Mercy of the World

Mercy For The World

“We sent thee not save as a mercy for the peoples.” (Qur’an 21:107)

The world was passing through a state of hysterics at the close of the sixth century of the Christian era. The entire human race had, it seems, taken a pledge to commit suicide. God has portrayed, in the Qur’an, the condition then obtaining in the world so graphically that no artist can draw such a true of life picture of the then situation.

“And remember Allah’s favour unto; how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, and He did save you from it.” (Qur’an 3:103)

If our historians and literatures have not been able to preserves the heart-rending account of human pagan past, they need not blamed for it because limitations of human language and forms of expression would not allowed them to capture in words the dreadful situation of then world. The shape of things was so horrible, so critical, that not the best word painter could have succeeded in its faithful depiction. How could have any historian drawn a picture of that horrible situation? Did the Age of Ignorance merely mean moral corruption of the Arabs or a few other nations? Did it merely pose the problem of idolatry, depravity and decadence or else self-indulgence, inequity and exploitation of the poor, or, criminal behaviour of the then stronger nations? Was it simply the question of the burial of innocent newborn daughters by their heartless father? It was all this and much more. It was as though the mother earth wanted to swallow up its entire progeny. There are hardly words to describe the terrifying conditions through which the whole world was passing in those days. Only those can understand it that has themselves lived in that horrible age.

It was thus not a problem confronting any single nation or country but the destiny of the whole human race was at stake. If any artist capable of converting a vision into eternity were to paint the portrait of a good-looking young man in fine fettle, a soul shining through its crystal covering, and could somehow show him to be the vicegerent of God on earth who was bent on taking a leap in a lake of fire and brimstone, then he would perhaps succeed in portraying the situation thus depicted in the Qur'an: "(How) ye were upon the brink of an abyss of fire, He did save you from it." The holy Prophet has also illustrated this critical situation through a simile. He says, "The mission and guidance I have been vouchsafed to deliver to this world is like this: A man made a bonfire and when it illuminated the surroundings, insects began to jump into it. You also want to take a leap into the fire in a like manner but I am holding you by your waists to save you from falling into the eternal fire."1

The whole problem was how to lead the caravan of humanity to its safe destination. All the social and developmental endeavors, educational and literally efforts were possible only after man had been brought back to a normal, sensible frame of mind. There is the least doubt that the greatest good the prophet have done to the humanity consists of saying it from the unknown, imminent dangers threatening to destroy it from the time to time. No literature or philosophy, reformatory or constructive effort, not even the survival of man on this planet could have been possible without the merciful endeavors of the prophets of God. But, so ungrateful is man that he has announced with the flourish of trumpets, time and again, that the Prophets of God had had their time, and that the world no longer needed them. It seers and guides have repeatedly declared that the prophets had nothing new to offer, no benefits to confer to humanity. Man has, in this way really deposed over and over again against his own right to exist in this world!

When any civilization becomes over-sophisticated it closes its eyes to the ethical precepts. Man forgets everything save the satisfaction of his desires and replaces his loving, merciful heart by a selfish and ferocious disposition. His covetous greed takes the shape of an aching void, which can never be filled in. This is the time when man becomes mad after the world and all that it stands for and, then, the Providence moves to chasten him and to give him his deserts. Poet of the East has given expression to the same truth in one of his verses:

Fever of lunacy then overtakes the kings,

Ferule of God are all, Timor and Chinghiz.

One can replace the words 'king' and 'kingship' by civilization for the insanity of civilization is nowadays much more dangerous and wider in scope than the madness of the kings of old. A single lunatic can make a hell of the life of all the people around him, one can very well imagine that would happen if the whole people were to lose their heads.

During the era we speak of as the age of Ignorance the entire human race had become so depraved, so cruel-hearted that it took it pleasure in the suffering of man. This is not poetic imagery but is supposed by hard facts of history; man had turned into a demon who was most enthusiastic to witness the death and suffering of his own species. He prized the spectacle of the pangs of death suffered by human beings more than the pleasure he derived from merry-making, eating and drinking.

Gladiatorial sports involving combats between men and wild beasts under the Romans displayed more vividly than any other crime against humanity, the bottomless chasm to which human nature could sink. But this was not a depravity that had captured the imagination of a few guilty consciences. Writing about the immense popularity of these performances, Lecky says in his History of European Morals that "the magnificent circus, the gorgeous dresses of the assembled Court, the contagion of a passionate enthusiasm thrilling almost visibly through the mighty throng, the breathless silence of expectation, the wide cheers bursting simultaneously from eight thousand tongues, and echoing to the farthest outskirts of the city, the rapid alteration of the fray, the deeds of splendid courage that were manifested were all fitted to entrance the imagination."2 The interest and enthusiasm that attended these games of inconceivable atrocity was so intense that special laws were found necessary, and, sometimes proved even sufficient, to check them.

