Numerous thinkers, rulers, reformers, inventors, revolutionists,
philanthropists. philosophers, great soldiers, scholars and founders
of religions have come on the stage of this world and gone
forever.
MICHAEL H HART, A Christian by Faith, a contemporary thinker,
philosopher, mathematician and historian has taken the trouble
of listing out these historical figures and judged them by the
degree of impact they made on human history. He has arranged
a list of 100 top personalities of which he has placed Prophet
Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as number one in his book
called THE 100.
With a neutral view on the heroes of the world, when you judge
them without any prejudice, you wil have to give the first place
only to Muhammad. If ever there is a community that adheres to
what their leader taught fourteen centuries ago, that is this
society groomed by the Prophet Muhammad. This society has
been following the Prophet in al matters like the way of worship,
family life, personal life or whatever department of life since the
sixth century C.E. Nearly a quarter of the population of the world
follow the Prophet and resolve al their problems according to his
teaching.
The number of his followers is ever increasing. There are mil ions of
people on earth who care for the Prophet more than their wives,
children, parents and other relatives. Anyone wil have to admit
to the fact that no one on earth other than Prophet Muhammad
has been given such a position in the history.
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How could such a man, taken birth in a land, where the people
were considered to be savage, rise to such an apex?
This is the book to give you the answers.
This is not a history book,
Not a book to explain the spirituality of the Prophet
Not a book to define the principles and legislation of Islam and
Not a book to astonish you with the miracles performed by the
Prophet.
But this is just a book to explain how this man born 1400 years
ago is different from all other prominent leaders of the world.
Why do the prominent non-Muslim historians, thinkers and leaders
say in wonder that such a great leader like the Prophet has
never been born in this world?
This book wil answer the question why more than a bil ion people
on earth follow this Man Supreme to date without any flaw?
This book wil help those non-Muslim brothers and sisters who are
earnest to know the truth about this Man Supreme, The Prophet.
This book contains the essences that all people including the
Muslim brothers and sisters need to know.
P.ZAINUL ABIDEEN
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PROPHETS BIOGRAPHY, A GLIMPSE.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Man
Supreme, who uprooted tribal pride, eradicated caste feeling
and abolished oppression, was born in the tribe of Quraish,
considered to be a noble tribe, in Makkah, in what is now cal ed
Saudi Arabia in 571 Christian era.
The greatest man of Elect to be the solace to the entire mankind
for the rest of the broad stream of human history, lost his father
Abdul ah while he was stil clinging to his mothers womb, and at
the innocent age of six he lost his mother Aamina He was
absolutely orphaned at the very early stage of his life.
When he was eight, his grand father, Abdul Muthalib, who was
dearly taking care of him died leaving the honest, frank and
innocent young lad to the care of a leading Quraishi merchant,
Abu Thalib, the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Orphaned at the very start of life, going through sorrows and
sufferings, the young lad facing his life with undaunted heart and
courage opted to tend herd of sheep under the blitz of the
scorching sun in the vast expanse of the Arabian desert for a
meagre wage. Thats how Gods test of time preceded his glorious
events.
The young and immature lad travel ed with his Uncle Abu Talib in
a caravan of merchants to Syria. A wealthy noble lady Khadijah
(May God be pleased with her deeds) was attracted by his
trustworthiness, intelligence and undeterred steadfastness. She
wanted to marry him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) married
Khadijah who was already three times widow and many years
senior to him.
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The Prophet (peace be upon him) at the age of twenty-five was
capable of efficient business transaction. He rose to the rank
among notables of Makkah after the noble marriage. He
transacted his business excel ently, and remained a faithful
husband to his lady, Khadijah, who was the understanding
helpmate to Muhammad (peace be upon him). He led a simple
life like any other ordinary man; only he wil do with more grace
and distinction than other men.
The beautiful relations in the society and marriage may
themselves be a preparation for the highest spiritual destiny that
awaited the Messenger of God. Until his age of forty he did not
preach, teach, nor did he initiate any movement.
After his fortieth year of life, he was designated with the holy
mission to preach and establish the True Universal Religion of
God.
We wil glance at his missionary life, which is divided into two
parts. One the Makkah life, and the other, the Madinah life.
