The Prophet Muhammad(Blessings andpeace be upon him)

• Wasthe Prophet Muhammad sent with the Message of Islam to the Arabs or to allmankind?
• Whatwere the reasons for the Prophet’s marriages?
• Whatis the proof of the authenticity of the Traditions of the Prophet?
• Arethere any contradictions in the Sayings of the Prophet?

(I) Wasthe Prophet Muhammad sent with the Message of Islam to the Arabsor to all mankind?

1-The very first time that Muhammad proclaimed his message to the people, he declaredthe following:”Iam the messenger of God to all mankind and to you in particular”.Thismeans that the Divine Message was sent to all mankind right from the very beginningand that the Prophet never claimed that it was meant to be a religion for theArabs alone. This is confirmed by another of the Prophet’s sayings:”EveryProphet was sent to his own people whereas I was sent to all mankind “1 . 2-Anyone who reads the Quran can understand that the Quran addresses all peopleand calls upon all mankind to believe in the religion of God. This appeal toall mankind in the verses that were revealed in Mecca, before his emigrationto AL Madina is as clear as daylight. For example in the verse 107 of Sura (chapter)21 we read:”We sent you not but as a Mercy for all creatures”.Similarlythe opening Sura of the Quran states:”Praisebe to God the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds”.Thiswas revealed to the Prophet before his emigration to Al Madina where he establishedthe Muslim state.3-From the aforementioned facts we can decisively refute the allegation that theProphet changed his plans according to circumstances. There was a gradual developmentof legislation, which is a normal and logical procedure. It is impossible forany person to change his customary manner of behaviour, conduct, mental attitude,habits or character over night, since inherent deeply rooted customs are verydifficult to eliminate. Islam began by establishing the belief in God into thehearts and minds of the people and this was the solid foundation upon whichlegislation could then be established, in order to be the basis of a gradualchange in the peoples’ way of life. This was the policy that was followed regardingmany religious rulings and laws, such as the gradual prohibition of intoxicants,usury and the abolition of slavery, etc. In fact the Meccan period was a periodduring which the faith was established and confirmed. Accordingly further religiouslaws and rulings introduced in the Madinite period.

(II)What were the reasons for the Prophet’s marriages?

1-Muhammad was twenty five years old when he married Khadija, his first wife,who was fifteen years his senior and had been married twice. She remained hiswife for twenty eight years until she died and he did not marry any other womanduring this period of his life. He was always faithful to her memory, so muchso that so that this loyalty provoked jealousy among some of his wives in lateryears.2-The Prophet’s nature, character and way of life before and after his prophethoodare absolute proof that he was neither lustful nor sensuous. How could a manwho was more than fifty years old suddenly change and become a slave to lust,when he had every opportunity as a young man to follow his desires, in commonwith the other young men of his tribe. On the contrary Muhammed was well knownfor his virtue and his only wife who was a virgin was A’isha, daughter of AbuBakr, while most of his wives were widows whom he married for humane reasonsor in order to enforce a religious observance or ruling and not for any sensuousdesire on his part. 2 3-As regards his marriage to Sawda daughter of Zam’a who was the widow of oneof his companions, he was more than fifty years old at the time, and she wasneither beautiful, wealthy nor of noble descent. He married her in order tocare for and support the family of his companion, who had suffered torture anddeath for his faith in God. His marriage to’A i’sha,daughter of Abu Bakr andHafsa, daughter of O’mar at later dates were in order to strengthen the tiesbetween himself and his companions, Abu Bakr and ‘Omar.4-As regards Um Salma, she was the widow of a martyr who had been mortally woundedin the battle of Uhud. She was an old woman and when the prophet proposed marriageto her she tried to excuse herself from accepting because of her age, but theProphet consoled her and married her for humane reasons. The Prophet marriedRamlah, daughter of Abu Sufyan who had emigrated to Abyssinia with her husbandwho had renounced Islam, become a Christian and had abandoned her leaving herwithout any maintenance. The prophet sent a message to Al Najashi, who ruledAbyssinia, requesting Ramlah’s return to her homeland to deliver her from theestrangement which she felt in a foreign land and to deliver her from the persecutionof her own Pagan family in Mecca, had she been forced to return to them. TheProphet also hoped that by this marriage her influential father in Mecca mightbe induced to embrace Islam.TheProphet married Juwayriya, daughter of Al Harith who was among the captivescaptured at the battle of Al Mustalaq. Her father was the chief and master ofhis tribe and the Prophet married her in order to liberate her from captivityand he requested the Muslims to liberate their captives and set them free. Thismarriage paved way for understanding with the Prophet’s previous enemies.TheProphet married Safiya who was the daughter of the chief of the Jewish tribeof Banu Quraiza. She was allowed to choose between returning to her People orbeing set free by marrying the Prophet and she preferred to marry the Prophetto returning to her tribe. 3 5-The Prophet’ s marriage to Zeinab, daughter of Jahsh, who was his cousin, wasin order to establish a religious ruling. She had been married to Zeid ben Haritha,the Prophet’s adopted son. Their marriage did not last long and she was divorced.It was the custom of the Arabs during that period to prohibit any marriage betweena man and his adopted son’s divorced wife. The Prophet was ordered by God tomarry Zeinab in order to abolish this ruling which was totally unnecessary.The following Quranic verse abolished this ruling:”…Then when Zeid had dissolved his marriage with her, with the necessary formality,we joined her in marriage to you: in order that the in future there may be nodifficulty in the matter of marriage with the wives of their adopted sons,whenthe latter have dissolved with the necessary formality their marriage with themand God’s Command must be fulfilled.” (33/37)

(III)What is the proof of the authenticity of the Traditions the Prophet?

Somewestern orientalists are doubting the authenticity of the traditions of theProphet. For example Goldziher considers them to be the invention of Muslimsin the early time of Islam. The answer to all these allegations is as follows.1-TheProphet’s Traditions are the second source of the Faith of Islam after the Quran.The Prophet was commanded by God to relate to all the people everything thathad been inspired to him by God and in addition the explanation of the Quran’s verses. (5/67:16/44, 64) The Prophet’s interpretation of the Quran, his conduct,his actions, and his advice are all essential elements of his Traditions. Theprophet himself referred to the necessity of adhering to his traditions in hisfamous farewell speech in which he said:”Ihave left two matters for you and if you adhere to them both you will neverbe misled. They are God’ s Book the Quran, and my Traditions”.2-Thereis no denying that there are many false fabricated traditions and sayings thathave been related to the Prophet but the learned scholars of Islam were alwaysaware of this possibility and accordingly scrutinized every single traditionrelated to the Prophet. The Quran has stated the most important method for judgingany matter namely:”Oyou who believe! If a wicked person come to you with any news, ascertain thetruth…” (49/6).Thepersonality, character and conduct of the person who relates the tradition areimportant factors to be taken into consideration when judging the authenticityof his version of Tradition. This rule has assisted the Muslims who appliedit to the people who narrated the Prophet ‘s Traditions. This method of criticismhas led to the development of the science of historical research.3-As a result of the importance of the Prophet ‘s Traditions, Muslim scholarshave done their utmost to confirm the authentic Traditions and to reject thefalse and fabricated versions. They also established new branches of learningrelated to the Traditions of the Prophet. These new branches of learning includethe science of ascription, of challenging and contesting a point of argumentand the science of adaptation all of which were introduced for the express purposeof investigating the character, conduct, way of life and the credibility ofthose who related Tradition of the Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad had warnedthe people of attributing any false sayings, or actions to him saying:”Hewho attributes falsehoods to me intentionally shall dwell in the fire of Hell”.4-One of the many scholars, who devoted his life to the study of authenticatingthe Prophet’ s Traditions is Imam Al Bukhari (810- 870H.).4 He collected more than half a million traditions attributed to the Prophet whichhe scrutinized, examined and studied painstakingly and methodically. After applyingthe strict academic elimination of doubted traditions, he finally approved onlynine thousand Traditions. If we omit the Traditions, which convey the same meaning,we are left with only three thousand traditions. Other Muslim scholars followedAl Bukhari’s method of authenticating the traditions that they studied. 5-Following the painstaking efforts made by the Muslim scholars to authenticatethe Traditions, six books on the Prophet’s traditions were approved and acknowledged.They are entitled: Bukhari’s Authentic Traditions, Muslim’s Authentic Traditions,The Prophet’s Traditions by Al Nisa’y by Abu Dawood, by Al Tirmizy and Ibn Maja.There are also many books, which mention and reject tens of thousands of un-authenticatedand fabricated traditions. Thus it is evident that Muslim scholars have studiedand authenticated the Prophet’s Traditions with unparalleled devotion and accuracyand that to cast any doubt upon this matter is totally unjustified.

(IV)Are there any contradictions in the Sayings of the Prophet?

Oneof the main objections against the authenticity of the traditions of the Prophetis the allegation that they would contain contradictions. Therefore, I wouldlike to add the following reflections to my argumentations in the precedingsection of this chapter.1-TheQuran commands Muslim to be guided by what the Prophet said and to considerhim as their ideal. This is stated in the following Quranic verses:”Hewho obeys the Prophet obeys God”. (4/80).”Sotake what the Prophet assigns to you, deny yourselves that which he withholdsfrom you” (59/7).TheProphet’s Traditions include all that the Prophet permitted us to do and allthat he forbade us to do. Therefore the Traditions of the Prophet are an essentialpart of the Faith of Islam and if we neglect to abide by them we will be willfullydisobeying the Quran.2-There is no difficulty in distinguishing an authentic tradition from inauthenticor fabricated tradition after the Muslim Scholars laid down the rules in thismatter, several centuries ago. As we mentioned already in the last section,we can never dispense with the Prophet ‘s traditions since they are the secondsource of the faith of Islam. We must adhere to the teachings stated in thetraditions and realize that any doubt concerning contradictory traditions canbe clarified by applying the method and the rules established by the Muslimscholars, which enable one to distinguish the authentic tradition from the inauthenticand fabricated ones.3-The Traditions of the Prophet are the most precise interpretation of the versesof the Quran by the Prophet himself so how can we possibly dispense with thembecause of imaginary reasons. Muslims perform their daily prayers accordingto the manner and instructions described in detail in the Traditions of theProphet. The manner of performing one’s prayers is not mentioned in the Quranand there are many other similar matters that are explained in the Traditions.4-The scriptures of the divine religions that preceded Islam were written in amanner and style similar to that of the Prophet’s Traditions, yet none of hefollowers of these religions (Jews and Christians) demanded that they shouldbe rejected as a result of the inconsistency that exists in certain religiousobservances and the lack of authenticity concerning some events. Such mattersmust be studied objectively and authentic proofs concerning inconsistent narrativesmust be sought and this is the method that was established and followed by thescholars of Islam centuries ago.  1- Related by Al Bukhari.2- Islam in the mirror of Western Thought ,pp.31/42.3- Al Aqqad , Abbas. True facts about Islam and the falsehood of its opponents. P.192, Cairo 1957.4- Iqbal, Mohammad, The Renewal of Religious Thought inIslam, page 160.

CHAPTER THREE