'The whole world is but one family' - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Australia

April 2010 Vol. 7 No. 10
According to the Islamic calendar, Id-E-Milad
or Barah Wafat is celebrated on the twelfth
day of the third month Rabi-ul-Awwal. It
is celebrated to commemorate the birth and death
anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad, which falls
on the same day. The word ‘barah’ signifies the
twelve days of the Prophet’s sickness. During the
twelve days, sermons and Koranic texts narrating
the life and noble deeds of the Prophet are recited
in mosques. At some places in India, a sandal rite
is performed over the figurative footprints of the
Prophet engraved in stone kept in an elaborately
decorated casket, in which a representation of
Buraq (Prophet’s horse) kept near the footprints, is
anointed with sandal paste. The Prophet is believed
to have ascended to heaven on Buraq. Elegies known
as ‘Marsiyas’ are sung to commemorate Prophet’s last
days while the twelfth day or the ‘Urs’ is observed
quietly. During these days, learned men deliver
sermons in mosques focussing on the life and noble
deeds of the Prophet. In places like Mumbai, hundreds
of people throng the colourfully decorated markets and
pay obeisance at the mosques as children and young
men take out a procession. In Muslim dominated
places like Lucknow, the main feature is ‘Milad’
procession taken out by thousands of people. Youths
and children singing devotional songs form part of the
cavalcade, which includes exhibits depicting mosques
of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Prophet Muhammad—
The Prophet of Islam
According to the Muslim Historians Muhammad was
born in the desert of Arabia at a place called Mecca,
present day Saudi Arabia, on 20th April 571 AD.
Though there are certain controversies regarding
the actual date but in most of the historical books
this date is followed. He is depicted as the model
for humanity in all walks of life to follow until the
Last Hour. He is regarded as the messenger of Allah
(God). Circa 610 AD, Prophet is said to have gained
revelations from Allah through the Angel Gabriel
that he was His Messenger. In 622 AD Muhammad
along with his followers went to Medina. This flight
from Mecca to Medina is known as Hijrah and marks
the beginning of the Islamic era. By 630 AD, Islam
came to be accepted as a religion and Muhammad
as ruler by a large number of people. However, in
632 AD Muhammad led the pilgrimage to Mecca,
preached his farewell sermon and died soon after. His
name signifies ‘highly praised’. He is the greatest
among all the sons of Arabia. He is more than all the
Id-E-Milad
leaders, kings, poets and philosophers that preceded
him in that impenetrable desert of red sand. When
he appeared Arabia was a desert and nothing. Out of
nothing a new world was fashioned by the mighty
spirit of Muhammad. He gave birth to a new life, a
new culture, a new civilization, a new kingdom, which
extended from Morocco to Indies and influenced the
thought and life of three continents, Asia, Europe and
Africa.
The Life of Muhammad
Prophet Muhammad was one of the most influential
religious and military leaders in history. His father
died before he was born, and Muhammad was put under
the care of his grandfather, head of the prestigious
Hashim clan. His mother died when he was six,
and his grandfather when he was eight, leaving him
under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new head
of the clan. When he was 25, Muhammad married a
wealthy widow 15 years his senior. He lived the next
15 years as a merchant, and came into contact with
many Jewish merchants and landowners in the largely
Jewish Kingdom of Himyar in what is today Saudi