Introduction
Throughout the history of mankind the messengers of God’s divine message have been reduced to victims of violence and ridicule; from Adam to Muhammad this trend has been repeated. Many achievements in this world can be attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)(Cheema 1).
Generally speaking, Prophet Muhammad was a great benefactor of mankind and this discussion will seek to understand the person that he was, especially in light with this age where narrow-mindedness and prejudice has caused the teaching of the great Prophet to be misunderstood. Therefore, it’s important to independently look at the character and the person that the prophet was and hence this article.
Discussion
Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet of God according to The Quran, the Muslims holy book. Prophet Muhammad was born the year 560 AD in the city of Mecca Saudi Arabia. Muhammad was raised by his uncle Abu Taib after he became an orphan at an early age. No documentation exist indicating whether he received a formal education in regards to reading and writing, however as illustrated by The Quran the experience between the Prophet and Angel Gabriel demonstrates that he didn’t receive any formal education(Kathir 190).
In the region that Prophet Muhammad originated from, immorality, cruelty, polytheism, idol worshiping and illiteracy existed at a very high rate. Slavery on its part had become so rampant on that part of the world.
Prophet Muhammad was a soft spoken young man who kept aloof from those who participated in paganism and the rituals associated with the region at that time.He began to preach about the existence of only on God –Allah and at the age of 40 after he received his first revelation (Kathir 191).
His preaching of the existence of only one God attracted opposition from the pagans of Mecca (Quraysh).They offered him gifts, power, honor and material things in the hope that he would abandon his preaching and instead preach about the idols. The prophet refused this offer stating that he would never renounce his mission even if the sun will be put on his right hand and the moon on his left hand.
Having taken this stance he and his followers were banished from Mecca after being tortured and some of them being brutally killed by the Quraysh. He immigrated to Medina where he established himself after being warmly welcomed (Azzam 14).
The pagans of Mecca were determined to root out the new religion forcing Muhammad to defend himself in several wars. He was successful in his defense, with the help of a small force, 10,000 followers; he was able to defeat a huge, well equipped and well trained force (Rizvi 13).
Near the end of his life he returned to Mecca, his hometown where he took over it and declared a general amnesty for everyone including those who had committed serious crimes. He brought law and order within a short period of ten years to people who were well known for lawlessness, immorality and ignorance. From there, Islam spread to the greater part of Arabia and now to all corners of the world.
No man with Muhammad’s accomplishments as yet again been produced to the world. The Prophet had uncountable accomplishments in his life live alone the world, including but not limited to being a prophet, judge, reformer, political leader and a moralist.
Besides these accomplishments he was a person of exemplary character who practiced what he preached as demonstrated in the Hadiths. He had the best morals characterized by truthfulness, forgiveness humbleness and many others.
The prophet Muhammad had a great love for the almighty God. For majority of his life since he was a child, he dedicated his life to trying to establish a close relationship with God by praying, fasting and spending a lot of time supplicating to him. The Prophet frequented a cave in Hira where he often went to fast and pray. It was during such a situation when he received his first revelation from God (Cheema 2).
During hardships and suffering the prophet showed a lot of patience and nothing took hold of him as he was never discouraged by adverse conditions or personal desires. Besides the death of his father and later his grand father, the prophet had been faced by the death of several of his wives including Khadija and seven of his children.
Nonetheless the Prophet remained very patient and dignified in his manners, a character not observed in the people around him, this character was demonstrated in one of the occasion that he admonished a woman who was occupied in loud mourning of the death of her child to which the Prophet told her to be patient and accept gods will, not knowing that she was talking to a Prophet of God, the woman told him that he(the Prophet) couldn’t understand the pain that comes with losing a child as he had never lost any to which the Prophet told her that he had lost seven children(Cheema 5).
Muslims have been enjoined by the Prophet to treat the poor kindly as narrated by Abu Said Al-Khudri, the Prophet encouraged Muslims to help other Muslims by giving them clothes, foods and drinks and in return they will be rewarded in paradise by being given cloths by green garments of paradise, fruits of paradise and pure wine (Cheema 11)
Acquisition of wealth is not discouraged by the Prophet or prohibited but instead he insists that they should be acquired lawfully and a part of it given to the poor.
Throughout his life the Prophet encouraged hard work, independence and nobleness of the people. He encouraged charity; the Prophet was relatively rich, however in his house he never for more than a day remained without distributing his wealth to charity, the Prophet mostly used his wealth to please God (Cheema 12).
Conclusion
Millions of people all over the world still love and adore Prophet Muhammad(saw), he has changed the lives of many including women by bringing respect and dignity to them. Islam’s foundation is based on His believes and teachings and it is for this reason that the barriers of tribalism, racism, power and wealth have been able to be broken.
The destiny of humanity is still largely influenced by his revolution and the document which bears God’s message sent through him, Quran, continue to bring wisdom, guidance, and influence to all men all over the world. Philosophers, historians, students of religion, leaders, Muslims and non-Muslims alike continue to acknowledge and admire the Prophet thousands of years after his death (Akhtar 10).
Works Cited
Akhtar S.H. Prophet Muhammad. Austin Texas. 2009. Web.
Azzam K.A. Life of The Prophet Muhammad. New York. 2003. Web.
Cheema M.A. The Holy Prophet Muhammad. New York: Hart publishiung. 2001. Web.
Kadhir I.A. Stories of The Prophets, Al Azhar(Trans). Riyadh: Darusalam. 2005. Web.
Rizvi S.S. The Life of Muhammad the Prophet. TZ: Oxford publishing. 2009. Web.