"The Life of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)"
Introduction:
A LIGHT IN THE PREVAILING DARKNESS
At the time of the advent of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the entire world was steeped in darkness. Beliefs in multiplicity of gods and idol worship had shaken the foundation of civilized life. The light of civilization had faded over the then known world from Egypt to India and from Greece to China. Banners of Roman and Iranian empires, immersed in the worst forms of tyranny, and terrorism fluttered over the degraded humanity. Rulers had become not only the representatives of God but in some cases claimed to be gods, with whom were allied fiefdoms and religious orders, and the combined forces of the three had strangled the common man, who already overburdened with heavy taxes, bribes and graft and forced to labour under duress. No one seemed to take any notice of this malaise or provided any remedy or escape from this course. Sensuous and ease- going overlords were sunk in moral degradation, while devastating wars and frequent changes in ruling dynasties instead of giving any relief to the common man further ground him under heavier strain. And new orders introduced newer forms of oppression. The Roman and Iranian empires were frequently at war and large territories at intervals passed from one empire to the other and the new masters after consolidating their powers unleashed still greater forces of oppression. Churches and temples on changing hands became places of worship of the conqueror. All over the world armed clashes were the order of the day and humanity suffered most. The common man was deprived of the most essential necessities of life and could not even raise his voice of protest. Freedom of conscience was unknown. Man groped in darkness and no light from any religion or philosophy could guide him. Teachings of seers and prophets were lost in corruption and erroneous interpretations and whatever religion was left had become a profitable trade in the hands of religious orders which were in alliance with the ruling class. Greek philosophy had lost its force, teachings of Confucius and Mani were forgotten, and Buddhist Vedantic ideologies were discarded. When humanity despaired, found no way of escape, the crisis reached a critical stage that the light of the redeemer of the humanity emerged.
Early Life:
Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) is the last prophet of Allah and the leader of all prophets. He is the greatest of men and teachers ever born earth. There is none like him. He is the embodiment of all that is good, pure and noble. Before his birth Arabian was steeped in darkness, ignorance and superstition. The Arabs were ignorant and wicked and they led beastly lives. They were worshipers of many gods and goddesses and were given to all kinds of vices. The people of other countries of the world also had fallen on evil ways of life by that time. Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) was therefore, sent by Allah to correct the Arabs and to show the people of the world the right path. Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) was born in the famous Quraish tribe of Mecca in 570 A. D. His father Abdullah died before his birth, and his mother Amena died he was only six. So he became an orphan when he was still an infant. He was brought up by a nurse named Halima.
His grandfather, Abdul Muttalib and his uncle abu taleb took care of the boy. Early in life Hazrat Muhammad passed through many trials and sufferings. He got no opportunity for learning. But he was taught much higher things than book-knowledge by nature and the unseen hand of Allah.
He was sent down by Allah for the good of mankind. From his boyhood he was thoughtful honest and truthful. He was called Al-Amin or the trusty one. He always thought about the evils of Arab life and how to save the Arabs from those evils. He was a man of word also and knew how to manage business and other affairs. He carried on trade under his uncle and went to Syria several times on commercial visits.Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) served for some time under a beautiful rich and accomplished widow named khadija. He managed her large business and won her confidence. At last at the age of 25 he married her and became the master of her vast wealth. But wife and riches had no effect on his character. He retired to the cave of mount Hira and meditated on the problems of life and death.
At last at age of forty light dawned upon him and he got the new truth. He preached: “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah to preach this great to the world.” This is the religion of Islam. The new faith was first accepted by his wife khadija. A few others also accepted it and became his disciples. But a great many of the fierce Arabs were furious when they heard of the new religion of Islam. They a first tried to persuade him to refrain from preaching it and promised to give him whatever he wanted.Than they put every difficulty in his path. Subjected his followers to sever tortures and tried to kill him. So for the sake of religion he sent many of his followers to medina and than in 622 A.D. he himself went there. This is called the Hijrat from this date the Islamic era Hijri beganThe people of media warmly welcome him. Many of them accepted his faith. But the people of Mecca attacked medina several times to kill the prophet and to wipe out Islam. Thus the prophet and his followers were forced to fight a number of battles like Badar, Ohud and khandak. But every time the evils designs of the oppressors of Mecca were foiled. At last the prophet conquered Mecca in 630 A. D. and succeeded in bringing all Arabs to his faith. The prophet did not take any retaliation.
He taught the people the virtue of forgiveness. He asked them to do well to others and worship Allah. The Quran was revealed to him by Allah and the hadith which contains his sayings taught the Muslims many noble virtues to make them a great world force later on. This great and novel soul passed away in 632 A.D. at the age of 63. But his work and teachings remain and will be followed as long as the world lasts. He made Muslims brothers of one another, built a great nation and powerful state. At present one fifth of the people of the world are the followers of this great and noble prophet.
His Appearance:
Muhammad was of a height a little above the average. He was of sturdy build with long muscular limbs and tapering fingers. The hair of his head was long and thick with some waves in them. His forehead was large and prominent, his eyelashes werelong and thick, his nose was sloping, his mouth was somewhat large and his teeth were well set. His cheeks were spare and he had a pleasant smile. His eyes were large and black with a touch of brown. His beard was thick and at the time of his death, he had seventeen gray hairs in it. He had a thin line of fine hair over his neck and chest. His gait was firm and he walked so fast that others found it difficult to keep pace with him. His face was genial but at times, when he was deep in thought, there were long periods of silence, yet he always kept himself busy with something. He did not speak unnecessarily and what he said was always to the point and without any padding. At times he would make his meaning clear by slowly repeating what he had said. His laugh was mostly a smile. He kept his feelings under firm control - when annoyed, he would turn aside or keep silent, when pleased he would lower his eyes (Shamail Tirmizi)
Dress Of Prophet Mohamme:
His dress generally consisted of a shirt, tamad (trousers), a sheet thrown round the sholders and a turban. On rare occasions, he would put on costly robes presented to him by foreign emissaries in the later part of his life (Ahmed, Musnad, Hafiz Bin Qaiyyam).