Thus, the best in man had taken hold of him during the age of Ignorance. He had, by his deeds, furnished the proof that he had forfeited the right to live in this world, or, rather he had himself lost the very desire to remain in this world anymore. Yet, his Lord and Master, the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful had decided otherwise. He wanted to save the world and the progeny of Adam from death and destruction through a Messenger who was told that:

"And (O Muhammad) we sent thee not save as a mercy for the people."3

It is plain as day that the entire duration of the world's existence since the debut of the holy Prophet of Islam stems from his merciful deeds. First of all he removed the Sword of Damocles hanging over the head of humanity by giving it a new ideal to live for and a new zest and confidence to work for it. A new age of culture and civilization, arts and learning, material and spiritual progress—a new brave world—came into existence through his efforts.

The first and foremost service that he rendered to the humanity consisted of the faith in the Oneness of God. No other creed more revolutionary, more life giving and more profitable could have been vouchsafed to the humanity. Man had been proud and presumptuous, boastful of his creations like philosophy and poetry and the art of government; he took pride in enslaving other countries and nations; often arrogated himself even to the position of God; but he also demeaned himself by bowing his head before inanimate, lifeless objects, things of his own creature, and mountains, rivers, trees and animals; and harboured credulous beliefs and irrational fear of the demons and devils. He spent his life in the fear of the unknown and the hope from non-existent powers which could not but foster mental confusion, cowardice, doubtfulness and indecision in him. The Prophet of Islam made him self-reliant, courageous, rational and undoubting by removing the fear of everything else save that of his real Master and the Lord. It was because of him that came to recognize his Creator as the Supreme Power, the Enriches and Destroyer. This new discovery meant a world of change for him as it enabled him to free himself from the shackles of superstitious beliefs, irrational fears, dubiousness and misgivings. He could now see the unity of cause in the manifoldness of phenomena, was reassured of his pivotal position in the scheme of creation, became aware of his worth and dignity, in short, his acceptance of the serfdom of the One and only God made him the master of every other created being and object. It was, thus for the first time that man became aware of the exalted position allotted to him by God.

Unity of Godhead came to be recognized, thanks to the last Prophet, as the guiding principle for all the schools of thought, philosophies and creeds. Even polytheistic religions were so powerfully influenced by it that their votaries began to fight shy of their creeds and started putting up construction to explain away their rites and observances demanding devotion to gods and demigods. The heathen belief in the worship of numerous deities began to suffer from a sense of inferiority from which has still not recovered. This was the greatest gift bestowed on humanity by the holy Prophet.

The second great favour conferred by the Messenger of God on human beings was conferred by the Messenger of God on human beings was the concept of equality and brotherhood of mankind. The world before him was divided by manifold divisions of castes and creeds, tribes and nations, some claiming ranks of nobility for themselves and condemning others to the position of serfs and chattels. It was for the first time that the world heard the revolutionary message of human equality from the Prophet of Islam.

"O Mankind, Your God is one and you have but one father. You are all progeny of Adam, and Adam was made of clay. Lo! the noblest among you, in sight of God, is the best in conduct. No Arab has any preference over the non-Arab nor the non-Arab an Arab save by his piety.”4

The Prophet made this declaration on the occasion of his last hajj before a congregation of one lakh and twenty-four thousand persons. His announcement put the seal on the twin principles of the Unity of God and the Unity of mankind. These are the two natural foundations for raising any edifice of peace and progress, friendship and co-operation between different peoples and nations. They create a twin relationship between human beings—that of One Lord and one father for all of them. Oneness of God is the spiritual principle of human equality just as a common lineage of the high and the low, the white and the colored races places them on the same plane of humanity.

