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Encyclopedia Britannica:
“....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. He was born in Arabia in the year
570 C.E., 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 twenty three 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 Turqui, 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, may the mercy and blessings
of God be upon him, 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 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 to achieve such
incredible perfections.
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad,
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 Carlyle in his (Heroes and Heroworship), 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 Prophet 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 Saracan Empires, London, 1870, p. 54)
Muhammad 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
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 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 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
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 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.
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