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You
may be an antheist or an agnostic; or you
may belong to any of the religious
denominations that exist in the world
today. You may be a communist or a
believer in democracy and freedom. No
matter what you are, and no matter what
your ideological and political beliefs,
personal and social habits happen to be -
you must still know this man.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
BRITANNICA confirms:
"....a mass of
detail in the early sources show that he
was an honest and upright man who had
gained the respect and loyalty of others
who were like-wise honest and upright
men." (Vol. 12)
GEORGE
BERNARD SHAW said about him:
"He must be
called the Saviour of Humanity. I believe
that if a man like him were to assume the
dictatorship of the modern world, he would
succeed in solving its problems in a way
that would bring it much needed peace and
happiness." (THE GENUINE ISLAM,
Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936)
He
was by far the most remarkable man that
ever set foot on this earth. He preached a
religion, founded a state, built a nation,
laid down a moral code, initiated numerous
social and political reforms, established
a powerful and dynamic society to practice
and represent his teachings and completely
revolutionized the worlds of human thought
and behavior for all times to come.
"HIS
NAME IS MUHAMMAD" May Peace of God Be
Upon Him (pbuh)
He was born in Arabia
in the year 570 C.E. (common era), started
his mission of preaching the religion of
Truth, Islam (submission to One God) at
the age of forty and departed from this
world at the age of sixty-three.
During
this short period of 23 years of his
Prophethood, he changed the complete
Arabian peninsula from paganism and
idolatry to worship of One God, from
tribal quarrels and wars to national
solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness
and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from
lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined
living, from utter bankruptcy to the
highest standards of moral excellence.
Human history has never known such a
complete transformation of a people or a
place before or since - and IMAGINE all
these unbelievable wonders in JUST OVER
TWO DECADES.
Lamartine,
the renowned historian speaking on the
essentials of human greatness wonders:
"If
greatness of purpose, smallness of means
and astounding results are the three
criteria of human genius, who could dare
to compare any great man in modern history
with Muhammad? The most famous men created
arms, laws and empires only. They founded,
if anything at all, no more than material
powers which often crumbled away before
their eyes. This man moved not only
armies, legislation, empires, peoples and
dynasties, but millions of men in
one-third of the then inhabited world; and
more than that, he moved the altars, the
gods, the religions, the ideas, the
beliefs and souls....his forbearance in
victory, his ambition, which was entirely
devoted to one idea and in no manner
striving for an empire; his endless
prayers, his mystic conversations with
God, his death and his triumph after
death; all these attest not to an
imposture but to a firm conviction which
gave him the power to restore a dogma.
This dogma was two-fold, the unity of God
and the immateriality of God; the former
telling what God is, the latter telling
what God is not; the one overthrowing
false gods with the sword, the other
starting an idea with the words.
"Philosopher,
orator, apostle, legislator, warrior,
conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational
dogmas, of a cult without images, the
founder of twenty terrestrial empires and
of one spiritual empire, that is MUHAMMAD.
As regards all the standards by which
Human Greatness may be measured, we may
well ask, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN
HE?" (Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA
TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp 276-277)
The
world has had its share of great
personalities. But these were one-sided
figures who distinguished themselves in
but one or two fields, such as religious
thought or military leadership. The lives
and teachings of these great personalities
of the world are shrouded in the mist of
time.
There
is so much speculation about the time and
place of their birth, the mode and style
of their life, the nature and detail of
their teachings and the degree and measure
of their success or failure that it is
impossible for humanity to reconstruct
accurately the lives and teachings of
these men.
Not
so this man. Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished
so much in such diverse fields of human
thought and behavior in the fullest blaze
of human history. Every detail of his
private life and public utterances has
been accurately documented and faithfully
preserved to our day. The authenticity of
the record so preserved are vouched for
not only by the faithful followers but
even by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad
(pbuh) was a religious teacher, a social
reformer, a moral guide, an administrative
colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful
companion, a devoted husband, a loving
father - all in one. No other man in
history ever excelled or equaled him in
any of these different aspects of life -
but it was only for the selfless
personality of Muhammad (pbuh) to achieve
such incredible perfections.
MAHATMA
GANDHI, speaking on the character of
Muhammad, (pbuh) says in YOUNG INDIA:
"I wanted to
know the best of one who holds today's
undisputed sway over the hearts of
millions of mankind....I became more than
convinced that it was not the sword that
won a place for Islam in those days in the
scheme of life. It was the rigid
simplicity, the utter self-effacement of
the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his
pledges, his intense devotion to this
friends and followers, his intrepidity,
his fearlessness, his absolute trust in
God and in his own mission.