The world was not in a frame of mind to pay heed to the message of equality of human beings when it was first announced by the Prophet of Islam. It was then a radical call, making a clean sweep of the then social relationships and economic and political orders. So striking and revolutionary was this call that it had sent the world into jitters. Today we fine the principle of human equality enshrined in the constitutions of different countries and being proclaimed from the forum of the United Nations Organization in the shape of the Charter of Human Rights but it was all due to the pioneering efforts of the followers of Muhammad (peace be upon him), Muslim missionaries and reformers, who made indefatigable efforts to establish a truly egalitarian Muslim society. It was this model established through their toil and tears that later on the came to be accepted as the standard human existence in this world. There was a time when a numerous clans and families claimed their descent from the sun and the moon. Qur'an quotes the belief then held by the Jews and the Christians in these words: "The Jews and the Christians say: We are the children of God and those whom He loves."5 The Pharaohs of Egypt claimed themselves to be the incarnation of the Sun god while India had several ruling families, which arrogated themselves as the progeny of the sun or the moon. The Emperors of Iran called themselves Kasra or Chosroes, which meant that Divine blood flowed in their veins. The last Iranian Emperor was known as Yazdagird owing, chiefly, to the Divine respects paid to him by his subjects.

The Chinese rulers deemed themselves to the sons of Heaven. They believed that the Heaven was their God, who, with his spouse, the goddess earth, had given birth to the human beings and Pau Ku, the Chinese Emperor, was the first-born son of Heaven enjoying supernatural powers. The Arabs were so proud of their language that every other nation besides their own was an 'ajami' or dumb to them. Likewise, the Quraish of Mecca being extremely conscious of maintaining their superiority claimed a position of privilege even in the performance of hajj. This was the shape of things, all over the world, when the Qur’an proclaimed that all human beings were equal.

“O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is knower, Aware.” (Qur’an 49:13)

In another Surah, which is the opening chapter of the Qur’an, it was declared that:

“Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds” (Qur’an 1:1)

The third great gift and a boon to the humanity bestowed by the Prophet of Islam is the Islamic concept of humanity dignity. During the age of Darkness when Islam made its appearance none was so ignoble and humiliated as man. Without any worth, he had absolutely no sense of human dignity. Oftentimes trees and animals regarded as sacred, owing to religious beliefs or traditions, enjoyed a more coveted place than man himself. Human sacrifices at the altar of deities were common spectacle. It was solely due to Muhammad, the Prophet (peace be upon him), that man came to appreciate the fact that human beings, the glorious creation of God, were entitled to a much more loving regard, respect and honour than any other creature. The rank accorded to man by the holy Prophet was next only to God; for God had Himself heralded the purpose of man’s creation in these words of lasting beauty:

“He it is who created for you all that is in the earth.” (Qur’an 2:29)

Man was declared as the best of creations, the ruler of the world and all that exist in it.

“Verily We have honoured the children of Adam. We carry them on the land and sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment”. (Qur’an 17:70)

Man had been accustomed to associate nobility with those who claimed themselves to be the progeny of gods and demy-gods. In order that the honour of the common mans was not usurped again by the selected few, the Prophet announced:

“The whole mankind is the family of God and he amongst His family is dearest to Him, who does good to others”6

A celestial Tradition of the Prophet alludes to the deep concern of God for the welfare of human beings. It say as: “God would ask (someone) on the Day of Judgment, ‘I was ill but you did not pay a visit to Me! The man would reply; ‘How could have I paid a visit Thee? Thou art the Lord of the worlds!’ But god would say, ‘Do you not recollect that one of my slaves was ill? Had you gone to see him, you would have found Me by his side! Then God would ask, ‘O son of Adam, I asked you to feed Me, but you refused it to Me.’ The man would submit, ‘How could have fed Thee, Thou art the Lord of the Worlds?’ But the reply of God would be, ‘Do you not remember that one of My slaves has asked you for food? Didn’t you know that if you had given food, you would have found it with Me! God would again ask, ‘O Son of Adam, I asked you water to drink but you refused it to Me!’ The man would say in reply, ‘O Lord, How could have I given water to Thee? Thou art the Lord of the worlds’ but the reply given by God would be, ‘Do you not recollect that one of my slaves asked you for water, but you refused! Did you not know that if you had given him water, you would have found it with Me?’7

Islam preaches unalloyed and absolute unity of God and rejects every form of anthropomorphism. Still, it employees this similitude to drive home the rank and dignity of man in the eyes of God. Has any other religion or philosophical thought accorded a nobler place to human beings than that assigned by Islam?

The prophet of Islam thought that the surest way to attract blessings of God was to be kind and considerate to others.

