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Divine facilitation is proportionate to human need.
God makes acquisition easier as the need of humans increase. Air, water,
and sunlight are necessary for human survival, and thus God has granted their
acquisition to all without hardship. The greatest human need is to know
the Creator, and thus, God has made it easy to know Him. The evidence for
God, however, differs in its nature. In its own way, everything in
creation is evidence of its Creator. Some evidence is so obvious that any
lay person can immediately ‘see’ the Creator, for instance, the cycle of life
and death. Others ‘see’ the handiwork of the Creator in the elegance of
mathematical theorems, universal constants of physics, and the development of
the embryo:
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth,
and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed signs for men of
understanding.” (Quran 3:190)
Like the existence of God, human beings need evidence to
establish the truth of prophets who spoke in His name. Muhammad, like the
prophets before him, claimed to be God’s final prophet to humanity.
Naturally, the evidence for his veracity is diverse and numerous. Some
are obvious, while others are apparent only after deep reflection.
God says in the Quran:
“…Is it not enough (for them to know) that your Lord is
witness unto everything?” (Quran 41:53)
Divine witness by itself is sufficient without any other
evidence. God’s witness for Muhammad lies in:
(a) God’s past revelations to earlier prophets which
prophesize Muhammad’s appearance.
(b)
God’s Acts: the miracles and ‘signs’ He gave to support Muhammad’s claim.
How did it all begin in the early days of Islam? How
were the first believers convinced he was God’s prophet?
The first person to believe in the prophethood of Muhammad
was his own wife, Khadija. When he returned home trembling out of fear
after receiving divine revelation, she was his solace:
“Never! By God, God will never disgrace you. You
keep good relations with your relatives, help the poor, serve your guests
generously, and assist those hit with calamities.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
She saw in her husband a man God would not humiliate,
because of his virtues of honesty, justice, and helping the poor.
His closest friend, Abu Bakr who had known him all his life
and was almost the same age, believed the moment he heard the words, ‘I am
God’s Messenger’without any additional confirmation other than the open book of
his friend’s life.
Another person who accepted his call on merely listening to
it, was ‘Amr’[1] He
says:
“I used to think before Islam that people were in error and
they were on nothing. They worshipped idols. In the meantime, I
heard of a man preaching in Mecca ;
so I went to him…I asked him: ‘Who are you?’ He said: ‘I am a Prophet.’
I again said: ‘Who is a Prophet?’ He said: ‘God sent me.’ I
said: ‘What did He send you with?’ He said: ‘I have been sent to join
ties of relationship, to break the idols, and to proclaim the unity of God so
nothing is associated with Him (in worship).’ I said: ‘Who is with you in
this?’ He said: ‘A free man and a slave (referring to Abu Bakr and Bilal,
a slave, who had embraced Islam by that time).’ I said: ‘I intend to
follow you.’” (Saheeh Muslim)
Dimad was a desert healer who specialized in mental illnesses.
On his visit to Mecca
he heard the Meccans say that Muhammad (may the mercy and blessings of God be
upon him) was insane! Confident of his skills, he said to himself, ‘If I were
to come across this man, God might cure him at my hand.’ Dimad met the Prophet
and said: ‘Muhammad, I can protect (one) who suffers from mental illness or
under sorcery, and God cures one whom He so desires at my hand. Do you
desire to be cured?’ The Prophet of God responded, starting with his
usual introduction to his sermons:
“Indeed, praise and gratitude is for God. We praise
Him and ask for His help. He who God guides, none can lead astray, and he
who is led astray cannot be guided. I bear witness no one deserves
worship but God, He is One, has no partners, and Muhammad is His Servant and
Messenger.”
Dimad, stuck by the beauty of the words, asked him to repeat
them, and said, ‘I have heard the words of diviners, sorcerers, and poets, but
I have never heard such words, they reach the depth of the oceans. Give
me your hand so I may pledge my allegiance to you on Islam.’[2]
After Gabriel brought the first revelation to Prophet
Muhammad, Khadija, his wife, took him to visit her old cousin, Waraqa bin
Nawfal, a biblical scholar, to discuss the event. Waraqa recognized
Muhammad from the prophecies of the Bible and confirmed:
“This is the Keeper of Secrets (Angel Gabriel) who came to
Moses.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
The face can be a window to the soul. Abdullah bin
Salam, the chief rabbi of Medina at the time,
looked at the face of the Prophet when he arrived in Medina , and exclaimed:
“The moment I looked at his face, I knew it was not the face
of a liar!” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
Many of those around the Prophet who did not accept Islam
did not doubt in his veracity, but refused to do so for other reasons.
His uncle, Abu Talib, aided him throughout his life, confessed to the
truthfulness of Muhammad, but refused to break off from the religion of his
ancestors out of shame and social status.
Footnotes:
[1] Amr
b. Abasa Sulami.
[2] Saheeh
Muslim.
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