Who was Muhammad [Peace & Blessings be upon him]?
Muhammad [Peace and blessings be upon him] was the last and final messenger of the series of Prophets and Messengers sent by God Almighty Allah, with one message to humanity and that is to submit to his will and guidance which is Islam. He was born in 570 CE in Makkah [Mecca] in the Arab Peninsula. His father, Abdallah, died several weeks before his birth in Yathrib [Medinah] and his mother Aminah, died when he was six years old. Muhammad was just and kind since his childhood. In his early adulthood, he was known for his wisdom and noble character. Upon hearing of Muhammad's impressive credentials, Khadijah, a rich merchant widow, asked Muhammad to take some merchandise for trade to Syria. Soon after this trip when he was twenty-five, Khadijah proposed to Muhammad and he accepted the proposal. At that time Khadijah was forty years old. Khadijah and Muhammad were the parents of six children -four daughters and two sons.
Muhammad was forty when, during his one of many retreats to Mount Hira for mediatation during the month of Ramadan, he recevied his first revelation from Archangel Jibril [Gabriel]. The first few people who embraced Islam were his wife Khadijah, his daughters, his cousin Ali, his servant Zayd Harithah and his friend Abu Bakr. As the message began to spread, the Makkan chiefs began to persecute Muslims by beating, torture and boycott of their businesses. When the persecution became unbearable for most Muslims, the Prophet advised them in the fifth year of his mission (615) CE to immigrate to Abyssina (modern Sudan & Ethiopia) where Negus, a Christian, was the ruler. After the death of his wife Khadija and his uncle Abu Talib, persecution became unbearable. There, he received the command from his Lord to migrate to Medinah.
In 622 CE, Muhammad and most of the Muslims migrated to Madinah where he established the first Muslim community and wrote the first constitution for a civil multicultural and multi-faith society according to the word of God for all human beings:
"O human beings! Indeed We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (eace other). Qur'an [49:13]
Jews, Christians and Pagans were living together and everyone had the right to do business, own property and pratice their faith. The chiefs of Makkah were not happy with this reform, therefore they engaged in war with the Muslims in their new homeland. All the wars fought by the Muslims in the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) were in self defence according to the persmission given to God in [22:39-40]. In the year 630 CE, the chiefs of Makkah violated the peace treaty with Muslims by killing a number of them. This incident was the reason of the first and last offensive battle in the time of Muhammad , known as the conquest of Makkah.
In the year 632 CE, Muhammad made his pilgrimage to Makkah, which is known as the 'Farewell Pilgrimage'. He addressed all humanity in a sermon that included:
"All human beings are from Adam and Adam is from dust. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a white except by piety and good action."
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) passed in that year at the age of 63.
Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
"A kind word is charity."
"Love for humanity what you love for yourself".
"The most complete in faith are those best in character and kindness to their families."
"Exchange gifts and mutal love arises; shake hands and enmity will fall away."
What People say about Muhammad
There has been much written and much said about the Prophet Muhammad. From Muslim scholars to Western thinkers. Muhatma Ghandi wrote in his autobiography that he used to commence many public speeches with verses from the Glorious Qur'an.
"I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind...I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for 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 surmouted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry that there was not more for me to read of that great life." Mahatma Ghandi 'Young India' 1924
Michael Hart gave the Prophet Muhammad a first ranking in his book "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History."
