Glimpses of the Prophet's Life

Age of Disenlightenment

The meaning and importance of the Prophet's message can best be comprehended against the background of pre-Islamic Arabia. Historians refer to this period as the "era of ignorance" (Jahiliyah).

Before the inception of Islam the Arabian peninsula was a scene of social disorder. Depending on their localities its inhabitants had adopted various beliefs such as Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism etc. Idol-worshippers, however, constituted the majority.

It is reckoned that twenty centuries before the advent of Islam, Prophet Ismael was sent to guide the tribes of Hijaz, Yemen and ` Amaligah. During this long span of time, how- ever, most of his teachings were obliterated.

Only the concept of Oneness of God had lived for a considerable time - six or seven centuries before the beginning of the Muslim Era, Hijrah. `Amr ibn Luwayy, the then Mec- can chief brought an idol from Balga where he had been for medical treatment.

Later on, some three hundred and sixty idols were made and erected in and around the Ka'bah. As time went by even idol-worshipping deteriorated to the extent that an idolator would eat his idol made of dates when he felt hungry and use the stones to clean himself in toilet.

(5) This should serve as an unforgettable lesson present generation and those to come to the as to how negligence and the absence of remem- brance of God, and the authority emanating from His message led an otherwise capable nation to the depth of darkness.

Some of the Arab tribes regarded daugh- ters as a nuisance and when they attained the age of five or six they would be buried alive. Some killed their children for fear of poverty.

In that lawless society morals had become very loose indeed. When a man died, his wife or wives were inherited by the nearest male relation. In this way one could take his step mother as his wife.

There was no law pertain- ing to marriage or divorce. Hence a man could acquire as many wives as he wished and di- vorce them when he pleased. To divorce his wife it was sufficient for a man to say to her "you are to me as the back of my mother;"

but she would not be permitted to marry another man. Thus women used to be treated like articles of trade to be bought, sold or bartered away.

Slaves, female and male alike, were the victims of that cruel society which held un- limited power over their life and death. Gambling, drunkenness and fornication, cruelty and plunder were objects of pride for the Arabs. Such was their daily life. The pre-Islamic Arabs led a tribal life.

The concept of nationhood or government was foreign to them. Inter-tribal relations were worse than could be imagined. In the fifty years before Islam one hundred and thirty two battles took place between the tribes.

This warlike character of the Arabs is reflected in their ancient poetry. One Arab poet wrote:

"If an enemy tribe we do not find, We go to war with a related or friend tribe, And our war-lust is thus quenched." (6) Arabs were not people of letters. "Even in a large town like Mecca, where commerce flourished and traders required to consign to writing a memorandum of their transactions on credit, there were no more than fifteen or twenty persons who knew to read and write... al-Baladhuri even names these seventeen in- dividuals". (7)

Despite all that has been said so far and the scores of other shortcomings which the pre-Islamic Arabs had, they also possessed cer tain admirable qualities. They were outspoken, hospitable, generous, brave, and never yielding to their enemies. However in the absence of sound instructions even the best of qualities are bound to be misused.

But was this social decadance peculiar to the Arabs alone? Certainly not. Their con- temporaries might have led a more luxurious and civilised life but were in, more or less, the same state otherwise. Thus ignorance had brought mankind to the brink of destruction from which only something miraculous could save them.

The Messenger

When mankind was so deeply engrossed in futile and harmful practices, Allah most high out of His endless mercy raised a Prophet from among them to purify them and restore their lost dignity. Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.),

the posthumous son of `Abdullah, the youngest son of `Abd al-Muttalib, a most important leader of Mecca, and Aminah, daughter of Wahab, son of `Abd Manaf, son of Zuhrah, the chief of Banu Zuhrah, was born, according to the majority, on 12th Rabi` al-Awwal, (probably 22nd April) 571 A.D.* The name "Muhammad" (meaning "The praised one") was given to him by his grandfather `Abd al- Muttalib. When questioned about his choice of this uncommon name the latter replied.

"I desire that he may be praised in the heav- ens for the sake of God and in the earth for the sake of His creatures." A week or two after his birth, Muhammad (p.bx.h.a.h.p.) was given in charge of a wet-nurse called Halimah, from Banu Sa'd, as this was the custom of the nobility of Mecca.