Having been one among the ordinary men in Makkah for four
decades, the Prophet (peace be upon him) declared to his
people that he was the Messenger of God to convey the
Message from One True God. He said, Worship only One True
God. None other and nothing else is worthy of worship. The Only
True God is the Creator and al other things in the universe are His
creations. We should never worship any creation.
In Makkah the Prophet (peace be upon him) proclaimed and
declared the Holy Message as and when it was revealed from
God and addressed it to the entire mankind through pagan
Arabs of whom the Qureish were the noblest tribe to which
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belonged the Holy Prophet himself. The tribe of Qureish
commanding over al other tribes, was the keeper of Kaba, the
central shrine of Arabia and commanded trade and commerce
with neighbouring countries on all sides- Syria, Persia, Yemen,
and Abyssinia (now part of Ehiopia). They were seasoned
travel ers across both warm zones in Yemen and cold zone in
Syria. They were skil ful merchants and knowledgeable of the
worldly affairs. They had perfected their language as a fine
medium of literary expression. Yet their established order of things
and social system and their perception of spiritual world were
superstitious, autocratic and tribal conscious. They had reached
to the extreme folly of polytheism that they had instal ed 360 idols
around Kaba, praying to one god a day.
They held their established orders of things and tribal conventions
dear to them. Just imagine the impact of this holy Message on
such people.
The concept of One True God and self-surrender to the Only One
God shattered al their follies which they held dear to themselves.
They considered Islam as interference to their business habits,
their licentiousness and their perception about the tribal form of
worship. The Prophet (peace be upon him) preached against
the oppression of the weak by the strong. He propounded that
men and women are equal before God and that a woman is a
person in her own right as much as a man is. He stood up against
the traditional exploitation of man by man, usury, and gambling.
He denied any moral legitimacy to tribal feelings and
considerations. He brought religion into politics, while the pagans
considered religion as a personal matter. He advocated that
social practice and institution came very much within the orbit of
religion. Al these were so bitter to the pagan in Makkah that they
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began to persecute the Prophet and his fol owers as enemies to
the cult of Makkah.
They were driven to a pass skirting the town of Makkah where
they were compel ed to feed on leaves and grass, by the
boycotting attitude of the hard-hearted pagan Arabs.
His preaching and teaching brought the first opposition from
none other than his own family and tribe. His preaching opened
the pages of the true civilisation, which harboured a self-
contained political community, which rooted out the
conventional divisions of tribe and race, and ruled out
nationalism and vested interests. In it there was no room for
church, priesthood and no space for hereditary nobility. Human
bodily urges were given legitimacy and not suppressed, realising
the sexual behaviour of man and woman through proper
marriage institution. This eradicated prostitution and sexual
perversion in any form, treating fornication and adultery and al
form of perversion as greatest sins. He warned the people to
keep off from these sins.
The Prophets teachings of Truth liberated man from all the evil
frets linked by man himself and unearthed the ruthless fal acy
from the convention-bound evil men. The pagan Qureish
persecuted the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his followers
and massacred some of them. They even instigated youths to
pelt the Prophet and his followers. As a result of the severity of
persecution the fol owers of the Prophet with his permission had
to migrate towards Abyssinia or Madinah. Or they went
underground. The Prophet learned that the Pagan Arabs,
wanting to get rid of him once for all, had plotted to kil him.
Tolerate this too? No more! The Prophet at the Command of God
commenced his holy journey to Madinah, with his associate, Abu
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Bakr, forsaking all his immovable assets and belongings. He took
but some gold coins and silver that he could carry easily.
Ending 13 years of his missionary life at Makkah he headed
towards Madinah where, indeed, a warm welcome was
awaiting the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Some people from Madinah who had heard about the
teachings of the Prophet at Makkah, had visited him in Makkah
and accepted Islam and had left a humane message of great
gesture to him, Gentle Prophet! If you ever have to face any
difficulty to live in Makkah you can come down to Madinah
anytime you prefer. We wil protect you even at the cost of our
lives. When they returned to Madinah they also preached what
the Prophet taught them on monotheism. They did succeed in
making some people embrace Islam.
This hospitality and large-heartedness of the visiting people of
Madinah encouraged the Prophet in executing the command of
God to migrate to Madinah in particular.
There was a great welcome at Madinah as he expected.
They listened to his teaching and reverted to Islam en masse.
