THE LIGHT THEY FOLLOWED

[A Brief Biography of Prophet Muhammad(ﷺ)]—- Part 1

What a teacher he was, and what a man! He was filled with greatness, honesty, and sublimity! Truly, those overwhelmed with his greatness have their excuse, and those who sacrificed their lives for his sake are the most triumphant.

Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd Allah (ﷺ)was Allah’s Messenger to the people in the midsummer of life. What mystery was available to him that made him a man to honour among humans And what grand hands did he extend towards heaven to let all the gates of mercy, blessing, and guidance open widely What faith, what chastity, and what purity I What modesty, what love and what loyalty) What devotion to truth and what reverence to life and the living?

Allah bestowed upon him the amount of blessing to qualify him to carry HIS standard and speak for Him and made him capable of being the last of HIS messengers. Therefore, Allah’s bounty towards him was great. But however the brains, Inspiration, and pens compete to talk about him or to sing hymns of praise to reveal his greatness, they all seem insignificant due to his superior traits.

No sooner had life emerged than Allah made all its breeze hail his coming, and sent messengers to all men everywhere, carrying the principles of the divine call and the fragrance of the caller, the truth of the teachings, the eminence of the master, the enlightenment of the message and the compassion of the Messenger (PBUH).

That is true. This was the main objective, no more. It is to perceive in the light of one of his beams some of the traits of his rare eminence that brought about the believers’ loyalty and made them perceive in him the goal and the way, the teacher and the friend.

What made the nobles of his people hasten to his words and his religion! Abu Bakr, Talhah, Az-Zubair, Uthmaan Ibn Affaan, Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn Awf, and Saad Ibn Abi Waqqaas, all abandoned in haste the wealth and glory of their community which surrounded them, receiving at the same time heavy burdens in life, full of cares, troubles, and conflict.

What made the weak of his community seek his protection, hasten to his standard and his call, when they saw him without wealth or weapon, with harm inflicted upon him and evil following him in a terrifying way, without his being able to avoid it.

What made the pre-Islamic tyrant Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, who went to cut off his noble head with his sword, return to cut off with the same sword — made sharper through faith — the leaders of the Prophet’s enemies and his persecutors.

What made the city’s elite and noblemen go to him and promise to be his companions, voluntarily embracing a set of trouble and terror, knowing that the struggle between them and the Quraish would be more horrifying than terror itself!

What made those who believed in him increase and not decrease, though he declared day and night, “I hold no good or harm for you. I do not know what will become of me or you”

What made them believe that the world would open its countries to them and that their feet would be wading in the gold and crowns of the world! And that the Qur’an they were reciting in secret would reverberate in strong tones and ringing voices, not only in their own generation or in their own peninsula but throughout the ages and everywhere.

What made them believe the prophecy told them by the Messenger, though when they turned right and left they found nothing except heat, barren land, and stones emitting boiling vapour, their pointed heads looking like devils’ heads.

What filled their hearts with certainty and will-power?

It was Ibn ‘Abd Allah, who else could have done that.

They saw themselves with their own eyes all his virtues and all that distinguished him. They saw his chastity, his purity, his honesty, his straightforwardness, and his courage. They saw his superiority and his compassion. They saw his intellect and his eloquence. They saw the sun shining the way his truth and eminence shone.

They heard the growth of life running in his veins when Muhammad started to bestow upon them his daily revelation and his past contemplation. They saw all these and more, not through a mask but face to face and in practice, through their own vision and perception.

When an Arab of those days saw something, he would talk as an expert. The Arabs were people of perception and intuition. If one of them saw some footprints on the road, he would tell you, “These are the footprints of such-and-such a person.” He would smell the breath of the one talking to him and realize what truth or falsity was inherent.

These men saw Muhammad and were his contemporaries since his coming into existence as a newborn babe. Nothing was concealed from them in his life. The stage of childhood which is unperceived by other than the child’s people and close relations was, in the case of Muhammad, seen and perceived by all the people of Makkah. That was because his childhood was not like any other. It drew attention to itself for its early signs of manliness and initiative, and for rejecting the usual play of children for the seriousness of men.

As an example, the Quraish used to talk about ‘Abd Al- Muttalib’s grandson who kept away from the children’s playgrounds and their celebrations and used to say whenever he was Invited to them, “I was not created for that.”

Moreover, when his wet nurse Halimah took him back to his people, she told them her observations, her experience with the child, and what she saw In him to convince them he was not an ordinary child. She believed there was a hidden secret In him, unknown except to Allah, which might be revealed one day.

As to his youth, what chastity! He was clearer and more translucent. His people’s preoccupation with him and their talk about him was more constant and praising. As to his manhood, it was fully perceived by every eye, ear, and heart. Above all, it was his community’s conscience, measuring through his conduct and behaviour all their visions of truth, goodness, and beauty.

It was, then, a transparent and comprehended life from cradle to grave. All his visions, his steps, his words, his movements, even his dreams, his hopes, and his remembrances were the right of all the people from the first day he was born. It was as if Almighty Allah wished it to be like that to tell the people, “That is My Messenger to you; his way is through reason and Intellect, and that is his whole life since he was a baby”

Therefore, with all you possess of reason and intellect, examine his life and judge. Do you perceive any sense of suspicion? Do you see any false matter? Did he ever tell a lie or betray anyone? Did he ever treat Anyone unjustly? Did he ever expose a defect? Did he ever abandon his kinship relations? Did he neglect a duty or leave a noble action? Did he insult anyone or worship an idol? Peruse well and meticulously and Investigate, as there is no stage of his life that is hidden or veiled.