“The Most Compassionate (God) is kind on those who are kind to others. If you would show kindness to those who live on the earth, He who lives in the Heaven, shall shower His blessings on you.”8

You can very well imagine the pitiable condition of man in the days when this powerful voice if human dignity had not been raised in the world. A mere whim of a king or an emperor could then cost the lives of a thousand men. It was then not unusual for an ambitious adventurer to put to sword the entire population of conquered land; Alexander converted all the countries from Greece to India into a vast battlefield. Caesars played with the lives of human beings as if they were wild beasts. The two World Wars fought only recently had cost the lives of millions merely for securing markets for the industrial produce of advanced nations or to establish national or political ascendancy of certain nations over all others. Iqbal has correctly assessed the political ambitions of man in this verse,.

Man is still possessed by the imperialistic lust, what a pity! Man prowling after man as yet.

At the time when Muhammad 9peace be upon him) was invested with the mantle of prophet hood, a general sense of pessimism springing from the then prevalent nations of worthlessness of human nature and hopeless of Divine succour filled the air. The ancient religions of the east and the mutilated Christianity, especially in the West, had an equal share in producing that mental climate. The Philosophy of re-birth, preached by the religions of ancient India, which assigned no place to the will and decisions of man, meant that the present life was but a form of retribution for one’s actions during his previous life with which the Christian dogma of Original Sin and atonement had joined hands to shake the confidence of millions, all over the world, in the respondence and amenability of human actions. Mankind had lost faith in the mercy of God whose eternal and immutable decree seemed to have condemned man to a pre-determined destiny without reference to his evil or virtuous behavior. But Muhammad (peace be upon him) affirmed that man was born with a clean slate and perfect freedom of action. Man was, declared the Prophet, the author of his actions, both good and evil, and deserved reward or punishment in according with his own decisions to shape the course of his actions, discarding the theory of vicarious atonement, the Qur’an established once for all that every man was his own redeemer.

“And that for man shall be naught, save that wherefore he maketh effort, and that his endeavor shall be presently observed” (Qur’an 53:39-40)

This was a message of salvation to man, which gave him a new confidence in himself and in his ability to chart out his destiny. He applied himself with a renewed vigour, confidence and determination to shape up his own life and brighten the future of humanity.

The Prophet of Islam also declared that sins were but temporary deviations from the right path, inherent in the nature of man, and were brought about by ignorance, mistake and the promptings of the devil or man’s own sensual desires. But the innate urge of man was to regret his mistake and seek pardon of God with a contrite heart. To be broken in spirit by a sense of the guilt and to seek the forgiveness of God showed the goodness of human nature and attracted mercy of the Lord. This gospel of hope and good tidings was revolutionary message to the despondent humanity condemned forever by the guilt or Original Sin and one’s past misdoings. What a great change it meant in the prevailing atmosphere of gloom and depression of spirits is illustrated by the fact that the Prophet came to be known as ‘Apostle of Repentance.’ Repentance, he said, did not involve faint-heartedness, nor did it arise from fear of disapprobation, but was a bold and daring step of the first man, Adam, who had thus shown the nobility of his innate nature. The Prophet of Islam endued repentance with the sacredness attached to the acts of devotion of God. He preached the virtues of seeking pardon so forcefully that even the irredeemable sinners, who had lost all hope of forgiveness, resolved to turn away from the sinful ways and to begin a new life of virtue and uprightness, and many of them attained a sublimity of spirit that was envied by others.

Describing the clemency of God is ever willing to forgive the sinners, the Qur’an employees a diction so alluringly charming that one wonders whether God loves them more who seeks forgiveness after deviating from the path of virtue. The Quranic verse quoted here shows how forbearing, how long-suffering and how magnanimous God is to the man who cares to turn towards Him for exoneration of his sins. Says the Qur’an:

“Say thou: O my bondmen who have committed extravagance against themselves, despair not of the mercy of Allah; verily Allah will forgive their sins altogether.

Verily He! He is the forgiving, the Merciful.” (Qur’an 39:53)

Some of the verses of the Qur’an exhorting the believers to acquire positive merits and to win their way to the everlasting bliss, address them in these words:

“And vie one with another for forgiveness from your Lord, and toward the Garden as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who ward off (Evil): “And those who spend (of that which Allah hath given them) in ease and in adversity, those who control their wrath and re forgiving toward mankind; Allah loveth the good; “and those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins – Who forgiveth sine save Allah only? – And will knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.

“The reward of such will be forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever – a bountiful reward for workers! (Qur’an 3:133-36)

Among the characteristic of the true believers, enumerated in another verse, repentance take precedence of all others.

