DO YOU KNOW
?
THIS MAN
You may be an atheist or an agnostic; or you may belong to any of
the religious denominations that exist in the world today.
You may be communist or a believer in democracy and freedom.
No matter what you are, and no matter what your ideological and
political beliefs, personal and social habits happen to be
YOU MUST STILL KNOW THIS MAN
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA confirms:
" ..... a mass of detail in the early sources shows
that he was an honest and upright man who had
gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like wise honest and upright
men. "(Vol.12)
BERNARD SHAW said about him: "He must be called
the saviour of Humanity. I beleive
that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he
would succeed in solving its proplems in a way that
would bring it much needed peace and happiness." (The Genuine Islam,
Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8,1936)
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set
foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation,
laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms,
established a powerful and dynamic society to practise
and represent his teachings and completely revolutionized the worlds of human
thought and behaviour for all times to come.
HIS NAME IS "MUHAMMAD"
May Peace of God Be Upon Him (PBUH)
Born in
During this short period of 23 years of his Prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian peninsula
from paganism and idolatory to worship of One God,
from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from
drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy
to disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to higest
standard of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete
transformation of a people or a place before or since - and IMAGINE all these
unbelievable wonders in JUST OVER TWO DECADES.
Lamartine, the renowned historian speaking on the essentials of
Human Greatness wonders:
" If greatness of purpose, smallness of means
and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare
to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men
created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more
than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved
not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of
men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the
altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls ... his
forbearance in victory , his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea
and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic
conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest
not to an impostor but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore
a dogma. This dogma was two-fold, the unity of God and the immateriality of
God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the
one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with the
words. Philosopher, orator, apostle. legislator,
warrior, conqueror of ideas, restore of rational dogmas, of a cult without
images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire,
that is MUHAMMAD.
As regards all the standards by which Human
Greatness may be measured, we may well ask, IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE ?(
Lamartine. Historie de la Turquie, Paris, 1854, Vol. 11, pp. 276-277).
The world has had its share of great personalities.
But these were one-sided figures who distinguished themselves in but one or
two fields, such as religious thought or military leadership. The lives and
teachings of this great personalities of the world
are shrouded in the mist of time. There is so much speculation about the time
and place of their birth, the mode and style of their life, the nature and
detail of their teachings and the degree and measure of their success or
failure that it is impossible for humanity to reconstruct accurately the lives
and teachings of these men. Not so this man. Muhammad (Pbuh)
accomplished so much in such diverse fields of human thought and behaviour in the fullest blaze of human history. Every
detail of his private life and public utterances has been accurately documented
and faithfully preserved to our day. The authenticity of the
records so preserved are vouched for not only by the faithful followers
but even by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad(pbuh) was
a religious teacher, a social reformer, a moral guide, an administrative
colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion a devoted husband, a loving
father - all in one. No other man in history ever excelled or equalled him in any of these diferent
aspects of life- but it was only for the selfless personality of Muhammad (Pbuh) to achieve such incredible perfections.
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad(pBUH) says in 'Young India';
" I wanted to know the best of one who
holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind ... I
became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam
in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter selfeffacement of the prophet, the scrupulous regard for
his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his
intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own
mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted
every obstacle.
When I closed the 2nd volume ( of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not
more for me to read of the great life".
Thomas Carlyle in his 'Heroes and Heroworship' , was simply amazed as to: " how one man single handedly, could weld warring tribes and
wandering bedouins into a most powerful and
civilized nation in less than two decades".
Diwan Chand Shanna wrote: " Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and
never forgotten by those around him" (D.e.
Sharma. ' The Prophets of the East',
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ockley speaking on the profession of ISLAM write: "I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MUHAMMAD, APOSTLE OF
GOD" is the simple and invariable profession of
Islam.
"The intellectual image of the Diety has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honour of the Prophet have never transgressed the measure
of human virtues; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of
his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion". (History of the Saracen Empires, London, 1870, p.54).
Muhammad (Pbuh) was nothing more or less than a human
being. But he was a man with a noble mission, which was ONLY ONE GOD and to
teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of God.
He always described himself as "A Servant and Messenger of God," and
so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
Speaking on the aspect of equality before
God in Islam , the famous poetess of India, Sarojini Naidu says: "It was the first
religion that preached and practised democracy for,
in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered
together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant
and king kneel side by side and proclaim": "God Alone is Great.
"
" I have been struck over and over again by
this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother."
(S. Naidu, Ideals of Islam, vide speaches
& Writings, Madras, 1918, P.169).
In the words of Prof. Hurgronje: "the league of
nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international
unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to
other na
tions." He continues: "the
fact is that no nations of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done
towards the realization of the idea of the
The world has not hesitated to raise to divinity, individuals
whose lives and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking none
of these legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad (pbuh)
accomplished. And all his striving was for the sole purpose of uniting mankind
for the worship of One God on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad (Pbuh) or his followers never at any time claimed that he
was a Son of God or the God-incarnate or a man with divinity - but he always
was and is even today considered as only a Messenger chosen by God.
Micheal H. Hart in his
recently published book on rating of men who contributed towards the benefit
and upliftment of mankind writes: "My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's
most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by
others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both
the religious and secular levels." (M.H. Hart,The 100: Aranking
of the most influential persons in History I , New York, 1987, pp.33).
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life
and teaching of Muhammad (pbuh)
have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. They offer
the same undying hope for treating mankind's many ills, which they did when he
was alive. This is not a claim of Muhammad's (Pbuh) followers but also the inescapable conclusion forced
upon by a critical and unbiased history.
The least YOU could do as a thinking
and concerned human being is to stop for a moment and ask yourself:
Could
these statements sounding so extrordinary and
revolutionary be really true? And supposing they really are true and you did
not know this man MUHAMMAD (pbuh) or hear about him, isn't it time you respond to this
tremendous challenge and put-in some efforts to know him?
It will cost you nothing but it may prove to be the beginning
of a completely new era in your life.
We invite you to make a discovery of this wonderful
man, 'MUHAMMAD (pbuh)' , the like of whom never walked on the face of this earth.
For more
information, please call or write to:
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (W AMY) P.O.Box: 10845,
Fax.:
(01) 464-1710
or one of its branches / the nearest Muslim organization
or centre: