Quran 17:36 And you shall not follow blindly any information of which youhave no direct knowledge. (Using your faculties of perception andconception) you must verify it for yourself. In the Court of your Lord, youwill be held accountable for your hearing, sight, and the faculty ofreasoning.“The Renaissance of Europe did not take place in the 15th century. Ratherit began when Europe learned from the culture of the Arabs. The cradle ofEuropean awakening is not Italy. It is the Muslim Spain.” (Robert Briffault,The Making of Humanity)For the sake of brevity, our list has been kept very incomplete.<strong>WHO</strong> WAS MUHAMMAD?(A brief biography)Respected readers,We have seen a glimpse of the illumination issuing forth from somebrilliant minds, mostly Western. Isn’t it time that we listened to thesesincere voices and did some of our own reflection instead of gettingcarried away by hearsay?Why Should We Know Muhammad?We must, because he was by far the most remarkable and the mostinfluential man that ever set foot on this earth. If we do not know him, wewill remain oblivious to what phenomenal potential we as humans areendowed with and how this potential can be actualized.He preached a most glorious System of Life, founded a state, built a nation,set up a moral code, initiated countless social and political reforms, setforth a dynamic and powerful society, and revolutionized human thoughtand behavior for all times to come. And he accomplished all these wondersin an astonishingly short span of 22 years!When Muhammad died in 632 CE, the whole Arabia had changed frompaganism and idol worship to the devotion of One True God, from tribalquarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkennessand debauchery to sobriety and piety, from violence to tranquility, fromlawlessness and anarchy to orderly living, from moral bankruptcy to thehighest standards of moral excellence. History has never known such acomplete transformation of a people or a place before or since.52
He was a most versatile personality, a social reformer, a moral guide, apolitical thinker, a military genius, a superb administrator, a faithful friend,an honest and successful merchant, an ideal neighbor, a wonderfulcompanion, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a farsighted, inspiringleader. And he was a model of perfection in each of these areas.Yes, there have been other great leaders in the world. But none combinesso many qualities to such an amazing level of perfection as didMuhammad. The lives and teachings of other great figures in history areshrouded in the mist of time and legend. There is so much speculationabout the time and place of their birth, the mode and style of their lives, thenature and detail of their teachings that it is impossible for humanity todayto reconstruct accurately and precisely the personalities and teachings ofthose great figures. Not so with this man, Muhammad. Not only was heborn in the fullest blaze of recorded history, but every detail of his privateand public life, of his actions and utterances, has been accuratelydocumented and preserved to our day in one simple Book, the Quran.Muhammad not only preached the most wonderful ideas, but alsosuccessfully translated each one of them into action. At the time of hisdeath his teachings were not mere precepts and ideas straining forfulfillment. They had become the very core of life of tens of thousands ofperfectly trained individuals. In a few decades, his followers hadestablished the greatest empire in history. Such was the prosperity andpeace in this empire that it was almost impossible to find a single personworthy of receiving alms and charity. A young woman could travel alonehundreds of miles without any fear but the fear of God. At what other timeor place and in relation to what other political, social, religious system,philosophy or ideology - did the world ever witness such a perfectlyastounding phenomenon? The answer is, NEVER AND NOWHERE!In spite of the phenomenal success that crowned his success, he did notfor a moment claim to be anything but only a human being who waschosen and ordained by the Creator to be a teacher of truth to mankind andbe a complete model and pattern for their actions. He was a man with anoble and exalted Mission - and his unique Mission was to unite humanityunder One God and to teach them the way to honest and upright living inaccordance with the Command of God.Today, after the lapse of some 1,400 years, the life and teachings ofMuhammad have survived without the slightest loss, alteration orinterpolation. Today they offer the same undying hope for treatingmankind’s many ills as they did when Prophet Muhammad was alive. Thisis our honest claim and this is the inescapable conclusion forced upon usby the critical and unbiased study of the dynamics of human history.As thinking, sensitive, concerned human beings, we owe it to ourselves tostop for one brief moment and ask, “Could it be that these statements,extraordinary as they sound, are really true? Supposing they are really trueand we did not know this man, Muhammad or hear about his teachings - Or53
Change language