“They are those who repent, who worship, who praise, who fast constantly, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who command the reputable and restrain from the disreputable and who keep the ordinances of Allah: and bear thou glad tidings to the believers.” (Qur’an 9:112)

The place of honour accorded to those who repent of their sins is illustrated by the verse of the Qur’an revealed of the occasion of the forgiveness of the three companions9 of the Holy Prophet, who had been excluded from other followers for their failure to accompany the Prophet in the expedition of Tabuk. Before the verse alludes to the mistake of these companions being condoned by God, it mentions the Prophet and the Ansar and the Muhajirin in order that no stigma was attached to them after their mistake had been pardoned. The Qur’an, in this way, teaches all believers, who take the companions of the Prophet as models of virtue, that no ignominy attaches to man after a genuine change of heart. They way these verse explain the consequences of the blotting out of the sins and elation of the repentant sinners can hardly be fond in the scriptures of other religions or treatises on ethics. These verses read:

“Allah hath turned in mercy to the Prophet, and to the Muhajirin and the Ansar who followed him in the hour of hardship. After the hearts of a party of them had almost swerved aside, then turned He unto them in Mercy. Lo! He is full of Pity, Merciful for them.

“And to the three also (did He turn mercy) who were left behind, when the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for them till they bethought them that there is no refuge from Allah save toward Him. Then turned He unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto Him). Lo! Allah! HE is the Relenting, the Merciful.” (Qur’an 9:117-18)

Remission of sins leads us to one of the chief attributes of the Divine Being, that is, His mercy and compassion. The bounty of God’s mercy is the constant theme of the Qur’an. Said God: “My mercy embraceth all things;”10 while a celestial Tradition of the Prophet tell us: verily, My mercy overcomes My anger.” To be despaired of the God’s mercy was made a cardinal sin. Quoting Y’aqub11 and Ibrahim, the two great Prophets of God, the Qur’an announces:

“Verily, none despaireth of the comfort of Allah except a people disbelieving” (Qur’an 12:87) and “who despraireth of the mercy of his Lord save those who are astray? (Qur’an 15:56)

The misery and suffering the human race endured in the world was, according to the Jewish and Christian doctrines, but a feeble image of the never-ending agony which awaited man in the future world. The monastic orders of the Medieval Ages had taken up this doctrine, which, in itself, was sufficiently revolting, but they had developed it with an appalling vividness and minuteness. The humanity scared by these ghastly visions and glimpse on God’s all-embracing mercy and the efficacy of repentance which could wipe the slate clean of even the most vicious among the castaways of society.

And now we come to yet another gift of the prophet hood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), which is still more far-reaching, more beneficial to the humanity at large. This was the concept of the unity of spirit and matter, the harmony of the sacred and the mundane. He taught that the distinction made between the two was superficial and formal for every action of man, whether secular or religious, was guided by his motive or mental attitude, which, in the terminology of religion, was known as Niyat or intention. For no religious belief is entirely divorced from the realities of human experience in its manifold practical aspects, the intention or purpose with which any act is done sets the test of its being good or bad. He did not recognize the division between the temporal and the ecclesiastical since man’s desire to propitiate God and to follow His commands permeates into every fiber of human activity, no matter whether it is the art of government or war, availing oneself of one’s earthly possessions, or satisfaction of one’s natural desires, or earning one’s living, or leading a married life. With a noble intention every mundane act it's turned into a virtuous deed and means to attaining propinquity to God. On the contrary, no merit whatsoever attaches to acts like devotion to God or fighting in the path of God if the sincere desire to attain the will and pleasure of God were absent.

The ancient world had divided life into compartments, religious and the secular; and the results was that a wedge had been driven between those who selected one of these as the pursuit of their lives. Oftentimes, the two groups were at loggerheads with one another, for, the ‘world’ and ‘religion’ was to them incompatible spheres of human life. Every man had to choose one of the two since nobody could be expected to travel in two boats simultaneously. The prevalent view was that the path of salvation lay not through the rough and tumble of life, but away from the social, economic and political problems of worldly pursuits. No concept of religion which bars the gates to material progress and acquisition of power, riches and fame, could be of interest to intelligent, capable and ambitious persons: the result being that a great segment of humanity had delivered itself from the rigorous discipline of asceticism which had come to be associated with religion. By withdrawing themselves from the then virtuous pursuits, these men had prevented the great importance of morals from appearing perceptibly in public affairs. The state has revolted against the Church and made itself free from all moral obligations. This hideous schizophrenia not only divested what was called worldly from the gifts of spiritual beatitude, but also gave birth to the modern faithlessness and agnosticism of Europe which is now threatening to inundate the entire world, if only, because of its political and cultural supremacy. The present wave of crass materialism, loss of faith and moral debasement is but a direct consequence of the division between the spirit and matter invented by the old pagan civilizations.

