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His Life |
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Prophet Muhammad lived a most simple,
austere and modest life. He and his family used to go without cooked meal
several days at a time, relying only on dates, dried bread and water. During
the day he was the busiest man, as he performed his duties in many roles all
at once as head of state, chief justice, commander-in-chief, arbitrator,
instructor and family man. He was the most devoted man at night. He used to
spend one- to two-thirds of every night in prayer and meditation. The
Prophet's possession consisted of mats, blankets, jugs and other simple
things even when he was the virtual ruler of Arabia. He left nothing to be
inherited except a white mule (a gift from Muqawqis),
few ammunition and a piece of land that he had made a gift during his life
time. Among his last words were: "We the community of Prophets are not
inherited. Whatever we leave is for charity." Muhammad
(s) was a man and a messenger of Allah (The One God). He is the last
of the prophets [Qur'an 33:40] sent by Allah to guide man to the right
path; Adam was the first Prophet. The Qur’an mentions
twenty-five Prophets by name and provides a great insight of their
mission, struggle and their communities. The Qur’an exonerates prophets from
charges leveled against them in previous Scriptures. The Qur’an also mentions
four previously revealed Scriptures: Suhoof (Pages) of Ibrahim
(Abraham), Taurat ('Torah') as revealed to Prophet Moses, Zuboor ('Psalms')
as revealed to Prophet David, and Injeel ('Evangel') as revealed to Prophet
Jesus (pbuh). Islam requires belief in all prophets and revealed scriptures
(original, non-corrupted) as part of the Articles of Faith. Muhammad (s) is
greatly respected as the model of Qur’anic behavior. Muslims mention his name
by adding "peace be upon him," a phrase used with the name of all
prophets [e.g., Qur'an Surah 37: verses 79, 109, 120 and 130; also 33:56].
All sincere Muslims try to follow the Qur’an and the Prophet’s example to
minute details. The account of every aspect of his life has been preserved
(numerous daily accounts including his family life). Prophet Muhammad (s) has
served as an example for all Muslims in all periods to modern times. He will
remain a model example for all of humanity. At the end of his mission, the Prophet was
blessed with several hundred thousand followers (men and women) of Islam.
Thousands prayed with him at the mosque and listened to his sermon. Hundreds
of sincere Muslims would find every opportunity to be with him following five
daily prayers and at other times. They used to seek his advice for their
everyday problems, and listened attentively to the interpretation and
application of revealed verses to their situation. They followed the message
of the Qur’an and the Messenger of Allah with utmost sincerity, and supported
him with every thing they had. The most excellent among them are Abu Bakr,
'Umar, 'Uthman, Ali, Talha, Zubair, 'Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, S'ad bin Abi
Waqqas, S'ad bin Zaid, Abu 'Ubeidah, Hasan, Hussain, and several dozen
others. They faithfully carried the message of Islam after the Prophet, and
within ninety years the light of Islam reached Spain, North Africa, the
Caucasus, Turkistan, northwest China and India. |