Prophet Muhammed

Written by George Jordac

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
whole-heartedly 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 those who trust Him".

........ 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, established 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 discrimination 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 government. He also
disallowed usury and exploitation of one man by another.