Halimah nursed Muham- mad (p.bx.h.a.h.p.) for five years, who in return honoured and showed deep affection towards her and her family, throughout his life. It is related that once there was a year of famine and Halimah paid a visit to him.

He gave her a camel burdened with goods and *According to the majority of Shi'ah historians, the Prophet's birthday was on 17th Rabi` al-Awwal. forty sheep.

Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) was about six years old when his mother died. From then onward he was brought up by his grandfather ` Abd al-Muttalib, an affectionate old man. And upon the death of `Abd al-Muttalib two years later the guardianship of Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) passed to Abu T~lib a kind and generous uncle.

Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) was liked and respected by all since his youth for his noble character, charming manners and exceptional qualities; and his relations with the people earned him the appellations "al-Amin " and "as-sadiq " meaning the "trustworthy" and the "truthful" respectively.

`Abdullah ibn Abi al- Hamsa° reports that long before Muhammad proclaimed his mission he had some transaction with him. The transaction was not completed when the former left Muhammad, promising to be back. `Abdullah forgot about the affair completely. "Three days later," says `Abdullah "when I was walking past the place I found him still waiting for me. He was not annoyed with me at all for my carelessness. All that he said was: `you put me to the trouble of waiting here for three days'."

Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) was about twenty-three years old when the four leading families of the Quraysh undertook the recon struction of the Ka'bah, the sacred House of God, after its walls were damaged by flood.

All went well until the stage was reached when the sacred black stone had to be installed in its proper place. The four, unable to share the honour of placing the stone, were soon at each other's throats. The argument had gone so far that Mecca seemed to be at the brink of a civil war. Observing the serious situation AN Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah al-Makhzum Bab as-

suggested that the first person entering Safa be made arbitrator. And when they saw Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) entering there was a unanimous agreement to abide by the judgment of the "Trustworthy". Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) ended the quarrel quite simply:

He placed the Black Stone in the centre of a piece of cloth spread out and let the chief of each tribe hold one corner of this cloth. On Muhammad's (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) order the chiefs raised the cloth up to the required height;

he then fixed the stone in the appropriate position. He thus prevented what seemed to be an in- evitable war. But some forty more years had to elapse before he made the Arabs bury the hatchet which they so often used to chop each other's head.

At the age of twenty-five he married Khadijah, daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn ` Abd al-`Uzza ibn Qusayy. She was forty then and had been married twice before. Khadijah ranked high among the women of Quraysh. She was kindhearted, elegant, noble and attractive.

And having inherited considerable property _ from her second husband, she was wealthy. But above all she was renowned as "at-Tahirah" (meaning "the pure"). Although a number of celebrities from the Quraysh had expressed the desire to marry her, they all met with refusal.

Therefore Muhammad's (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) mar- riage with Khadijah was to be regarded as another feather in his cap. Khadijah never ceased to be an ideal wife till she breathed her last. And Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) always remembered her after her passing away with sorrow and deep affection.

At the age of forty he began to receive the Divine Revelation. Muhammad (p.b.uh.- a.h.p.) who, was thus assigned to convey God's Message to people began to preach the "new faith" quietly and patiently to whoever would be likely to accept.

In the first three years forty people embraced Islam. When the Mess- age was proclaimed publicly it met with fierce opposition. The Meccans did not fail to discern the fact that the new religion aimed at a complete reformation of the society, to which they would not subscribe. Disbelievers began to think of ways and means to render the call to Islam ineffective.

They fast tried to bribe the Prophet by offering him wealth and leadership; they were refused. They threat- ened and attempted to kill him, yet they did not succeed. They called him a madman. But in the very depth of their hearts they admired him and admitted the fact that they were un- fair to him..

So when Caesar, the Roman em- peror questioned the Meccan chief Abu Sufyan, who at the time was a deadly opponent of the Prophet, regarding Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) the former replied: "Muhammad, the son of ` Abdullah, is nobly born.

His followers are on the increase. He is honest and truthful, has never told a falsehood, nor ever broken a pledge. He enjoins the people to worship one God and pray to no other deity. He preaches kindness, piety and tolerance towards all." (8) "Why then" one might ask "did the Mec- cans not follow the Prophet but instead fought him?" The answer to this is quite evident.

The Message of Islam was aiming at changing the course of their lives, transforming their person- alities, remoulding their manners and behav- iour.

