to accept Islam, thenthe people of Makkah, who were laterfollowed by the people of Arabia. Hismessage to humanity was that he wasthe last messenger of God and thatno other messenger would come afterhim. “As long as the world stands, myreligion will stay alive.”Ali ibn Abi Taleb (a) the cousin of theProphet, once said:“God sent the Prophet when themission of other Prophets had stoppedand the peoples were in slumber along time. Evils were raising heads;all matters were under disruption andin the flames of wars, while the worldwas devoid of brightness, and fullof open deceitfulness. Its leaves hadturned yellow and there was absenceof hope about its fruits. White waterhad gone underground. The minaretsof guidance had disappeared and signsof destruction had appeared.”(NahjulBalaaghah sermon 89)The basic principles, upon which restthe foundation of Islam, cannot bechanged either by the passing of timenor by people and will always remainactive: belief in the Oneness of theCreator, belief in the Prophethood ofMuhammad (s) and belief in the Day ofJudgement.God says in the Holy Qur’an: “Any, whobelieve in God and the Last Day, andwork righteousness, shall have theirreward with their Lord; on them shallbe no fear, nor shall they grieve.”(2:62)These three basic principles have keptIslam a worldwide phenomenon with anever increasing number of followers. Itsuniversality is now well established butas the Prophet implied, Islam’s strengthis in God’s promise that it will exist ‘aslong as the world stands’. •The editorial team of islam todaycongratulates all Muslims aroundthe world on the auspicious anniversaryof the beginning of the ProphetMuhammad’s (s) mission.3031