His blanket had several patches (Tirmizi).
He had very few spare clothes, but he kept them spotlessy clean (Bukhari).
He wanted others also to put on simple but clean clothes. Once he saw a person putting on dirty clothes and remarked, "Why can't this man wash them." (Abu Dawud, Chapter "Dress").
On another occasion he enquired of a person in dirty clothes whether he had any income. Upon getting a reply in the affirmative, he observed, "When Allah has blessed you with His bounty, your appearence should reflect it." (Abu Dawud)
He used to observe: "Cleanliness is piety".
Mode of Living Of Prophet Mohammed:
His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clay and a thatched roof of palm leaves covered by camel skin. He had separate apartments for his wives, a small room for each made of similar materials. His own apartment contained a rope cot (1*), a pillow stuffed with palm leaves , the skin of some animal spread on the floor and a water-bag of leather and some weapons. These were all his earthly belongings, besides a camel, a horse, and some land which he had aquired in the later part of his life. (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud).
Once some of his disciples, noticing the imprint of his mattress on his body, wished to give him a softer bed, but he politely declined the offer saying, "What have I to do with worldly things. My connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving on." Amr Ibn Al-Harith, a brother-in-law of the Prophet , says that when the Prophet died, he did not leave a cent, a slave man or woman, or any property except his white mule, his weapons and a piece of land which he had dedicated for the good of the community. (Sahih Bukhari).
He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practised great austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of Arabia, he lived an austere life bordering on privation. His wife Ayesha (radiyallaahu `anha) says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had two square meals. (Sahih Muslim,, Vol.2, pg 198).
When he died there was nothing in his house except a few seeds of barley left from a mound of the grain obtained from a Jew by pawning his armour. (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Aljihad").
He had declared unlawful for himself and his family anything given by the people by way of zakat or sadaqa (types of charity). He was so particular about this that he would not appoint any member of his family as a zakat collector. (Sahah-Kitab Sadaqat).
Justice Of Prophet Mohammed:
The Prophet asked people to be just and kind. As the supreme judge and arbiter (3*), as the leader of men, as generalissimo of a rising power, as a reformer and apostle, he had always to deal with men and their affairs. He had often to deal with mutually inimical and warring tribes when showing justice to one carried the danger of antagonizing the other, and yet he never deviated from the path of justice. In administering justice, he made no distinction between believers and nonbelievers, friends and foes, high and low. From numerous instances reported in the traditions, a few are given below.
Sakhar, a chief of a tribe, had helped Muhammad greatly in the seige of Taif, for which he was naturally obliged to him. Soon after, two charges were brought against Sakhar: one by Mughira of illegal confinement of his (Mughira's) aunt and the other by Banu Salim of forcible occupation of his spring by Sakhar. In both cases, he decided against Sakhar and made him undo the wrong. (Abu Dawud, Sunan Dawud, p.80)
Abdullah Bin Sahal, a companion, was deputed to collect rent from Jews of Khaibar. His cousin Mahisa accompanied him but, on reaching Khaibar, they had separated. Abdullah was waylaid and done to death. Mahisa reported this tragedy to the Prophet but as there were no eye-witnesses to identify the guilty, he did not say anything to the Jews and paid the blood-money out of the state revenues. (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari Nasai).
A woman of the Makhzoom family with good connections was found guilty of theft. For the prestige of the Quraish, some prominent people including Asama Bin Zaid interceded to save her from punishment. The Prophet refused to condone the crime and expressed displeasure saying, "Many a community ruined itself in the past as they only punished the poor and ignored the offences of the exalted. By Allah, if Muhammad's (my) daughter Fatima would have committed theft, her hand would have been severed." (Bukhari, Sahh Bukhari, Chapter "al-hudûd")
The Jews, in spite of their hostility to the Prophet , were so impressed by his impartiallity and sense of justice that they used to bring their cases to him, and he decided them according to Jewish law. (Abu Dawud, Sunan Dawud)
DEATH:
On Muhammad's return to Medina, he got busy settling the organization of the provinces and the tribes which had adopted Islam. His strength rapidly failed and the poison (administered at Khaybar by a Jewess) took its deadly toll. So ended the life dedicated to the service of God and humanity from first to last, on 28th Safar, 11 AH. The humble Preacher had risen to be the ruler of Arabia. The Prophet of Islam not only inspired reverence, but love owing to his humility, nobility, purity, austerity, refinement and devotion to duty. The Master inspired all who came into contact with him. He shared his scanty food; he began his meals in the Name of Allah and finished them uttering thanks; he loved the poor and respected them; he would visit the sick and comfort the heart broken; he treated his bitterest enemies with clemency and forbearance, but the offenders against society were administered justice; his intellectual mind was remarkably progressive and he said that man could not exist without constant efforts. There is no god but One God and Muhammad is the Apostle of God, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his descendants.
