Obaidur Rahman Nadwi

The sixth century was the darkest phase of history. People had fallen to complete moral depravity. They killed each other for no obvious reasons; women were no better than beasts. The innovations in earlier scriptures resulted in chaos.

Though Roman and Persian empires were termed as super powers in the world but strangely under both the empires people were humiliated and agonized in many ways.

The mankind needed reform and Prophet Muhammad was chosen by the God to deliver people from darkness into light and lead them to path of salvation. The holy Quran says: A Book which we have revealed unto thee in order that thou mightiest lead mankind out of the depths of darkness into light by the leave of their Lord - to the way of (Him), the Exalted, worthy of all praise.” Prophet Mohammad taught people the lesson of brotherhood and fraternity and told them to differentiate between right and wrong.

In his magnum opus, “Islam and the world” S. Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi says: “Prophet’s advent gave to humanity a new life, a new light, a new faith, a new warmth, a new society and a new culture. It ushered in a new year in the human history marking the commencement of the real mission of man upon earth.”

Needless to add that Prophet Muhammad’s main mission was, “Let truth prevail at all cost.” His mission was to create such a society in which people, regardless of their faith, live in peace and amity.

As regards religion, the holy Quran says: “There is no compulsion in the religion” meaning that people should not be compelled to change their faith, else it states “To you your religion, and to me mine.”

That is why Prophet Muhammad treated Muslims and non-Muslims alike. His influence was not confined merely in social milieu but prompted in political arena also. The Prophet elected a non-Muslim Amr bin Omaiyah AI-Darmi and delegated him as his ambassador. A well-known saying of the Prophet is “Whoever oppresses the non-Muslim subjects I shall be their advocate on the Day of Judgement. The Prophet stated that “When you see a funeral, you must stand until it has passed you by”. One day a funeral procession passed by and the Prophet stood up. The people objected, but it is the funeral of a Jew and Prophet responded is it not a human being?”

An eminent Muslim scholar Syed Sulaiman Nadwi has rightly said in his book “Muhammad and the Ideal Prophet”, “He is the Prophet well-informed, the witness to God’s commandment, the bringer of glad tidings, the summoner of the erring to the way or the God, the resplendent light which dispels the darkness and shows the right path.” He further says: “A good number of Hindus, Sikhs, Brama Samajis and other have written about the Prophet. Europe, too, despite its known hatred for Islam, has a traditon of studies made on the subject even though often they were taken up the serve the needs of evangelism or for historical and literary purposes. Al-Muqtabas, a Literary magazine from Damascus, published a list of European works on the life of the Prophet, some 15 years ago, which listed 13,000 books.”

In this context, we may recall the words of George Bernard Shah, who says: “I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high esteem because of its wonderful vitality. I have studied him (Muhammad) the wonderful man and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of Islam” (GB Shah, The Genuine Islam, Singapore, vol, 1, No.8, 1936)

Michael H. Heart says: “My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s mostly influential persons may surprise readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religions and secular levels. Muhammad founded and promulgated one of the world’s greatest religions, and became immensely effective political leader. Today thirteen centuries after his demise, his influence is still powerful and pervasive.” (The 100- A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History).

In brief if we look at the life of the Prophet, we will definitely find that he was a man of peace, saviour and messiah for all mankind. As the holy Quran says: “And we have sent thee except as a mercy to all the worlds.”

(Dr.Obaidur Rahman Nadwi is a Faculty Member, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow)