Table of Contents
ABrief Biography Of The Prophet On Whom Be The Peace And Blessing Of Allah
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was born in Mecca inthe year of the Elephant, 571 after Christ, of the Noble Arab family.’Banu Hashim, whose lineage is traced to Isma’il, son of Ibrahim , (Onboth be peace) .
When Mohammad was a fetus in the womb of hismother; Amina , his father ‘Abdullah , died His mother was left to rearhim until she died while he was only six years of age. Then hisgrandfather, Abdul Muttlib, took over his guardianship; and he too diedonly two years after. Then his uncle Abu Talib became his guardian.
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) began his adulthood asa shepherd and this is in keeping with the tradition of prophets, asrightly said in the Hadith.
He was also engaged in trade, where he used toaccompany his uncle to Syria. He was later engaged in a trade venturefor the Lady Khadijah, whom he shortly afterwards married, while he wasonly twenty-five years of age. The prophet joined his people inimportant projects like, “The Pact of the Noble for the Project reliefof the Oppressed”; and he took part in the rebuilding of the Ka’abah.
After taking Khadijab as a wife, he took toseclusion, away from where he used to see among his people theworshipping of idols and similar behavior. So he would go, forcontemplation , in to the Cave of Hira‘, overlooking the Ka’abah fornights on end. During one of these seclusions, the Angel GABRIELdescended with the ‘Message‘ or ‘Revelations‘. This was when he wasforty years of age. The Angel GABRIEL recited to him and he recitedafter him)
the words of Allah Most High:
“ Read in the Name of God, yourCreator who created and brought everything, spiritual, animate andinanimate into being. He created man from a clinging organism. Read:and realize that God, your Creator is most generous. He taught by thepen, the main instrument of learning and knowledge, and the instrumentof authorship. He taught man, what he did not know. “ (Sura96:1-5)
Returning from this meeting ingreat fear, his wife consoled him; and he was also consoled by Waraqahbin Nawfal , who had known something about Christianity.
Among the first who believedhim was his wife, Khadijah., and his servant, Zaid Ibin Harithah , andhis cousin , ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib, who was under his guardianship, andAbu Bakr At Sidiq, ( on them all be peace).
When he called Quraish toIslam, they disbelieved him, and so obstructed him to their utmost.Thereafter some of the Muslims were forced to migrate toAbyssinia.
The ill treatment by theQuraish became severe, after the death of his wife, Khadijah, and hisuncle Abu Talib the same year, which was ten years into hisProphethood.
So he set out for the city ofTa’if calling the people to Islam, and. they turned away in a hostilemanner, and so Allah graced him with the Night Journey (to Jerusalem)and Ascension (to Heaven), in which Allah ordained the five obligatoryprayers.
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)presumed him self to the tribes during the pilgrimage season in themarket places; and by this acquaintance the call reached “Yathrib”, andin it many disciples were made for him. When the Quraish was determinedto get rid of him, by killing him. Allah ordained the migrationto Madjnah , (Yathrib) to which most of the Muslims had migrated. Thepeople of Madinah who came to be called “AI-Ansar”‘, welcomed them in ahospitable way ; and all cooperated in the founding of the newIslamic society .They stood as one, hand in hand, united againstantagonist trends from the Polytheists of Madinah, and of Mecca, andothers like them .
Armed confrontation (Chazawat)took place, the most important of which were the Battles of Badr,Ohod, Ahzab and Khaibar, ending with the conquest of Mecca in theeighth year of Hijrah. This made the religion and its followersvictorious, and the people began to enter Islam in great leaps andbounds.
The Prophet, (PBUH) had seizedthe opportunity of truce which was concluded by the Treaty ofAI-Hudiybiyjah, in the sixth year of Hijrah; and he sent letters tokings and leaders calling them to Islam, in-keeping with itsuniversality.
The most distinguished of thecontents of those letters, was epitomized in. the citation of a verse(from the Qur’an ) showing faith In the One Allah-alone, and portrayingthe dignity of man, for whom it was not proper toadopt a god from among members of his race; and for people tocome to terms, on one word, If they did not respond to the Call, atleast they should accept the new situation and agreement of the Islamicsociety, which was formed in the Arabian Peninsula, to deliver thetrust of the call to all people. This verse is
the word of Allah Most High:
“Say to them: “O you people ofthe Book ( Torah and Gospel ),: let us come to terms to agreeamong ourselves that we venerate and worship no one but God andshall not incorporate with Him other deities nor shall any of ustake another for a godhead or a tutelary guardian besides God”.And if they turn a deaf ear and insist upon hugging their irreverentconviction to their hearts, then say to them: Do then bear witness thatwe conform our will to God’s blessed will, and this reflects conformityto Islam.” (Sura 3:64 )
And after exhausting the resistance on the part of thePolytheists and others, the Prophet (PBUH), began to secure theboundaries of the Arabian Peninsula against the two great powers of thetime , the Persians and the Romans. He proposed an army under thecommand of Osamah Ibn Zaid. However at this time, the Prophet (PBUH)passed away, at the age of sixty-three, after an eventful life ofglorious deeds and continuous struggle for the sake of delivering themessage, whose responsibility the Rightly Guided caliphs (the Prophet’sfour immediate successors) and succeeding generations have been bornfollowing in his footsteps, in the call, whose tenets
Allah the Almighty, has laid down in word:
“ Invite people (O Mohammad)graciously to the path of God, the path of rectitude, with wise,graceful and appropriate inducements which meet them on their ownground and propitiate them, each in his own capacity, to open the earsof their hearts and the eyes of their minds. And reason with them in alogical, peaceable and gracious manner.” (Sura 16: 125)
The result of this activity wasa vast Islamic state with boundaries from China in the East, until itreached Europe in the West. Islam now has followers in almost all partsof the globe) approximately l000, 000,000 million Muslims.
The Wives Of The Prophet
The Prophet ( PBUH ) married, after the deathof Khadijah , several wives, only one of whom died during his lifetime. She was Zaynab, daughter of Khozimah. He was survived by ninewives: Sawdah, daughter of Zam’ah , Aishah ,daughter of Abu BakrAl-Siddiq ,Hafsah, daughter of Omar Ibnul Khathab, Ommuhabibah,daughter of Abu Suffian, Ommu Salamah, daughter of Abu Umayyah, Zainab,daughter of Jahshi , Maymounah, daughter of AI- Harith Al-Hilaliyah,Jowyriyab, daughter of AL-Harith Al-Mustalqiyah, and Safiyah, daughterof Hoyy bin Ahkhtab.
The prophet’s marriages werenever because of passion overpowering him. Had it been so, he wouldhave married the virgins; and he would not have refused those whooffered themselves to him (in marriage)
Indeed, the marriage had noblehumanitarian values or meaning, for by this he honored or gracedfaithful female believers in the holy struggle, whose families eitherdied or separated from them. He sometimes contracted such marriages asa link with his dearest friends, or compromised with it, the hearts ofhis enemies , or nullified with it , the pre-Islamic (ignorant) Customof adoption of children. Behind his marriages are other aspects ofsublime values. The Prophet (PBUH) lived with all of his wives to thenoblest example of honorable life, and they attained , from him themost refined married life. Allah graced them and made them Mothers ofthe Believers, forbidding their marriage after the Prophet, (on whom bePeace and Blessing of Allah).
Allah Most High said:
“ The Prophet is more closelyattached to those who conformed to Islam than they are to themselvesand his wives are their god-mothers. ” (Sura 33:6)
Allah Almighty said :
“ Nor is it proper to causeannoyance or inconvenience to the Apostle of God nor is it appropriateever to marry his widows following his death. This is an enormity inthe sight of God and a deviation from moral rectitude.” (Sura33: 53)
HISCHILDREN
The Prophet (PBUH) did not have children fromany of his wives, except Khadijah, who bore him two sons, Al-Qasim ,and Abdullah who were nick-named ” The Good”, and the “Clean”. She alsobore him four daughters; Zainab, Ruqayyah, Ummukulthum and Fatimah.”Allah also blessed him with Abraham: born to him by Mariah the Coptic.All of these children died during his life-time, except for Fatimah,who died six months after his death .
THE CONCLUSION
This is ashort account of Islam, in terms of its Faith and Laws. The details areto be found in the Qur’an , and Sunnah. And in what has been based onthem through various kinds of studies in line with that ourpredecessors carried on in full and with sincerity, based on deepinsight, thereby fulfilling
Allah ‘spromise, which says:
“ God has promised those whohave conformed to His system of faith and worship and imprinted theirdeeds with wisdom and piety a reward, I shall depute them on earth, anddelegate them to keep the .scale and commission them with power tomaintain the right, and I shall set them in the appropriate socialscale just as I deputed those before them in whose hearts reignedpiety And I will confirm for them their religion which I havechosen for them as the appropriate system of faith and worship. I willalso exchange the fear and the dread, which fell upon them for peace ofmind and soul provided that they adore Me with appropriate acts andrites and do not incorporate with Me other deities. ” (Sura24:55) And by so doing, they are on the side of Truth,
as Allah Sanctified has said:
“ You Muslims have been thebest people that evolved from mankind for mankind; you enjoin equityand you recourse to general principles of justice, and you forbid allthat is wrongful and obscene and you conform your will to God’s blessedwill. ” (Sura3: 110)
Muslims today, are in dire needof tightening their bond with Islam, by a basic understanding of itsbasic principles; and fully applying them. For their guidance.Indeed Islam must not be judged by the condition of the Muslims today;for the fault is not with the principles but rather, in misconceptionsand misapplications.
Allah Most high said:
“ O you who believe with heartsimpressed with religions and spiritual virtues: if you intend to directyour minds and thoughts to striving in the cause of God and to make Hispurpose the heart of your purpose, He will help you defend your finalcause and help you take a firm position and set your Feet firm” (Sura47:7)
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