The Prophet Muhmmad - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (6 of 2023)

1. Life of Prophet - Prophet Muhammad was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief. Muhammad was born approximately 570 CE in Mecca. He was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. His father Abdullah was the son of Quraysh tribal leader Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, and he died a few months before Muhammad's birth. His mother Amina died when he was six, leaving Muhammad an orphan. He was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib. In later years, he would periodically seclude himself in a mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer. When he was 40, Muhammad reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave and receiving his first revelation from God. In 613, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "submission" (islām) to God is the right way of life (dīn), and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam. Muhammad's followers were initially few in number, and experienced hostility from Meccan polytheists for 13 years. To escape ongoing persecution, he sent some of his followers to Abyssinia in 615, before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina (then known as Yathrib) later in 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri Calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent fighting with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca. The conquest went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill and died on 12 Rabiul Awwal 10 A.H. after saying his last prayer in the Masjid-e-Nabawi, and made Abu Bakr the Imam of this prayer. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. Later when Abu Bakar and Umar died, they were buried to the right and left side of the Prophet. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet al-Fārūq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)").
2. The Prophet in the Quaran - Is a human being, adopting a superior code of ethics as a human being, so that he should come up to the highest standard of conduct in all matters. A test for people, with the knowledge of the unseen, who found ease in difficulty, and the world for him became a means of spiritual provision. His basic task was to warn people of the serious consequences in the life to come, regarding their actions in this world. He is said to be the answer to Abrahams prayer - (2:129 says) "Send forth to them a messenger of their own people who shall declare to them your revelations and instruct them in the book and in wisdom and purify them. You are the mighty, the wise one." He would communicate God's message. A dayee has to rise above the psychology of reaction. He has to become a unilateral well-wisher of the madu, howsoever adverse the attitude adopted by the latter. 
3. The Personality of the Prophet of Islam - Positive thinking, trust in God, great concern over giving guidence, courage and fearlessness, sense of equality, concern about the hearafter, respect for human beings, Humanitarian Feeling, Trust in realities, An Uncompromising attitude, making God author for success and not taking credit for victory, Prayer. 
4. The Prophetic Wisdom - Visionary. His entire life was filled with examples of wisdom at all stages, in tolerating insults, not making premature actions, showing patience, avoiding confrontation, concession to others, secrecy, accepting status quo, finding ease in difficulty, strategic retreat, the policy of gradualness in reform, making concessions as the situation requires, Broadmindedness. 
5. The Policy of the Prophet - "Patiently preserve as did the steadfast apostles before you. And do not seek to hurry on their (i.e. the unbelievers) doom." (46:35) ; Verbal dawah, principle of differentiation, "the greatest jihad was to say a word of truth and justice to a tyrant ruler. (Sunnan abi Dawood, 4/122); obey ruler, status quoism, mission to establish monotheism (Tawheed)
6. The Prophet of Islam and Other Prophets - Every one of them was an upright man guided by god alone, a straight path and as such was superior to all others. Chapter 6 mentions a number of prophets name - Ibraim, Ishaaq, Yaqub, Noah, Dawood, Sulaiman, Ayyub, Yousuf, Musa, Haroon, Zakariya, Isa, Ismail, Al-Yasa, Younus and Lot, (Peace be upon them).(6.91-follow their guidence). Prophet Adam - first - two children Cain and Abel. Abel - virtuous brother. Be better of the two brothers. Quaran also mention Moses and Christ. Not a book of history, but a living guidence is what Quaran is called. 