Above all the new faith demanded that they should abandon their idols, which they held to be sacred. Besides, the boastful Arabs, who regarded the rest of mankind as " `ajam", inferior to them, could not simply swallow the concepts of "equality of men", "social justice", "human rights" etc. while Islam preached that man's superiority was not to be judged by race, rank, ancestry or the number of camels and slaves one possessed. Righteousness alone was to count.

As Islam continued to spread, the anger and anxiety of the Meccans grew too. They threatened the Prophet with dire consequences if he did not put an end to his preaching.

This did not carry any weight with the Proph- et. But the cruelty of the disbelievers to the Muslims was now beyond endurance. It was then that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) ad- vised some of his companions to migrate to Abyssinia. The lesson to be derived from this departure of the Muslims from their mother- land to a totally foreign country is important.

This incident indicates the degree of their faith in Islam and the extent to which they would go in their sacrifice for their religion.

Life in Mecca was miserable, hard and cruel to Mus- li ms. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas relates that on an occasion out of acute hunger he was forced to wash and eat a piece of dry camel skin which he discovered while passing water.

Believers were molested, tortured, killed; some fled abroad but the struggle continued. No one gave in.

When all methods failed the eminent personalities of Quraysh gathered together in the hope that they would convince Muhammad (p.b.h.a.h.p.). Their spokesman `Utbah spoke to him in the Ka'bah ".......... If you have created this upheaval because you want wealth and riches, say so,

and we shall make you the richest man in the land. If you want power and authority tell us and we shall make you our ruler .........." Muhammad (p.b.h.a.h.p.) replied "I want no wealth nor riches. I have no desire to be crowned a king ........ I am a humble -servant of God.

He has sent me to you as His Apostle. He has revealed to me His Book and He has commanded that I warn you against His wrath if you reject Him, and to bring you a promise of His blessings, if you believe. So I have given you His Message and no power on earth will stop me from propa- gating it.........." These words uttered by the Prophet in a way forecast the future success of Islam in the definite statement "........and no power on earth will stop me from propagating it........"

The remarkable thing is the fact that when these words were uttered the whole Mus- lim population was negligible in comparison with that of disbelievers. The Prophet's words much angered Quraysh who decided to boy- cott the Muslims.

Accordingly no one in Mecca would be allowed to do business with the Prophet, his family or his :followers, sell food to them, pay a visit or even. talk to them. Thus the Messenger and his followers were compelled to abandon Mecca and settle in a nearby valley.

Nevertheless the Prophet con- tinued to go to the Ka'bah and to pray pub- licly. And whenever he had the opportunity he preached to strangers visiting Mecca for business or pilgrimage.

Muslims lived in misery and utter discomfort for more than two long years feeding practically on grass for scarcity of food until some relenting Meccans lifted the ban. Shortly after this the Prophet lost his wife and his uncle Abu Talib who had been of great help to him. The Prophet went on striving hard for the dissemination of the Message. One day, accompanied by Zayd, he walked up the rugged mountains to the city of Td'if, some fifty miles away from Mecca.

Overcome by fanaticism and ignorance the people of this town brutally attacked and stoned the Prophet who had come to deliver them from darkness to light.

As Ghulam Sarwar puts it: "If there was any just occa- sion for any man to curse his enemies, it was now for Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) to do so with regard to the people of Ta'if. He was bleeding, and his heart was almost broken at the cruel treatment he has so unjustly received.

He might have said, `O God! destroy these people who are so wicked and not one of them has any sense of fairness.' He did nothing of the kind." (9) Instead of condemning and com- plaining about his enemies he sought refuge in God in humility of heart and utmost sincerity.

In the eleventh year of Prophethood a happy incident took place. Six pilgrims from the city of Yathrib, later named Madinat an Nabi, became Muslims and swore allegience to Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.).

These new con- verts spread Islam in Medina in quite fast so that in the following year a group of 72 Yathribite Muslims presented themselves to the Prophet and secretly pledged themselves and their people "to stand by him as they would stand by their own children."

Intensified persecution of the Muslims by Quraysh made it impossible for the former to dwell in Mecca any longer. In this difficult period the Prophet was divinely ordained to leave Mecca. He left for Medina shortly before the Quraysh broke into his house intending to kill him.