The Prophet of mercy, who was sent to the humanity as Warner as well as a messenger of glad tidings, converted the entire life of man into devotion to God by denying the existence of any cleavage between the spirit and temporal spheres of human affairs. He demolished the wedge between the men of religion and those of the world and commended all of them to unite their efforts for attaining the pleasure of God and service of humanity. It was because of him that the world could see the ascetic who wore crowns on their heads and the warriors who spent their nights in devotions and prayers.

It would be difficult to conceive a more complete transformation of life than the one brought about by the fusion of the secular and the sacred, which would require several volumes to be explained in detail. Iqbal has very succinctly verified the significance of this concept in one of his immortal poems.

On monastic order was laid the foundation of church,

How could mendacity contain the royalty in its confines?

The conflict was deep, between hermitry and kingship, one was triumphant,

The other subdued, and politics got rid of religion,

Helpless was the high priest.

When the world and religion parted ways,

Avarice was the Ruler, King and Vizier.

Dualism was the doom of mind and matter,

Dualism made the civilization blind.

This is the miracle of a dweller of the desert,

Whose warnings reflected the tidings-glad;

That the humanity’s only refuge was this,

That (the mystic) Junyd unites with Ardsher (the king)!

Yet another radical change brought about by the Prophet of Islam in the life of man was to make him conscious of the ultimate end of his life. Unaware of his goal and objective, man had his eyes fixed on profane and paltry objects. He directed his whole intelligence and labour to the acquisition of wealth or land or fame or power. Goodness having been associated with pleasurable things, the main object of the vast majority of people was to sublimate their conceptions of happiness and interest with the satisfaction of carnal desires, songs and colour, merrymaking, fun and amusement. Revelry of the rich and the powerful soon brought up a class of parasite whose whole business was to tickle the fancy of their patrons. But Muhammad (peace be upon him) told man that the great business of man was to exert himself and to strive to attain the perfect knowledge of God; to contemplate of His nature and attributes and to lead his wandering soul to divine propinquity through realization of the Unlimited; to search out the Unity of the Cause of all Causes in the amazing diverse phenomena of Nature; and to seek His pleasure through being kind just and virtuous. He told that these were the objectives whose achievement conferred a rank on him envied by the angels of God.

Thus, the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) made a clean sweep of the existing order of things in the world. The longings and desire of man were now centered on a new objective; the love of God took possession of his being; the pleasure of God became the immortal thirst of human heart; mercy and kindness to God’s creatures was recognized as the greatest virtue which became the sole object of man’s endeavor.

It was then, after the advent of Islam, that the leading feature of al the countries, Arabia and Iran, Syria and Egypt, Turkistan and Iraq, North Africa ad Spain became the search for higher and tender virtues, in the pursuit of which we find thousands of love-lorn souls. During this period we see innumerable men of God preaching love of God, kindness and compassions to very sentient being, merits of virtuous living, acquisition of knowledge for attaining the pleasure of God, revulsion to cruelty and indecency and the grace of humanity and modesty. They taught the lesson of human dignity and brotherhood of man and made the earth a kingdom of God.

If you peep into the souls of these elevated souls you would witness unbelievable flight of their imagination, purity of their innermost feelings and nimbleness of their perceptions. You would see how they were ever willing to put their own life at stake of others, how they made their own children and family suffer for the good of all and sundry, the way they compelled the autocratic kings and potentates to do justice to the week and the poor and how rightfully just they were even to their enemies. Of a fact, it would have been difficult for us to believe today what a fine specimen of humanity, what a sublime soul were these men of God if the historians and biographers had not preserved a truthful record of their lives and doings.

This striking change in the manners and morals of the people was, indeed, the greatest miracle worked by the holy Prophet of Islam.

Verily, God saith in truth: “We have sent the not save as mercy for the peoples.”

Footnotes:

1. Mishakat, Bukhari
2. W.E.H. Lecky; History of European Morals, Vol. I. p119.
3. Qur’an 21:107. The world used for ‘peoples’ in the Qur’an is ‘Alamin, that is, the worlds.
4. Kinz-ul-‘Ammal
5. Qur’an 5:18
6. Mishkat
7. Sahih Muslim
8. Abu Dawud
9. The companions were Ka’b b. Malik, Hilal b. Umayya and Murara b. Rab’i. See the Chap. “The Expedition of Tabuk.’
10. Qur’an 7:156
11. Jacob