They also selected him as their leader to guide and administer in
all aspects. The foundation stone was laid to build the Universal
Brotherhood, which had been one of the themes of the Islamic
ideals and also the constant dream of the Prophet. People from
the surrounding vil ages heard about the teachings and ideals of
the Prophet and wasted no time in reverting to Islam en masse.
There was a bond of brotherhood between the inhabitants of
Madinah and the Muslims who had migrated from Makkah.
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RULER AND MENTOR
Through out the realm of the history we come across great
personalities working on the expanse of their kingdom, having
the material well-being of theirs and their subjects in their mind.
But none in the history could ever match the Prophet (peace be
upon him) who had multiple roles to perform in the human history
of establishing the Universal
Spiritual Truth to the precision.
It took a thousand years for the Moguls and the British to build a
vast land into a country called India; eight hundred years by the
Moguls and two hundred years by the British.
To build an empire of the land extent equal to that of India,
Prophet, the Man Supreme took just ten years. Unlike any other
ruler on earth, the Prophet struck the perfect harmonious
balance between the social and physical needs and the spiritual
needs of man.
Besides shouldering the responsibility of a ruler, he had another
significant role to perform. He was destined to be the actual
spiritual head of the True Religion of Islam that God perfected
and introduced to the entire mankind. In a way, the spiritual
leadership is mightier than sovereignty on earth.
When people obey to political leadership they do it due to the
fear of the rulers worldly power. Anyway, their obedience is not
whole-hearted and full-fledged. But when the people abide by
the spiritual leadership they do it in all devotion and piety.
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We witness these days that scholars and rulers are down on their
knees in adoration before the spiritual head. Even potentates fal
prostrated to these spiritual heads in total submission. If this is the
respect paid to one among the thousands of spiritual leaders of
the religions founded by unknown men, it wil be needless to say
or guess what a great deal of respect people must be paying to
the true spiritual leader of the Religion of God.
The Prophet has had such great followers that they adapt his
gait, gesture and attire without even the slightest touch of
modification. Although he possessed the unchal enged spiritual
leadership and unshakeable political power, we wonder at the
way he conducted himself in al aspects. He did not behave in
the way the brass heads and the others, ambitious for power
and positions conducted themselves.
Did the Prophet in possession of such great influence and power
ever make use of this privilege to accumulate wealth and
acquire properties?
Did he bother to make a better living condition for him?
Did he get involved in the mirth, play and pleasantries of a royal
palace?
People who have attained leadership in politics and spirituality
made ful use of their power and their positions to their
advantage. Suppose the Head of a nation has lost his power
within a few months after he was sworn in. Would this former ruler
as wel as his family members stil own exactly the same amount
of property and wealth that they all owned just before this man
became the ruler? No. Surely he would have gained a great
deal of money, wealth, and properties thousand times what he
owned before swearing in as the Head of the state. At the wake
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of the present sophisticated political structure, it is not even
necessary to be the Head of a State to make such fast money.
Less powerful regents live the life of a king, and they make
money, wealth and property in their name and in their family
name. This is a common scene these days.
There are occasions where parliamentarians and legislators,
commissioners and council ors, chieftains and officials less
powerful than the ministers or senators, misuse their power to
make fast money and acquire enormous amount of wealth. The
magnitude of the wealth thus swindled is in multiplication of
thousands of times what they possessed before taking on
charge.
We need not have deep knowledge on history or authenticity to
realize this fact. Some of the contemporary leaders living right
before our eyes serve the best witness to us.
No leader directly says, I am not corrupt, to counter any
corruption charges against him. He is rather ironical and
counters, Tell me if you have never been corrupt? Who is not
corrupt these days? This is the case when we have courts and
legislative bodies to punish the corrupt leaders and rulers in
power, powerful media to expose them and opponent parties to
chal enge them. Now, just imagine how liberally the rulers of the
past would have conducted their life in the absence of all these
instruments in their time.
History is full of evidences. The lavish palaces, sybaritic citadels
and posh apartments for fun and pleasantries, and also their
grandeur and extravaganza stand witness to this day.
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Rulers who made their thrones out of gold and raised opulent
marble tombs for their darling lovers are inscribed as prominent
ones in history!
Prophet Muhammad, the Man Supreme ruled in an era when
such follies were the order of the day. Around his nation ruled
great kings like Hiracleus of Roman Empire and Quisra of Persia.
