With eyes as bright as the shining
sun, a reality on the lips more brilliant than the light of the sun, a
heart more fresh than the flowers of the gardens of Yathrib and Taif, habits
and morals more decent than the moon- lit nights of the Hijaz, a mind more
brisk than the strong winds, a bewitching tongue, a heart with heavenly
light, firm determination like a trenchant sword and heavenly words on
the tongue - such was Muhammad son of Abdullah, the prophet of Arabia,
the prophet who destroyed the idols which had separated brothers from brothers.
He did not break only the idols of wood and stone but also broke the idols
of wealth, indecent habits and party-spirit.
The only thing which the cowardly
Quraysh desired was money should be transferred from the hands of the nomadic
Arabs to their own pockets. The only value which they attached to life
was that in order to earn profit they should travel through the desert
on the back of the camels undergoing extreme hardships and then return
to their hometown Mecca-the same Mecca which was the city of idol-worship,
and where money was the only thing which counted.
Suddenly they heard a voice which
shook their nerves. Their hopes were shattered. The world turned away its
face from them saying "The value of man is not the same which you have
assessed and the object of the creation of the nomadic Arabs is not the
same which you think it to be".
........This was the voice of Muhammad.........
Banu Asad-and Banu Tamim were so
foolish and ignorant that they buried their daughters alive without any
cause. There was no justification for their doing so except that it was
a custom which had survived amongst them. They were opposed to the divine
will. They hated the beauty of nature. And then they heard a voice, which
was expressive of deep love and sympathy for the people saying: "Don't
bury your daughters alive. Daughters are as good a creation of God as the
sons. No human being has a right to deprive others of life. It is only
God who creates the people and makes them die".
.......This was the voice of Muhammad.........
The Arabs were always fighting. They
fought and shed blood for years on account of very trivial things. They
killed their own brothers and then rejoiced and glorified themselves on
it. To sacrifice their lives for the sake of their own ignorance was something
very ordinary for them. The children cried and screamed and grew up in
conditions which were not conducive to the creation of love or sympathy
for anyone in their minds.
In these circumstances they heard
another voice which said "What are you doing ? You kill one another although
you are all brothers because all of you have been created by God. Strife
is something satanic. Peace and friendship are more beneficial for you.
The blessing for which you fight can't be achieved except through peace".
......This, too, was the voice of
Muhammad.........
The Arabs were the most proud and
egoistic people. They considered the non-Arabs inferior to themselves.
Not only this but they did not consider the non-Arabs even human beings.
Muhammad disliked this attitude of the Arabs very much. Addressing these
proud people he said: "No Arab is superior to a non-Arab unless he is more
pious. Whether you like it or not all human beings are brothers of one
another".
There were oppressed, homeless and
helpless persons whose faces had been scorched by the hot winds. The society
had discarded them and made their lives miserable. They were more humble
in the eyes of the people than the particles of sand and their life had
become extremely unenviable. And these were the true friends of the prophet
of Islam, just as the indigent and outcasts of the society were the friends
of Jesus Christ and other great men of the world. It was these very people
for whose benefit the prophet of Islam endeavoured to prevent the establishment
of dictatorship, disallowed slavery, freed man from the bondage of his
fellow-men, and established the public treasury so that all might benefit
from it without any discrimination. He directed the efforts of the people
towards public welfare. He insisted on Quraysh, who were his kinsmen, at
every step that they should improve their conduct, do good deeds, and keep
their attention directed wholeheartedly to God, who has united the scattered
creation into a single whole.
However, Quraysh instigated the ignorant
persons as well as their own children to stone and ridicule him.
The helpless, oppressed and homeless
slaves among whom one was Bilal, the Mu'azzin of the prophet, were overjoyed
when they heard this: "All human beings are fed by God. He likes him most
who is more helpful to his creatures".
.......This was the voice of Muhammad.........
Those who were his enemies and stoned
and ridiculed him heard this animating voice: "If you (Muhammad) had been
stern and hard-hearted they would all have deserted you a long time ago.
Forgive them and ask God to forgive (their sins) and consult with them
in certain matter. But when you reach a decision trust God. God loves tbose
who trust aim ".
.......This was the voice of Muhammad.........
The following pure words were imprinted
on the minds of those who were endeavouring in the path of God for a better
life, and were ready to support him (Muhammad) in his campaign against
idol-worship and evil-doing, and were afraid lest their rights and good
conduct might be wasted in the battle-field.
"Remember ! Don't be treacherous.
Don't commit breach of trust. Don't kill either a child or a woman or an
old man or a monk in a monastery. Don't burn a date-palm tree and don't
cut any tree nor pull down a building".
.......This voice was the voice of
Muhammad........
The Arabs heard this heavenly voice
from Muhammad and spread it in all the four corners of the world. They
covered powerful rulers and kings with this voice, estab- lished brotherhood
amongst human beings and strung them in one faith, and created relationship
between man and God.
The shade of Muhammad spread so much
that the entire Old World came under it and the land from the east upto
the west began producing the fruits of goodness, knowledge, peace and friendship.
The prophet of Islam stretched his hand and sowed the seeds of friendship
and brotherhood throughout the world. That hand is still stretched and
is busy sowing the seeds. Hence, there is no part of the world wherein
the followers of Muhammad are not found. One of them may be in Pakistan
and the other may be in Spain, but in spite of this both of them are treated
to be under one and the same standard. The prophet provided honour and
respect to the Orientals which is even now a shining crown on their heads.
This voice of the prophet,
was a call for human brotherhood. It stopped the hands of the rulers from
reaching the property of the subjects and gave equal rights to all human
beings. In his religion there is no discrimina- tion between a common man,
a ruler and a subject and an Arab and a non-Arab, because all human beings
are the slaves of God and it is He who provides sustenance to all of them.
This voice emancipated women from
the oppression of men, freed the labourers from the injustice of the capitalists
and delivered the servants from the degradation of submission to their
masters. As opposed to Plato and other philosophers, who deprive the workers
of their social rights on account of their mean occupation and have divided
the society into many grades, the prophet of Islam made all human beings
participate in the affairs of govern- ment. He also disallowed usury and
exploitation of one man by another.