7. The Lesson of Hudaybiyya - One should refrain from tacking difficulties by confrontational methods. Instead we must find ways and means of availing of the existing opportunities by avoiding the problems. If necessary this principle should be observed to the extend of our being willing to accept the unilateral conditions of the opponents, treating them as representing a temporary phase. Principle is, in any circumstance, problems have to be ignored and opportunities, despite all difficulties, have to be availed of. Method was to study the prevailing sets of circumstances dispassionately and objectively and then follow that course of is own without any external pressure. This is called Hudaybiya policy. Initial days dawah messages were given secretly. Aim was not to get into controversy. Dawaha work was to be performed using techniques of Islam. It was superior to armed Jihad. There are two kinds of Jihad - armed struggle being minor jihad and peaceful struggle being the major jihad. It is about trying to seek a solution in the spirit of taqwa (God fearing spirit)
8. The Propetic Mission - History shapes itself around social or human circumstance. But basic teachings are eternal and is the fundamental teachings of the prophet. Order of activity as per history is first perform dawah, then undertake migration, then perform jihad and in the 4th stage establish Islamic state; but this is not as applicable now nor as per propetic mission. All God's messengers were given same religion, but they were interpreted differently. Another mission was 'tazkia' (purification) - i.e man's thinking and feeling should be so reformed that he should be enabled to follow the path of God whole-heartedly and with total concentration. To translate thinking into action, to awaken the spiritual feelings and to inculcate in them the real spirit of moral elevation. Third is teaching the diving book to people. "God is one and he alone deserves being worshipped." 5th is education if fiqh (law) - These two are instructions in wisdom. His actual status was that of a dayee and actual mission dawah. 
9. The Prophet as a Model - Practised. Implementation according to circumstances. 
10. The Finality of Prophethood - Seal (Katam) of Prophets. The secret of social peace lies in social respect and not in mutual recognition. 
11. Trusting Human Nature - Prophet took greatest risk and hence got great success. Human are subordinated to the temperament he is born with. All other things are only of  temporary nature. We should ignore superficial factors. If we are able to give concession to human nature by avoiding provocation, problems will ultimately solve themselves. The provocation will vanish on its own and then what will be left will be the element of humanity, which is the nature with which God created us. 
12. Studying the Prophet's Life in the Light of his Message - There are two chief objectives of predominance of religion. One was to bring the system of religious coercion to an end, so that the task of dawah - a task which had to be performed in the past in very difficult circumstances - could be performed in a propitious atmosphere. The other aim was to lend the full support of rational argument to God's religion, so that no other religion could compare with Islam in terms of ideological veracity. These two tasks have been performed on a large scale in modern times. According to a tradition of the Prophet, a time would come when God's word would enter all the homes of the world (Musnad Ahmad) It is a prophecy, in an indirect sense, of the coming of this age of fast communications. Aim now is to establish normal relationship between dayee and madu  and communicate Islam to them in strife-free circumstances. In the modern age, there is a great potential to do that. Dawah activism is another name for the peaceful struggle to propogate Islam. 
13. The Power of Peace - Qur'an tells us that God does not love disorder (2:205). Jihad means struggle. This word is used for non-violent activism as compared to violent activism. 
14. Prophetic Guidance for the Modern Age - Prophet was send as "a mercy for all mankind" (21:107); he gave conviction, which philosophy and science could not of the same kind. Religion is the name of that knowledge that has come directly from God. Qur'an says Knowledge is of two kinds - experimental and revealed. How many existing religions are historically credible? There are about one dozen major religions in the world, countless minor religions. There is no historical evidence to support their reliability or credibility. Furthermore the revealed scriptures of these religions have been marred by human interpolation. There are many contradictions in their assertions. Regarding Man and women - it is said 'You are the offspring of one another'(3:195)There would be balance if guidance of Prophet is followed. Creation is done in such a way that man and woman are given something which other do not have. Both go together to make a whole. Neither is complete in himself or herself. But when they both join together, a complete whole is produced. Differences exist between human socially and economically, because people are born different. External and Internal factors vary, then how can human being root out these differences? Challenge and competion are stimuli which keep people perpetually active. He also differentiates between healthy and unhealthy freedom. Prophet's teaching give man the opportunity to organise life in a far better way, and on a far higher plane.