These
and not the sword carried everything
before them and surmounted every obstacle.
When I closed the 2nd volume (of the
Prophet's biography), I was sorry there
was not more for me to read of the great
life."
THOMAS
CALYLE in his HEROES AND HERO WORSHIP, was
simply amazed as to:
"how one man
single-handedly, could weld warring tribes
and wandering Bedouins into a most
powerful and civilized nation in less than
two decades."
DIWAN
CHAND SHARMA wrote:
"Muhammad was
the soul of kindness, and his influence
was felt and never forgotten by those
around him." (D.C. Sharma, THE
PROPHETS OF THE EAST, Calcutta, 1935, pp.
12)
EDWARD
GIBBON and SIMON OCKLEY speaking on the
profession of ISLAM write:
"'I BELIEVE IN
ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET, AN APOSTLE OF GOD'
is the simple and invariable profession of
Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity
has never been degraded by any visible
idol; the honor of the Prophet has never
transgressed the measure of human virtues;
and his living precepts have restrained
the gratitude of his disciples within the
bounds of reason and religion."
(HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRES, London,
1870, p. 54)
Muhammad
(pbuh) was nothing more or less than a
human being. But he was a man with a noble
mission, which was to unite humanity on
the worship of ONE and ONLY ONE GOD and to
teach them the way to honest and upright
living based on the commands of God. He
always described himself as, 'A Servant
and Messenger of God,' and so indeed every
action of his proclaimed to be.
Speaking
on the aspect of equality before God in
Islam, the famous poetess of India,
SAROJINI NAIDU says:
"It was the
first religion that preached and practiced
democracy; for, in the mosque, when the
call for prayer is sounded and worshippers
are gathered together, the democracy of
Islam is embodied five times a day when
the peasant and king kneel side by side
and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I
have been struck over and over again by
this indivisible unity of Islam that makes
man instinctively a brother." (S.
Naidu, IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches
& Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)
In
the words of PROF. HURGRONJE:
"The league of
nations founded by the prophet of Islam
put the principle of international unity
and human brotherhood on such universal
foundations as to show candle to other
nations." He continues: "The
fact is that no nation of the world can
show a parallel to what Islam has done
towards the realization of the idea of the
League of Nations."
The
world has not hesitated to raise to
divinity, individuals whose lives and
missions have been lost in legend.
Historically speaking, none of these
legends achieved even a fraction of what
Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished. And all his
striving was for the sole purpose of
uniting mankind for the worship of One God
on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad
(pbuh) or his followers never at any time
claimed that he was a Son of God or the
God-incarnate or a man with divinity - but
he always was and is even today considered
as only a Messenger chosen by God.
MICHAEL
H. HART in his recently published book on
ratings of men who contributed towards the
benefit and upliftment of mankind writes:
"My choice of
Muhammad to lead the list of the world's
most influential persons may surprise some
readers and may be questioned by others,
but he was the only man in history who was
supremely successful on both the religious
and secular levels." (M.H. Hart, THE
100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York, 1978, p. 33)
K.
S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO, an Indian Professor of
Philosophy in his booklet, "Muhammad,
The Prophet of Islam," calls him the
"PERFECT MODEL FOR HUMAN LIFE."
Prof. Ramakrishna Rao explains his point
by saying:
"The personality
of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get
into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse
of it I can catch. What a dramatic
succession of picturesque scenes! There is
Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad,
the Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman;
Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the
Orator; Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad,
the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad, the
Protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the
Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the Judge;
Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these
magnificent roles, in all these
departments of human activities, he is
alike a hero."
Today
after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the
life and teachings of MUHAMMAD (pbuh) have
survived without the slightest loss,
alteration or interpolation. They offer
the same undying hope for treating
mankind's many ills, which they did when
he was alive. This is not a claim of
Muhammad's (pbuh) followers but also the
inescapable conclusion forced upon by a
critical and unbiased history.
The
least YOU could do as a thinking and
concerned human being is to stop for a
moment and ask yourself: Could these
statements sounding so extraordinary and
revolutionary be really true? And
supposing they really are true and you did
not know this man MUHAMMAD (pbuh) or hear
about him, isn't it time you responded to
this tremendous challenge and put in some
effort to know him?
It
will cost you nothing but it may prove to
be the beginning of a completely new era
in your life.
We
invite you to make a discovery of this
wonderful man, Muhammad (pbuh), the like
of whom never walked on the face of this
earth.
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