During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were invented
against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). But with the birth of the modern age,
marked with religious tolerance and freedom of thought, there has been a
great change in the approach of Western authors in their delineation of his
life and character. The views of some non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet
Muhammad, given at the end, justify this opinion.
But the West has still to go a step forward to discover the greatest
reality about Muhammad and that is his being the true and the last
Prophet of God for the whole humanity. In spite of all its
objectivity and enlightenment there has been no sincere and objective
attempt by the West to understand the Prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). It is
so strange that very glowing tributes are paid to him for his integrity and
achievement but his claim of being the Prophet of God has been rejected
explicitly or implicitly. It is here that a searching of the heart is
required, and a review of the so-called objectivity is needed. The following
glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) have been furnished to
facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision regarding his
Prophethood.
Up to the age of forty, Muhammad was not known as a statesman, a preacher
or an orator. He was never seen discussing the principles of metaphysics,
ethics, law, politics, economics or sociology. No doubt he possessed an
excellent character, charming manners and was highly cultured. Yet there was
nothing so deeply striking and so radically extraordinary in him that would
make men expect something great and revolutionary from him in the future.
But when he came out of the Cave (HIRA) with a new message, he was
completely transformed. Is it possible for such a person of the above
qualities to turn all of a sudden into 'an impostor' and claim to be the
Prophet of Allah and invite all the rage of his people? One might ask: for
what reason did he suffer all those hardships? His people offered to accept
him as their King and he would leave the preaching of his religion. But he
chose to refuse their tempting offers and go on preaching his religion
single-handedly in face of all kinds of insults, social boycott and even
physical assault by his own people. Was it not only God's support and his
firm will to disseminate the message of Allah and his deep-rooted belief
that ultimately Islam would emerge as the only way of life for humanity,
that he stood like a mountain in the face of all opposition and conspiracies
to eliminate him? Furthermore, had he come with a design of rivalry with the
Christians and the Jews, why should he have made belief in Jesus Christ and
Moses and other Prophets of God (peace be upon them), a basic requirement of
faith without which no one could be a Muslim?
Is it not an incontrovertible proof of his Prophethood that in spite of
being unlettered and having led a very normal and quiet life for forty
years, when he began preaching his message, all of Arabia stood in awe and
wonder and was bewitched by his wonderful eloquence and oratory? It was so
matchless that the whole legion of Arab poets, preachers and orators of the
highest calibre failed to bring forth its equivalent. And above all, how
could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature contained in the
Qur'an that no other human being could possible have developed at that time?
Last but not least, why did he lead a hard life even after gaining power
and authority? Just ponder over the words he uttered while dying: "We
the community of the Prophets are not inherited. Whatever we leave is for
charity."
As a matter of fact, Muhammad (pbuh) is the last link of the chain of
Prophets sent in different lands and times since the very beginning of the
human life on this planet. Read the following writings of the Western
authors:
"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results
are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any
great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created
arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more
than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man
moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but
millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than
that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs
and souls. . . his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was
entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his
endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his
triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm
conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was
twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling
what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing
false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas,
restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of
twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad.
As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may
well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp.
276-277.
"It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that
deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he
engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved, after the revolutions of twelve
centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes of the
Koran. . . The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of
reducing the object of their faith an devotion to a level with the senses
and imagination of man. 'I believe in One God and Mahomet the Apostle
of God' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The
intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible
idol; the honours of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of
human virtue, and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his
disciples within the bounds of reason and religion."
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ocklay, HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRE,
London, 1870, p. 54.
"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's
pretensions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing
army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if
ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it
was Mohammed, for he had all the power without its instruments and without
its supports."
Bosworth Smith, MOHAMMAD AND MOHAMMADANISM, London, 1874, p. 92.
"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the
great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel
anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great
messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say
many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I
re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher."
Annie Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, Madras,1932, p.
4.
"His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral
character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader,
and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his fundamental
integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it
solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly
appreciated in the West as Muhammad."
W. Montgomery Watt, MOHAMMAD AT MECCA, Oxford, 1953, p. 52.
"Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570
into an Arabian tribe that worshipped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was
always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the
orphan, the slave and the downtrodden. At twenty, he was already a
successful businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a
wealthy widow. When he reached twenty-five, his employer, recognizing his
merit, proposed marriage. Even though she was fifteen years older, he
married her, and as long as she lived, remained a devoted husband.
"Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of
serving as the transmitter of God's word, sensing his own inadequacy. But
the angel commanded "Read." So far as we know, Muhammad
was unable to read or write, but he began to dictate those
inspired words which would soon revolutionize a large segment of the
earth: "There is one God."
"In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical. When his beloved son
Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of God's personal
condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,
"An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such
things to the death or birth of a human being." "At Muhammad's own
death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man who was to become his
administrative successor killed the hysteria with one of the noblest
speeches in religious history: "If there are any among you who worshipped
Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you worshipped, He lives forever."
James A. Michener, "ISLAM: THE MISUNDERSTOOD RELIGION," in
READER'S DIGEST (American edition), May 1955, pp. 68-70.
"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential
persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he
was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the
religious and secular level."
Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33.
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