If his life as you see and perceive is nothing but purity, truth, and eminence, does it appeal to reason or logic that a man of such traits would tell lies after the age of forty? About whom would he lie? About Allah in order to claim he was His Messenger (PBUH), chosen, selected, and inspired by Him?

No, this is the answer to feeling and intuition. What is your way of thinking and what right do you have to tell lies?

This, we believe, was the attitude of the early believers towards Allah’s Messenger (PBUH), the Muhaajiruun as well as those who sheltered and supported him.

It was a firm and swift attitude that did not leave any place for hesitation or idleness. A man who had such a pure and enlightened life could not play false with Allah With such sharp insight, the believers saw the light of Allah and they followed.

They would thank their insight when they saw later how Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) was supported by Allah and how the whole peninsula was obliged to him. Many unperceived blessings and spoils were bestowed upon them while he became more modest, more austere, and more pious, until he met Allah at the appointed time, lying down on a mat that left its impressions on his body.

And when they saw him, the Messenger whose standards victoriously and proudly filled the horizon, descended the pulpit and received the people, saying while he wept, “Whoever’s back I whipped, here is my back, let him take his revenge; whoever’s money I took, here is my money, let him take of it.”

The believers saw him while his uncle Al-‘Abbaas was asking him to offer him one of the jobs obtained by ordinary Muslims, and he gently apologized, saying, “Truly, uncle, we do not offer that job to someone who asks or someone who cares for it.”

They saw him not only sharing the trouble and hunger that befell people, but establishing for himself and his folk an unforsaken principle which was, “To be the first to feel hunger if people go hungry, and the last to satisfy his hunger when people were starving.”

Yes, the early believers would be more thankful for their insight which perceived things well even before they came, thanking Allah Who had guided them to faith.

They would also see that life which was the best proof of the truth of the Messenger (PBUH) when he said to them: “I am Allah’s Messenger unto you.” His life was truly eminent. Its eminence and purity are the best evidence of the truth of the great teacher and noble Messenger (PBUH). Its level of excellence and eminence never declined nor fell, but remained steadfast from cradle to grave.

Throughout life and after reaching his prime, it was as clear as day that the man who led that life and conveyed such a message was not seeking wealth, money or sovereignty. When these were offered to him on a golden platter associated with his triumphant leadership, he rejected them all and lived his life till the last breath devoting himself to Allah, repentant and chaste.

He never deviated from the purposes of his great life the breadth of a hair and never broke a promise to Allah in worship or in jihad.

No sooner would the latter part of the night begin than he would get up, make his ablution and remain as he was accustomed to do, invoking Allah, praying, and crying.

Mountains of wealth and money were accumulated in his possession, yet he did not change and never took of it except as the poorest and lowest of Muslims did. Then he died leaving only his armour in mortgage.

All the countries of the world came closer due to his call, and most of the kings of the earth stood before his message, in which he called them to Islam, in awe and supplication. Yet, not an atom of boasting or arrogance crossed his way even at a great distance. When he saw people approaching him troubled and disturbed out of awe and reverence, he said to them, “Be easy, my mother used to eat dried meat in Makkah.”

When all the enemies of his faith put down their weapons and bowed their heads waiting for him to pass judgment and while 10,000 swords of the Muslims were glittering on the Day of Conquest over the hills of Makkah, he merely said to his enemies, “Disperse, you are free!”

Even at the height of the victory for which he devoted his life, he deprived himself of it. He walked in the victory procession on the Day of the Conquest bowing his head down until people could not see his face and repeated hymns of thanks to Allah in low tones, wet with tears, humbly raising his words to Allah until he reached the Ka’bah. He then confronted the idols and did what he did to them and said,

And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.” (17: 81).

Is there any more doubt about his message? He was a man who dedicated his whole life to a call in which he had no personal gain of wealth, position, sovereignty, or power. Biographical immortality was not even considered by him because he believed solely in the immorality of the second life when one is in the hands of Allah.

He was a man who spent his life from childhood until the age of forty in purity and contemplation. Then, he dedicated the remainder of his life to worship, guidance, jihad, and struggle. When the world revealed its false glory to him, he rejected it and remained steadfast in his way, worship, and message. How could such a man be a liar? Why would he tell lies? Surely, an individual of his stature and as a messenger would be above such actions.

We have mentioned that logic and reason were — and still are the best proof of the truth of Muhammad (PBUH) when he said, “I am Allah’s Messenger.” It does not appeal to good logic or to sound reason that a man who lived such a good life lies about Allah Early believers who hastened to believe in his message, and whom we are honoured to know something about through the pages of this book, had such a relation with him after their guidance from Allah, which is the best evidence of logic and reason.

We observe Muhammad (PBUH) both before and after his message. We witness him in his cradle and witness his burial at death. However, have we ever encountered any contradiction or inconsistency throughout his entire life? Never!”

To be continued———

This story is taken from a Book called “Men & Women Around the Messenger” By Khaalid Muhammad Khaalid & Dr . Abdel – Hamid Eliwa