"My choice of Muhammad (570 CE - 630 CE) 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 secular and religious level... Michael H Hart "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History." 1987
"History makes it clear, however, that the legend of the fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths historians have ever repeated." De Lacy O'Leary 'Islam at the Crossroads'. 1923
The Prophet Muhammad's Character
Written by Sheikh Abdalla Yassin Mohamed
Muhammad [Peace & blessings be upon him] was just and kind since his childhood. In his early adulthood, he was known for his wisdom and noble character and was popularly known as 'al-Ameen' for his impeachable character by the Makkans and vistors alike. The title Al-Ameen means the 'honest, the reliable, the trustyworthy', and it signified the highest standard of moral character and good conduct. This was in fact the core of the divine preparation of him to deliver the message of mercy and noble character to humanity. He clarified this aim of the message of Islam when he said:
"Verily, I have been sent to perfect high moral qualities." [Musnad Ahmad]
God Almighty testified for him his integrity of morals and hence for his suitability to deliver His message in the Holy Qur'an:
"And Indeed, you are of a great integrity of morals." [Al Qur'an 86:4]
Muhammad was gentle, kind and merciful in delivering the message of his Lord. His love and concern for all people was so great that he used to pass over their faults, ask God to forgive them and consult them in all affairs of their time. His mission was to invite to the way of His Lord with wisdom and beautiful advice and then remind people when they forgot. Therfore, he used to respect the choice of people according to the God-given freedom of faith:
"Let their be no compulsion in matters of faith and interaction." [Al Qur'an 2:256]
Muhammad was mercy bestowed on all the worlds as stated in the Holy Qur'an [21:107]. He was mercivful even to his enemies. He had once been asleep with his sword cushioned underneath him, when a non-believer snatched it and said to him "Who will save you from me O Muhammad?" He (peace & blesssings be upon him) said "Allah". At that moment, the sword slipped from the man's hand and the Messenger of Alah took it and said to him: "Now, who will save you from me?" The non-believer said "Your clemency O Muhammad". So he left him without compelling him to say: "There is no God but Allah" to become a Muslim.
On the conquest of Makkah, the people of the city expected general slaughter in the view of their persecution and torture of the Muslims for the past twenty years. While standing by the Ka'bah, Muhammad promised clemency for the Makkans, stating: O Quraish, what do you think that I am about to do with you?" They replied, "Good. You are a noble brother, son of a noble brother." The Prophet forgave them all saying: "I will treat you as Prophet Yousuf (Joseph) treated his brothers. There is no reproach against you. Go to your homes and you are all free."
For more information or if you would like to discuss this spiritual tradition further please contact Shiekh Abdalla Yassin Mohmaed via loveislam.co.uk
Websites
www.loveislam.co.uk
By Shiekh Abdalla Yassin Mohamed (OBE, Phd). Born in Khartoum, Sudan Dr Abdalla graduated with a BSc in Biology from Khartoum University and a masters in Zoology. He completed his doctorate in Psychology from Liverpool University. Shiekh Abdalla's knowledge stems from over 30 years of traditional Islamic study under Shiekh El'nayyal Qadir Abu Groon in Sudan. Specialities include traditional medicine, Arabic language, Sciences of Qur'an & Hadith as well as modern science and spiritual diseases.
Below is an extract from his Website
Islam and Nature.
Religion is natural, not because it is a product of nature but because nature was created by God Almighty who meant religion to be the code of conduct for humans in nature, equally as He meant the laws of nature to be the way things behave the way they are. Islam is the religion of Fitrah (the original pure nature of God's creation), therefore, it is always in harmony with nature.
The religious code of conduct is noble character, the aim of the Message from God to all His Messengers. Noble character is for living in peace with yourself , your family, your community and nature. The Muslim is defined by the Prophet Muhammad as the one whom other people are safe from harm by his hand and tongue You may be already be living islam, but still there is something missing: knowledge.
Because of the limitation of human thinking, reason and means of exploration of nature of beyond, religion is the ultimate source of knowledge that may answer the questions of who are we as human beings? Where do we come from? What is our purpose of life? Where do we go after death? in other words, religion (the revelation) provides the relational database for humans to appreaciate his position in nature and beyond. Moreover, religion provides humans with the user manual of his own creation (make) to function normally, i.e. the way our Creator meant it to be...
www.healthymuslim.com
A wealth of natural medicine from the Tibb (Faith medicine).
Books for Thought
Qur'an translation By Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik. Available from Amazon.
The All embracing Message of Islam by Shiekh El-nayyal Aby Groon available also for Amazon.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam by Yahya Emerick
The Content of Character Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad translated by Hamza Yusuf.
we will be updating the rest of this section shortly.