|
|
|
Hazrat
Muhammad ( P.B.U.H )
|
Name:
MOHAMMAD IBIN ABD'ALLAH (P.B.U.H)
Title: 1) SADIQ (2) AMEEN
THE SEAL OF ALL PROPHETS (P.B.U.H)
Known as: AL-MUSTAFA (pbuh&hf)
Kunyat: ABUL QASIM
Wife: LADY KHADIJAH (A.S)
Born: Friday, 17th of Rabea Al Awwal in Mecca
Father: ABDULLAH IBIN ABD-UL-MUTTALIB(A.S)
Mother: AMINAH BINT WAHAB(A.S)
Grandfather: ABD-UL-MUTTALIB(A.S) Clan Chief of Bani Hashim
Uncle: Abu Taleb(AS) The Clan Chief of Bani Hashim
The Prophet's (P.B.U.H) Foster Father
The Prophet's (P.B.U.H) Protector
Father of Imam Ali Ibin Abe Taleb(A.S)
Children: The Lady Fatimah Al-Zahra(A.S)
Date of death: Monday, 28th Safar 11 AH At the age of 63
years old
Cause of death: Poisoned by an old Jewish woman
Buried in: Al-Medina, in his house adjoining the Great
Mosque
Birth of The Prophet
Abdullah, the son of Abd Al-Muttalib, was not in Mecca at
the time ofthe miracle of the birds. He had gone for trade
to Palestine and Syria with one of the caravans; and on his
way home he had lodged with his grandmother's family in
Yathrib, and there he had fallen ill.
The caravan went on without him to Mecca and when it brought
the news of his illness. His father Abd Al-Muttalib quickly
sent Harith to accompany his brother home as soon as he
should be well enough to travel.
But when Harith arrived at the house of his Yathrib cousins
they answered his greetings with commiserations, and he knew
at once that his brother Abdullah was dead.
There was great grief in Mecca when Harith returned.
Aminah's onlyconsolation was the unborn child of her dead
husband, and her solace increased as the time of her
delivery drew near.
She was conscious of a strong light within her One day it
shone so intensely from her, that she could see the castles
of Bostra in Syria. And then she heard a voice say softly to
her, "Thou ,carriest in thy womb, the Lord of this people.
When he is born say: 'I place him beneath the protection of
the One, from the evil of every envier; Then name him
Mohammad." Some weeks later, Aminah gave birth to her child
in the home of her uncle.
Then Abd Al-Muttalib took the new born baby boy in his arms
and carried him into the Sanctuary of the Holy House, The
Kaba. Where he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God for
this gift. Then he brought him once more to his mother, but
on the way he showed him off to his own household. He
himself was shortly to have another son, by Aminah's cousin
Halah. At the moment his youngest son was the three year old
Abbass who now met him at the door of his house. "This is
thy brother; kiss him," he said, holding out to him the
new-born babe, and Abbass kissed his baby nephew
Mohammad(pbuh&hf).
The Life of Prophet Mohammad (Sawa)
Until the advent of Islam, people all over the world were in
greatpoverty as to thought, opinions, individual and social
attitudes. The world was troubled and submerged with
polytheism and idolatry. The fire of corruption was flaming.
Superstitions and false views ruled the world in the name of
religion. Many worshipped idols, fire, cows and stars.
Tribal fights and disputes were very common. The Arabian
peninsula was suffering from social, economic, political and
other crisis, up to a point where Arabs were facing
extinction because of their ignorance and the power of their
oppressive neighbours. Allah (S) describes them in the Koran
as “…They had been in the abyss of ignorance and
misguidance.” (62:2) while in Nahjul-balagah, Imam Ali (AS)
describes the social condition of the Arabs in pre-Islam
days in the following way, “…society was in such a corrupt
state that no true form of religion was followed.
Convictions and beliefs about truth and justice were
disrespected; basic principles of life had become very
divergent; commands of Allah were set at naught; a way out
of this vicious chaos seemed impossible and the road to the
realm of Allah appeared closed”. It seems that people were
in desperate need of the emergence of a heavenly personality
who would bear on his capable shoulders the heavy burden of
guiding mankind. Leading them away from decay. It was under
these circumstances that the promised deliverer Mohammad
(P.B.U.H) came into this world. He (P.B.U.H) was born at
dawn on Friday, the seventeenth day of Rabi’al-Awwal, 53
years before the migration (Hijra), in the city of Mecca. He
was born an orphan, his father having died a few months
before his birth. His mother died when he was about six
years old, and his grandfather, who was his loving and
devoted guardian, died when he was eight years old. He then
passed into the care of his uncle (brother of his father)
Abu Talib. But Allah was the true guardian as he says “Did
he not find thee an orphan and take thee under his
protection?…” (93:6). The birth of this most noble messenger
was to generate a new energy and inexhaustible vitality in
mankind. He appeared at a time much needed by society. At
one period of his youth, Mohammad (P.B.U.H) tended sheep and
goats upon the neighbouring hills and valleys of Mecca. On
one occasion, he undertook a journey to Syria for the
purpose of trade with his Uncle Abu Talib. He was twelve
years old at the time. As Muhammad (P.B.U.H) acquired fair
knowledge and experience of business, and was well spoken of
by persons who happened to come in touch with him, some
traders engaged him as their representative to conduct
important business affairs on their behalf. Muhammad
(.B.U.H) so successfully executed these trusts that people
respected him and awarded him the title “Amin”
(trustworthy). Muhammad (P.B.U.H) went through his youth in
an environment polluted with sin, in a dirty society, but
this couldn’t affect him the least bit, he was far removed
from men and their corruption, he engaged in supplication
and armed himself with the weapon of faith. In the course of
time Allah (S) was preparing Muhammad (P.B.U.H) by
developing his spiritual personality in order to be able to
accept the divine message. Mohammad (P.B.U.H) would resort
to a cave where he would cultivate his thoughts and
meditate, evaluating the creation of universe and man. At
the age of forty, Mohammad (P) was prepared to undertake the
task of prophethood. One night, while in the cave
worshipping, the heavenly message descended upon him
(P.B.U.H) ordering him to recite. This was nothing other
than revelation. The prophet of Islam had the vision and
belief of a world l eader, and he surely was the one most
qualified for the position at the time and for times to
come. Muhammad (P.B.U.H) called upon people to believe in
Allah (S), the one and only God. Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (AS) was
the first man to accept the new religion while Khadijah
(RA), the Prophet’s wife was the first woman.Mohammad
(P.B.U.H) showed extraordinary powers of leadership and
political sense and began to refashion the state of
humanity. The course of Muhammad’s life underwent many
obstacles with varying degrees of hardships. The nature of a
human lacking completeness, or the strive for completeness,
tends to drive the individual towards rejection of truth.
