HIS TEACHINGS ARE MEANT FOR ENTIRE HUMANITY AND FOR ALL TIMES TO COME
Alphonse De Lamartiane, a French poet, writer, philosopher and revolutionary, in his magnum opus “Histoire de la Turquie” writes that “If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astonishing results are the criteria of a human genius, who could dare compare any great man in history with Muhammad (SAW)”. Countless statements akin to this are scattered in orientalist literature explicitly confessing the chaste, impeccable, unexamplary deportment of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), in familial, social and other departments of life.
Their holy life spanning over sixty three years, taught to humanity what might otherwise had not been learnt in millennia. The lessons of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) pertaining to humanity, ethics, compassion, human respect, forbearance, sympathy and inter-faith protocols stand equally rather much more valid today as they were fourteen centuries before. Such is the exclusiveness of their teachings that the desert dwellers of Arabia, who were proficient, in no more than tribal rivalries became the rulers of inter-continental Islamic empire. It is ultra-rational, though not anti-rational to appreciate the forgiving stance that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) took towards their enemies, who crossed all limits of atrocities.
Even the writers whose writings smell prejudice couldn’t stop acknowledging the greatness of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). William Muir, after saying much confessed that “All authorities agree in ascribing to the youth of Muhammad a modesty of the deportment and purity of means rare among the people of Mecca”.
Undisputedly whole of humanity recognizes Muhammad [s.a.w] as the ultimate and supreme means and manifestation of mercy. Known history of mankind can’t cite a person that has succeeded in attaining perfection in religious and secular affairs alike except the holy being of Hazrat Muhammad [s.a.w]. They symbolize perfection and excellence of every field of life. They not only laid down the theoretical foundations of Islam but practically established an empire based on Islamic principles of monotheism, equality, fraternity, justice, peace, human values, ethical standards and tolerance. There can be no ideal for humanity except Hazrat Muhammad [s.a.w] because only in their holy personality, we find solutions to all affairs of life from cradle to grave whereas all other revolutionaries and philosophers fail to answer the teleological aspect of human existence and oscillate between the extremities, with no conception of pre-birth and post-death phenomenology. But the pragmatic approach of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) distinguishes and places them above from the rest of thinkers whose thoughts were confined within the domain of idealism or materialism with meager practical utility. Even the revolutionary like Karl Marx of whom Iqbal says “niest piagambar wa laikin dar bagal darad kitaab” failed to transform his theory into practicality. That is why Dr. Alexis Carrel writes: “The principles of the French revolution, the visions of Marx and Lenin, apply only to abstract men”.
Also it is as evident as mid-day sun that Muhammad [s.a.w] escorted whole of humanity from gloom to gleam, from shame to pride and from earth to skies. It was Muhammad (s.a.w), who escorted humanity from the ebbs of arrogance and ignorance to aphelion of literacy and education. On the basis of these citations there can be no doubt that all the love that springs from man’s bosom for all other things should never ever overweigh the love for Prophet [S.A.W]. The love for prophet (s.a.w) is not a Muslim monopoly but all creatures share equal “obligatory right”, to cherish Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w). In this regard Allama Iqbal (r.a), in Javaid Naama, has unveiled an insightful and interesting point that “wherever in this world there is life and existence and wherever desires seem to bloom, it is either due to beneficence of Noor-i-Mustafa [S.A.W] or due to the continuous search for that beneficence. Allama says:-
“Har kujja beeni jahane rang o bou
Aa ki az khakish barooyad aarizoo
Baaz noor’e Mustafa[s.a.w] aa rahibast
Ya hanooz andar talaashi Mustafa[s.a.w] ast”
The love for Prophet (s.a.w), is the corner stone of Imaan, and thus it places extra-ordinary responsibility on our shoulders to love our Prophet (s.a.w) more than our lives, only then our righteous deeds will pay us back here as well as in hereafter. Any act of virtue, however appealing, if not carried under prophetically prescribed ambit is nothing more than just an act. There is no other way except the servitude of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) to standardize our faith and develop the proper perception of Islam. In this hour of gloom, when Islamic regimes exist in no more than name and the Islamic tenets are maliciously projected on the screen of extremism and radicalism it is highly desirable to revive the prophetic teachings along with their pragmatic essence.
If Muslim ummah succeeds in doing so then it is no wonder that Islam will not only prevail globally but will more importantly rule over the hearts of people.
Amir Suhail Wani is a freelance columnist with bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a student of comparative studies with special interests in Iqbaliyat & mystic thought.
