By: Addullah alshihri
Mohammad: The Noble Character
Prophet Mohammad was born in Makkah, around A.D. 570, in a tribe called Quraish. His lineage traces back to Prophet Abraham, which Muslims call the father of the Prophets. A few weeks after his birth, his father, Abdullah, died and it was not long before his mother, Aminah, had passed away as well. Mohammad did not suffer the usual hardships and deprivations of orphanhood because all the things around, from people to animals up to stones and trees, surrounded him with care and attention; as if it had been known to all that future was anticipating his awaited arrival.
The noble message of Islam is not only a mark of fame that reputed the life of Mohammad but also a great honor that rendered Mohammad perfect intellectual and moral grandness. This stature of Mohammad is parallel to that of the religion he was sent with, the message that elevates man to the finest standards of morality and answers the most critical questions man has ever asked. In his Zaadul Ma’aad , one of the most detailed biographies on the life of Mohammad, scholar Ibnul-Qayim sheds light on most facets of Mohammad’s eventful life. Below is a selected extract from Zaadul Ma’aad describing part of his splendid character:
“He was innocently bright and had broad countenance. His manners were fine. His belly was neither bulging out nor was his head destitute of hair. He had black attractive eyes finely arched by stretching eyebrows. His hair glossy, black, and inclined to curl. His voice was extremely commanding. His head was large, well formed and set on a slender neck. His expression was pensive and contemplative, serene and sublime…his Companions always surrounded him. Whenever he uttered something, those who are present would listen to him in rapt attention, and whenever he issued a command, they vied with each other in carrying it out. He was a master and a commander. His utterances were marked by truth and sincerity, free from all kinds of falsehoods and lies”1
Mohammad: The Messenger Of Allah
There are Biblical prophecies that foretold the advent of Mohammad and confirmed his prophethood and message. In Deuteronomy 18:18, Moses reports that Allah told him: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you form among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the Prophet speaks in My name, I My Sewill call him to account”2. From this Biblical extract we can infer the following:
1- A reference to the Israelite’s “brothers”, which is a reference to their Ishmaelite cousins. Prophet Mohammad is a descendent of this Ishmaelite lineage because he is the grandchild of Ishmael the son of Abraham.
2- A reference to similarity between the anticipated Prophet and Moses. There were hardly any two Prophets who were closely alike as Mohammad and Moses. The table below contains similar features shared between Mohammad and Moses.
Mohammad Moses
Normal birth Normal birth
Sent with a comprehensive law Sent with a comprehensive law
Was married and begot children Was married and begot children
Moon was “cleaved” as miracle Sea was “cleaved” as miracle
Held a stick when orating Always held a stick in his hand
Was once a shepherd Was once a shepherd
Strong and well built Strong and well built
Was an orphan Was an orphan
Faced hardship with his people Faced hardship with his people
Normal death Normal death
Was persecuted by his people and migrated Was persecuted by the pharaoh and migrated
Was accepted as Prophet and statesman Was accepted as Prophet and statesman
3- “I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him”. This implies that Mohammad would never judge or act according to his desire. This corroborates the Quran’s paraphrase of the same implication, “ Nor does he (Mohammad) speak of his desire. It is only a Revelation revealed” 53: 3-4.
Mohammad’s advent is not only a natural fulfillment of the Bible’s prophecy but also a confirmation of some Hindu narrations that predicted a necessary coming of a final hero who will destroy evil and restore goodness. Despite that Hindu scriptures have undergone many distortions over time and despite that many Hindu figures, like Atal Bihari Bajipayee3, were not convinced to call Hinduism a religion, there are some Hindu scholars who still say that Hindu scriptures include descriptions of a final avatar i.e. savior. They say that these descriptions resemble those of Prophet Mohammad and based on such correspondence they believe that Mohammad was the last among the avatars4.
By the age of forty, Mohammad received Allah’s inspiration to call for the message of Islam. His mission as a Messenger of Allah is to guide people and show them the right path by explaining to them the purpose of life and re-establishing the relationship between Allah, the Creator, and man, the deputy of Allah on this planet.
Unlike other Prophets, he was sent to all mankind and not to a specific community, nation, race or country. The message he was sent with is called Islam, which calls for a peaceful surrender to Allah the Creator.
The Mission Of Mohammad
The Quran summarizes the entire mission of Mohammad in a verse that reads, “O Prophet Mohammad! Verily, We have sent you as witness, and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner. And as one who invites to Allah (Islamic Faith) by His leave, and as a shining lamp” 33: 45-46.
When the Quran calls Mohammad a “witness” it conveys the absolute meaning of the word; that he is a witness against those who did not follow him and a witness on behalf of those who believed him and followed his footsteps. Mohammad is a witness in his miracles, message, and manner. He has succeeded in establishing the law of Allah and was exceedingly dedicated to delivering the message of Islam. So besides being a defiant warrior who finally decides to stop for respite, his victorious achievements continue to live as a witness for his great accomplishment.