This was evident in Mohammad’s (P.B.U.H) time as individuals
and tribes had attempted to lure him to give up his
spirituality and his God (SW). But our Prophet was not going
to give up the realm of Allah (SW), and no one was going to
stop him from achieving his goal. They tried to bribe him
with extensive amounts of wealth, but he had replied on one
occasion “…Even if you put the sun in my right hand and the
moon in my left, I would never leave the matter I am
pursuing”. And this tradition reflects in a contrasting way
and to a certain extent the degree of faith in him, and also
the value of the path he was preaching for. We all know the
significance of the sun and the moon and their relations to
life on earth, without them life would be meaningless.
Chiefs of the lands resorted to threaten, torment and
torture the prophet (P). Noting that physical torture had
resulted in martyrdom of a number of the early faithful
Muslims. The severe conditions imposed on the prophet
(P.B.U.H) had led him to seek exile to achieve the divine
goal. This necessitated his migration to a calm environment
after the first thirteen years of hardship and torment. Many
events and episodes were to follow with plots to kill him
(P.B.U.H). The fact was most of the unfaithful were to
remain that way, and persist on the material world. But for
those that welcomed the message, even though they were few
and weak, they had persisted and helped in the shaping of
the new society and the spread of the divine message.
Opposition to the prophet continued and he lead the
increasingly growing Muslims into battles against the evil
ones. Mohammad (P.B.U.H) showed that he is a master
strategist in war affairs. The prophet had so much of an
effect as a leader ( and this was due to his strong faith
and closeness to Allah (SW) ) that a new era of eradication
of evil was born. Jihad in the name of Allah and martyrdom
became, to the faithful a door to paradise and eternal
bliss. This was the energy in their hearts and the
enthusiasm to meet their creator - the pleasure that would
reach infinity, that was the driving force behind the
success of Islam. As time progressed, the last Prophet of
Allah’s (SW) mission approached its fulfillment. Until one
day he said to the people who were at that stage of time, a
hundred thousand, “this day I perfected your religion for
you and completed my favours unto you and have chosen Islam
as your faith” (5:4). This being a revelation, indicated
that his mission had been ful filled. Soon after that, the
prophet fell ill and passed away ending a life that has
stood unmatched in every respect in human history. A recent
study by an Islamic professor on the personality of Muhammad
(P.B.U.H) states the following “The personality of Muhammad,
it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only
a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of
picturesque scenes ? There is Muhammad, the prophet. There
is Muhammad, the general; Muhammad, the king; Muhammad, the
warrior; Muhammad, the businessman; Muhammad, the preacher;
Muhammad, the philosopher; Muhammad, the statesman;
Muhammad, the orator; Muhammad, the reformer; Muhammad,
therefuge of orphans; Muhammad, the protector of slaves;
Muhammad, the emancipator of women; Muhammad, the judge;
Muhammad, the saint. And in all these magnificent roles, in
all these departments of human activities, he is like a
hero”. Indeed humanity owes very much of its civilisation
nowadays to the leadership of the Prophet (P), as his super
character had left an enduring impact upon a large mass of
mankind. “Allah sends down his blessings on the prophet, and
his angels constantly invoke blessings on him, do, you O
believers, also invoke Allah’s blessings on him and offer
him the salutation of peace” (33:57).
THE LAST WILL
In his last hours, the Prophet of Allah (s.a.w.) said to his
companions who gathered in his house: "Bring me an inkwell
and a shoulder-blade so that I will write for you a letter
with which you will never go astray..." Then owing to the
heaviness of his sickness, he fainted. One of those who were
sitting by his bed noticed that and said: "The man speaks
deliriously". "Shall we bring you an inkwell and a
shoulder-blade?," they asked him shortly after he came
around. The Prophet (s.a.w.) turned down their offer saying:
"After what you have said? But I would like you to behave
kindly to my family..." When he felt he would presently
depart he confided to Imam Ali (a.s.) all his personal
affairs and those related to closed his eyes and died, with
his head was in the lap of Imam Ali (a.s.).(l08) Imam Ali
(a.s.) and his family made all the arrangement for his
ritual bathing. Then they prayed on him. Imam Ali (a.s.)
ordered the Muslims to go in and pray on their great
Messenger (s.a.w.) and pay tribute over him. Prayers having
been offered, the Commander of the Faithful Ali (a.s.) and
the family of the Prophet (s.a.w.), in the presence of a
number of his companions, laid the Prophet (s.a.w.) to rest
in the very room he had passed away. Thus, humankind lost
the greatest among the guides, and the most glorious mentor
ever to walk on the earth. May Allah send His blessings to
him on the day be was born, on the day he became the means
of guiding people and on the day he departed yearning to
meet his Lord. And all praise is due to Allah. |
|