The Light 2018 03 March issue

March 2018 The
Light 9
5. Sexual enjoyment in marriage is not onesided
but is described by the Holy Prophet in
these very reports as: “you (the wife) enjoying
sexual relations with him (the husband)
and he with you.”
Islam does not trap women in marriages
against their will. On the contrary, Islam accepts
their will in matters of their marriage and divorce.
Link to HTML version of the article
How did the
Prophet
Muhammad (s)
prove his
Messengership?
by Omar Raja
(Return_to content)
When we look at the life of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad we find that the first thirteen years
of his prophethood were spent in Makkah, at a
time when Muslims were being tortured and
butchered shamelessly, only because they professed
their faith in Islam and the Holy Prophet.
Within those first few years, when persecution
was severe, the Holy Prophet had advised the
weaker of his companions to advance towards
Abyssinia. Jafar ibn Abi Talib, the head of the refugees,
upon entering Abyssinia addressed the
then King in the following words, which painted
a true picture of what was being taught and endured
by the Muslims in Makkah:
“O King! We were an ignorant people, given
to idolatry. We used to eat corpses even of a
dead animal, and do all kinds of disgraceful
things. We did not make good our obligations to
our relations and ill-treated our neighbours.
The strong among us would thrive at the expense
of the weak, till, at last, God sent a
prophet for our reformation. His descent, his
righteousness, his integrity and his piety are
well-known to us. He called us to the worship of
God and exhorted us to give up idolatry and
stone worship. He enjoined us to speak the
truth, to make good our trusts, to respect ties of
kinship, and to do good to our neighbours. He
taught us to shun everything foul and to avoid
I Shall Love All Mankind.
bloodshed. He forbade all manner of indecent
things – telling lies, misappropriating orphans’
belongings, and bring a false accusation against
the chastity of women. So we believed in him,
and followed him and acted upon his teachings.
Thereupon our people began to wrong us, to
subject us to tortures, thinking that we might
thus abjure our faith and revert to idolatry.
When, however, their cruelties exceeded all
bounds, we came out to seek asylum in your
country, where we hope shall come to us no
harm” [Living Thoughts of the Prophet
Muhammad by Maulana Muhammad Ali, pp 5–
6; referring to Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah; also
see A. Guillaume’s translation of Sirat Rasul
Allah, pp. 151-152].
At one point, the Quraish, a leading tribe in
Makkah, hostile towards the Muslims had tried
to compromise the Holy Prophet’s character
through bribery, by sending deputations with
the offer:
“If your ambition is to possess wealth, we
will amass for you as much of it as you wish; if
you aspire to win honour and power, we are
prepared to swear allegiance to you as our
overlord and king; if you have a fancy for beauty,
you shall have the hand of the finest maiden of
your own choice.” [Muhammad the Prophet by
Maulana Muhammad Ali, p. 60]
But to their surprise, the Holy Prophet replied:
“I want neither riches nor political power. I
have been commissioned by Allah as a warner
to humanity. I deliver His message to you.
Should you accept it, you shall have felicity in
this life as well as in the life to come; should you
reject the word of Allah, surely Allah will decide
between you and me.” [Muhammad the Prophet
by Maulana Muhammad Ali, p. 60]
The Prophet spoke these words at very difficult
times when persecution was very severe.
This speaks volumes about the Holy Prophet’s
character. Had he truly craved lust or power, he
would have accepted this offer in his great moment
of trial and a life and death struggle. The
Prophet was made to stand firm as Allah tells us
in the Quran:
“And if We had not made thee firm, thou
mightest have indeed inclined to them a little.”
(Quran, chapter 17, verse 74).