This survival of Mohammad’s teachings is an eternity of his life. Jesus has received news from Allah foretelling an eternal lasting of his successor’s life. This prophecy mentions an anticipated “Comforter” who will enjoy a permanent stay once having been sent to the world:“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you Another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” John 14: 16.
The word “Comforter” here refers neither to Jesus nor holy spirit because “Comforter” is the English translation of the Greek word “periclytos” which is almost a literal translation of the Aramaic or Hebrew word “Muauhamana” used by Jesus himself, and which correlates with the name Mohammad5. Furthermore, the idea of perpetuity here does not have to be applied to age per se for there are many great figures who have been dead for hundreds of years but still live with us through their tremendous achievements. Mohammad executed his job and stamped his perfect accomplishment on the page of history, and here he is living with us and in the hearts of millions of Muslims all over the world through the most precious heritage no one has ever left behind: Islam.
“It is He who has sent His Messenger with guidance and religion of truth to proclaim it over all religions even if the polytheists hated that” 9: 33
The mission of Mohammad includes glad tidings for man. Those great people who never gave Islam a second thought and gladly accept it as a way of life will receive peace in this life and eternal bliss in the other world. The glad tidings of Prophet Mohammad are not faked incentives to attract people to Islam as many disbelievers in the other world repeatedly claim. It is hoped that the reader will find in the previous chapters of this book evidence strong enough to rebut such atheistic views.
Prophet Mohammad is also a warner. He is a warner against punishment in the hereafter and misery in this life. As a warner in this life, Mohammad warned against polytheism and atrocious deeds which displeased the Creator and brought bad consequences to human life. Here we come to learn how merciful is Allah when He sent a merciful Messenger carrying a merciful message to all mankind. Allah said, “And We have never sent you (O Mohammad) but as a mercy for the Alamin (mankind, jinn, and all that exists)” 22: 107.
Though Prophet Mohammad was an ordinary human being who ate, drank, smiled, laughed, cried, walked around in markets and avenues, and sometimes helped his wife, A’ishah, with the usual domestic work, still, he was not an ordinary personality. Lamartine, the renowned historian, does not exaggerate when he gives his own impression about Mohammad’s personality, he says: “Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Mohammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?”7
Today, after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the teachings of Mohammad continue to persist and proliferate without the slightest loss, alteration, or interpolation8, hence, ratifying the universal axiom that truth and only truth will live forever and will never relapse, retreat or retire. Truth is necessary for man because man cannot live with superstitions and mysticism. Man needs truth in order to establish a constant life based on an enlightened consciousness of what is right and what is wrong, what is good for him and what is bad for him.
Prophet Mohammad’s entire lifestyle is exemplary and stands as a distinguished criterion by which every Muslim’s act is judged. These ideal actions, sayings, and approvals of the Prophet are known as the Sunnah, the Prophet’s way of life, and it is considered to be the second source of Islamic legislation.
The Quran: Mohammad’s Eternal Miracle
Mohammad’s prophethood was not only substantiated by Biblical prophecies but also by withstanding miracles that verified the truthfulness of his message. As mentioned earlier in this book, the real function of miracles was to crush the arrogance that prevented people from believing their Messengers and silence the mouths that dubbed them as imposters. Mohammad’s greatest miracle is this Quran, revealed unto him by Allah through archangel Gabriel. It is a miracle in its language, permanency, intactness, legislative comprehensiveness, perfection, scientific facts, and accurate prophecies which could not have been revealed by other than Allah, the All Knower.
Man sometimes questioned the Divine authorship of the Quran and the prophethood of Mohammad. In order to put an end to doubts as such, Allah challenged mankind to produce the like of this Quran or even a chapter from its 114 chapters, and for more than 15 centuries now, no one has been able to win the challenge and very few were those who dared to give it a try in the first place; Allah says:
” Say (O Mohammad): If the whole of mankind and Jinn gathered to produce the like of this Quran, they would never be able to produce the like thereof, even if every one of them supported the other” 17: 88
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed to Our servant (Mohammad), then produce a chapter like thereunto;
And call your witnesses besides Allah, if your are truthful. But if ye cannot — And of a surety ye cannot —Then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, — which is prepared for those who reject Faith”2: 23.
“This Quran is not such as can be produced by other than Allah; it is nothing but a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it and a fuller explanation of the Book wherein there is no doubt from the Rubb of the Worlds.” 10: 37
Prophet Mohammad faced many difficulties and struggled a lot in the course of spreading Allah’s message. Despite the hardships, he never gave up because he knew that Allah had chosen him to accomplish the mission. He knew and felt the importance of his task so he resourcefully, persistently and courageously continued delivering the message of Islam.
Years later, Allah ordered his Messenger to migrate to Maddinah where he was able to establish a cohesive Muslim community fraternized by the bonds of Islamic faith. Soon Islam rapidly flourished and since then millions of people from different backgrounds, nations, and races entered the fold Islam.