No one could have raised a finger against the Prophet even if he
had conducted his reign just like these kings or even better than
that.
Did he live the life of a king?
Did he enjoy the splendours and grandeur of a palace?
Did he accumulate wealth and luxurious articles?
Did he build lofty towers and gorgeous buildings and acquire
towns to add to his property list?
Did he leave a huge amount of wealth behind him to his
inheritors?
One can say one has not done any of the above feats during
ones reign, only when he has not made wealth by exploiting his
power and position.
Any length of deep search in history only says a sweet No to all
the above questions as far as the Prophet is concerned.
Mans first need is food. Man earns more and more to have
delicacy in his plate. This Epicurean attitude eventual y makes
the man live to eat rather than just eat to live. Let us see what
the Prophet ate for his sustenance. The Prophet (peace be upon
him) used to eat the humblest food while he was enjoying the
highest positions of both a ruler and a spiritual head.
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He never even cared to look at the rich delicacies that the great
rulers used to enjoy. He was not even used to eating the food of
an average man. History provides sufficient citation to this fact:
Aisha (May God be pleased with her deeds) said to me, O my
nephew! We used to see the crescent, and then the crescent,
and then the crescent; in this way we saw three crescents in two
months and no fire (for cooking) used to be made in the houses
of Gods Apostle. I said, O my aunt! Then what used to sustain
you? Aisha said, The two black things: dates and water, our
neighbours from Ansar (Muslims of Madinah) used to present
Gods Apostle some of their milk and he used to make us drink.
Narrated by Urva (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 3.741
I asked Sahl bin Sad (May God be pleased with his deeds) , Did
Gods Apostle ever eat white flour? Sahl said, Gods Apostle never
saw white flour since God sent him as an Apostle til He took him
unto Him. I asked, Did the people have sieves during the lifetime
of Gods Apostle? Sahl said, Gods Apostle never saw a sieve
since God sent him as an Apostle until He took him unto Him, I
said, How could you eat barley unsifted? he said, We used to
grind it and then blow off its husk, and after the husk flew away,
we used to prepare the dough (bake) and eat it.
Narrated by Abu Hasim (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 7.324
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The family of Muhammad did not eat their fil for three successive
days til he died.
Narrated by Abu Hurraira (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 7.287A
The family of Muhammad had never eaten their fil of wheat
bread for three successive days since they had migrated to
Madinah til the death of the Prophet.
Narrated by Aisha (May God be pleased with her deeds)
Buhari 8.461
I asked Aisha (May God be pleased with her deeds) Did the
Prophet forbid eating the meat of sacrifices offered on Id-ul-
Adha for more than three days She said, The Prophet did not do
this except in the year when the people were hungry, so he
wanted the rich to feed the poor. But later we used to store even
a trotter of a sheep to eat it fifteen days later. She was asked,
What compel ed you to do so? She smiled and said, The family of
Muhammad did not eat to their satisfaction white bread with
meat soup for three successive days til he met God.
Narrated by Abis (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 7.334
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We used to go to Anas bin Malik (May God be pleased with his
deeds) and see his baker standing (preparing the bread). Anas
said, Eat. I have not known that the Prophet ever saw a thin wel -
baked loaf of bread til he died, and he never saw a roasted
sheep with his eyes.
Narrated by Qatada (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 8.464
Anas went to the Prophet with barley bread having some
dissolved fat on it. The Prophet had mortgaged his armour to a
Jew in Madinah and took from him some barley for his family.
Anas heard him saying, The household of Muhammad did not
possess even a single Sa of wheat or food grains for the evening
meal, although he has nine wives to look after.
Narrated by Qatada (May God be pleased with his deeds)
Buhari 3.283
The Prophets servant Anas reported that he saw the Prophet
lying on empty stomach in the mosque. He reported this to his
mother Umm Sulaim. She said that she had just had one bread
and a few date fruits. If he would come alone, he could have his
fil . If he would come with someone else then he would not be
satisfying his hunger.
Muslim
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Abu Hurraira (May God be pleased with his deeds) reported that
he passed by a group of people in front of whom there was a
roasted sheep. They invited him but he refused to eat and said,
Gods Apostle left this world without satisfying his hunger even
with barley bread.
Buhari 7.325
Gods Messenger (peace be upon him) asked his family for
condiment. They (the members of his household) said:
We have nothing with us but vineg