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The Coming
Of The Most Noble Messenger
With eyes
as bright as the shining sun, a reality on the lips more
brilliant than the light of the sun, a heart more fresh
than the flowers of the gardens of Yathrib and Taif,
habits and morals more decent than the moon- lit nights of
the Hijaz, a mind more brisk than the strong winds, a
bewitching tongue, a heart with heavenly light, firm
determination like a trenchant sword and heavenly words on
the tongue - such was Muhammad son of Abdullah, the
prophet of Arabia, the prophet who destroyed the idols
which had separated brothers from brothers. He did not
break only the idols of wood and stone but also broke the
idols of wealth, indecent habits and party-spirit.
The only
thing which the cowardly Quraysh desired was money should
be transferred from the hands of the nomadic Arabs to
their own pockets. The only value which they attached to
life was that in order to earn profit they should travel
through the desert on the back of the camels undergoing
extreme hardships and then return to their hometown
Mecca-the same Mecca which was the city of idol-worship,
and where money was the only thing which counted.
Suddenly
they heard a voice which shook their nerves. Their hopes
were shattered. The world turned away its face from them
saying "The value of man is not the same which you
have assessed and the object of the creation of the
nomadic Arabs is not the same which you think it to
be".
........This
was the voice of Muhammad.........
Banu
Asad-and Banu Tamim were so foolish and ignorant that they
buried their daughters alive without any cause. There was
no justification for their doing so except that it was a
custom which had survived amongst them. They were opposed
to the divine will. They hated the beauty of nature. And
then they heard a voice, which was expressive of deep love
and sympathy for the people saying: "Don't bury your
daughters alive. Daughters are as good a creation of God
as the sons. No human being has a right to deprive others
of life. It is only God who creates the people and makes
them die".
.......This
was the voice of Muhammad.........
The Arabs
were always fighting. They fought and shed blood for years
on account of very trivial things. They killed their own
brothers and then rejoiced and glorified themselves on it.
To sacrifice their lives for the sake of their own
ignorance was something very ordinary for them. The
children cried and screamed and grew up in conditions
which were not conducive to the creation of love or
sympathy for anyone in their minds.
In these
circumstances they heard another voice which said
"What are you doing ? You kill one another although
you are all brothers because all of you have been created
by God. Strife is something satanic. Peace and friendship
are more beneficial for you. The blessing for which you
fight can't be achieved except through peace".
......This,
too, was the voice of Muhammad.........
The Arabs
were the most proud and egoistic people. They considered
the non-Arabs inferior to themselves. Not only this but
they did not consider the non-Arabs even human beings.
Muhammad disliked this attitude of the Arabs very much.
Addressing these proud people he said: "No Arab is
superior to a non-Arab unless he is more pious. Whether
you like it or not all human beings are brothers of one
another".
There
were oppressed, homeless and helpless persons whose faces
had been scorched by the hot winds. The society had
discarded them and made their lives miserable. They were
more humble in the eyes of the people than the particles
of sand and their life had become extremely unenviable.
And these were the true friends of the prophet of Islam,
just as the indigent and outcasts of the society were the
friends of Jesus Christ and other great men of the world.
It was these very people for whose benefit the prophet of
Islam endeavoured to prevent the establishment of
dictatorship, disallowed slavery, freed man from the
bondage of his fellow-men, and established the public
treasury so that all might benefit from it without any
discrimination. He directed the efforts of the people
towards public welfare. He insisted on Quraysh, who were
his kinsmen, at every step that they should improve their
conduct, do good deeds, and keep their attention directed
wholeheartedly to God, who has united the scattered
creation into a single whole.
However,
Quraysh instigated the ignorant persons as well as their
own children to stone and ridicule him.
The
helpless, oppressed and homeless slaves among whom one was
Bilal, the Mu'azzin of the prophet, were overjoyed when
they heard this: "All human beings are fed by God. He
likes him most who is more helpful to his creatures".
.......This
was the voice of Muhammad.........
Those who
were his enemies and stoned and ridiculed him heard this
animating voice: "If you (Muhammad) had been stern
and hard-hearted they would all have deserted you a long
time ago. Forgive them and ask God to forgive (their sins)
and consult with them in certain matter. But when you
reach a decision trust God. God loves tbose who trust aim
".
.......This
was the voice of Muhammad.........
The
following pure words were imprinted on the minds of those
who were endeavouring in the path of God for a better
life, and were ready to support him (Muhammad) in his
campaign against idol-worship and evil-doing, and were
afraid lest their rights and good conduct might be wasted
in the battle-field.
"Remember
! Don't be treacherous. Don't commit breach of trust.
Don't kill either a child or a woman or an old man or a
monk in a monastery. Don't burn a date-palm tree and don't
cut any tree nor pull down a building".
.......This
voice was the voice of Muhammad........
The Arabs
heard this heavenly voice from Muhammad and spread it in
all the four corners of the world. They covered powerful
rulers and kings with this voice, estab- lished
brotherhood amongst human beings and strung them in one
faith, and created relationship between man and God.
The shade
of Muhammad spread so much that the entire Old World came
under it and the land from the east upto the west began
producing the fruits of goodness, knowledge, peace and
friendship. The prophet of Islam stretched his hand and
sowed the seeds of friendship and brotherhood throughout
the world. That hand is still stretched and is busy sowing
the seeds. Hence, there is no part of the world wherein
the followers of Muhammad are not found. One of them may
be in Pakistan and the other may be in Spain, but in spite
of this both of them are treated to be under one and the
same standard. The prophet provided honour and respect to
the Orientals which is even now a shining crown on their
heads.
This
voice of the prophet, was a call for human brotherhood. It
stopped the hands of the rulers from reaching the property
of the subjects and gave equal rights to all human beings.
In his religion there is no discrimina- tion between a
common man, a ruler and a subject and an Arab and a
non-Arab, because all human beings are the slaves of God
and it is He who provides sustenance to all of them.
This
voice emancipated women from the oppression of men, freed
the labourers from the injustice of the capitalists and
delivered the servants from the degradation of submission
to their masters. As opposed to Plato and other
philosophers, who deprive the workers of their social
rights on account of their mean occupation and have
divided the society into many grades, the prophet of Islam
made all human beings participate in the affairs of
govern- ment. He also disallowed usury and exploitation of
one man by another.
After the
prophet of Islam it was Ali bin Talib who called men to
good morals.
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