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“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is
the Messenger of God and last of the prophets. And God has knowledge of all
things.” (Quran 33: 40)
When a person accepts Islam, reconfirms his or her faith or
prays any of the five daily prayers, they also affirm their belief in Muhammad
as a prophet of God; the final prophet. In addition to this over 1.5
billion people the world over believe that Prophet Muhammad’s life is worthy of
being emulated and aspired to. However many people embrace Islam without
really knowing Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon
him. Perhaps all they know is that he was born and lived in the Arabian Peninsula and received the literal word of God in
the form of the Quran. In the following two articles we will look at the
noble life of Prophet Muhammad, learn to know and love him just a little bit
more. We will achieve this by looking at the signs of Prophethood in his
noble life.
In Arabic the word prophet (nabi) is derived from the word
naba which means news. Thus we deduce that a prophet spreads the news of God
and His message, they are in a sense God’s ambassadors on earth. Their
mission is to convey the message to worship One God. This includes,
calling the people to God, explaining the message, bringing glad tidings or
warnings and directing the affairs of the nation. All the prophets were anxious
to convey God’s message sincerely and completely and this included the last prophet,
Muhammad. During his final sermon Prophet Muhammad asked the congregation three
times whether he had delivered the message, and called on God to witness their
answer, which was a resounding “yes!”.
As well as the essence of their call to One God, another
accepted sign of the truth of the prophets is how they live their lives.
The accounts of Prophet Muhammad’s life that we have inherited from our
righteous predecessors illustrate that Muhammad’s Prophethood was guided by God
from the very beginning. Long before, Prophethood Muhammad was being
prepared to guide humankind to the straight path and his life experiences stood
him in good stead for such a weighty mission. Then at the age of 40 when
Prophethood was bestowed upon him, God continued to support and affirm his
mission. Any account of Muhammad’s life is filled with examples of his
exemplary character; he was merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, and
generous, while striving solely for the rewards of the Hereafter. The way
Prophet Muhammad dealt with his companions, acquaintances, enemies, animals and
even inanimate objects left no doubt that he was ever mindful of God.
Muhammad’s birth was accompanied by many so called
miraculous events and the talk of the extraordinary events no doubt functioned
as signs of Prophethood, however we must be cautious about believing
unreservedly in those extraordinary events. Not all of the events are accepted
by all of the biographers and historians of Islamic history thus although they
indicate an extraordinary beginning and a life destined to be guided by God,
they may be embellished or exaggerated.
Special but not unique circumstances surrounded childhood of
Prophet Muhammad and these undoubtedly had a bearing on his character. By the
time he was eight years old he had suffered through the death of both his
parents and his beloved grandfather Abdul Muttalib. He was left in the
care of his uncle and great supporter Abu Talib. Thus even as a young boy
he had already suffered great emotional and physical upheaval. Both the
many chroniclers of Muhammad’s life and the Quran acknowledge his disrupted
life.
Did He not find you (O Muhammad) an orphan and gave you a
refuge? (Quran 93:6)
Muhammad’s uncle Abu Talib was poor and struggled to
keep his family fed, thus during his adolescence Muhammad worked as a shepherd.
From this occupation he learned to embrace solitude and developed
characteristics such as patience, cautiousness, care, leadership and an ability
to sense danger. Shepherding was an occupation that all the prophets of
God we know of had in common. ‘…The companions asked, “Were you a
shepherd?” He replied, “There was no prophet who was not a shepherd.”’[1]
In his teens Muhammad sometimes travelled with Abu Talib,
accompanying caravans to trade centres. On at least one occasion, he is said to
have travelled as far north as Syria .
Older merchants recognized his character and nicknamed him Al-Amin, the one you
can trust. Even in his youth he was known as truthful and
trustworthy. One story that is accepted by most Islamic scholars and
historians is the account of one of Prophet Muhammad’s trips to Syria .
The story goes that the monk Bahira foretold the coming
Prophethood and counselled Abu Talib to “guard his nephew carefully”.
According to biographer Ibn Ishaq, as the caravan in which Prophet Muhammad was
travelling approached the edge of town, Bahira could see a cloud that appeared
to be shading and following a young man. When the caravan halted under
the shadow of some trees, Bahira “looked at the cloud when it over-shadowed the
tree, and its branches were bending and drooping over the apostle of God until
he was in the shadow beneath it.” After Bahira witnessed this he observed
Muhammad closely and asked him many questions concerning a number of Christian
prophecies he had read and heard about.
The young Muhammad was distinguished among his people for
his modesty, virtuous behaviour and graceful manners, thus it was no surprise
for his companions to see him, even as a youth many years before Prophethood,
shun superstitious practices and keep away from drinking alcohol, eating meat
slaughtered on stone altars or attending idolatrous festivals. By the time
he reached adulthood Muhammad was thought of as the most reliable and
trustworthy member of the Meccan community. Even those who concerned
themselves with petty tribal squabbles acknowledged Muhammad’s honesty and
integrity.
Muhammad’s virtues and good moral character was established
from a young age, and God continued to support and guide him. When he was
40 years old Muhammad was given the means to change the world, the means to
benefit the whole of humanity.
In the following article we will look at how Muhammad’s life
changed after Prophethood and conclude that it is unreasonable to give credence
to those who claim that Muhammad was a false Prophet. He did not claim
Prophethood to attain comfort, wealth, greatness, glory or power.
Footnotes:
[1] Saheeh
Al-Bukhari
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