THE LIGHT THEY FOLLOWED

[A Brief Biography of Prophet Muhammad(ﷺ)]—- Part 3

Continuation from Part 2 —

To read Part 1 Click on this link https://iqralearntobelight.wordpress.com/2023/05/25/the-light-they-followed/

To read Part 2 Click on this link https://iqralearntobelight.wordpress.com/2023/05/27/the-light-they-followed-2/

People beheld him, but few believed in him. Despite their number, he found in them comfort and company. But the Quraish decided that each tribe should be in charge of giving lessons to the believers among them. So, suddenly, persecution descended like a mad storm and hit all the Muslims. The polytheists did not know a crime but committed it against the Muslims. However, here an unexpected surprise took place. Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) gave orders to all the Muslims to emigrate to Abyssinia and decided to remain alone to face the aggression!

Why did he not emigrate to convey the word of Allah in another place, for Allah is the Lord of All the Worlds and not the Lord of the Quraish alone? Or why did he not let them stay with him, since in their staying there was confirmed benefit? Surely their stay in Makkah, despite their small number, would have induced others to embrace Islam the religion of Allah.

Furthermore, there were among them a good number of the noblest families of the Quraish, the strongest and the most powerful. From the tribe of Bani Umaiyah, there were ‘Uthmaan Ibn Affaan, Amr Ibn Sa’iid Ibn Al-Aas, and Khaalid Ibn Sa’iid Ibn Al-Al-Aas. From Bani Asad there were Az-Zubair Ibn Awaam, Al-Aswad Ibn Nawfal, Yazid Ibn Zanfah ,and Amr Ibn Umaiyah. From the tribe of Bani Zahrah, there were Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, Aamir Ibn Abi Waqqaas, Maalik Ibn Ahyab, and Al-Muttalib Ibn Azhar. There were these and others whose families would not be patient for long with their persecution and infliction of harm upon them. Why, then, did the Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) not let them stay with him to support him and to be a sign of possible power in his hands?

Here the eminence of Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), the Messenger of Allah shines. He did not want commotion or civil war, even if the probability of his success was there, or even if he was sure of his success! Here the Messenger’s humanity and compassion are illustrated, for he could not bear to see people persecuted because of him, although he was well aware that sacrifice was the price paid in every noble struggle and in every great mission. Sacrifice should be made whenever it was inevitable. But now, when it is possible to avoid suffering, let the Muslims turn that way. Why, then, did he not join them?

He was not commanded to depart. His place was there where idols were. He would keep uttering the name of Allah, the One. He would keep receiving pain and harm without anxiety or disquietude since it was he who was harmed and not those weak people who believed in him and followed him and not even those noblemen who also believed in him and followed him! Whoever knows examples of such cases of steadfastness and nobility of sacrifice, let him come up With them. It is a lofty matter capable only of leading messengers and chosen ones.

The man and the Messenger came together in Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), in such a magnificent arid well-knit encounter. Those who had doubts in his message did not have any doubt in his eminence, the purity of his quintessence, or the purity of his humanity. Allah, Who knew where to place HIS Message, had chosen such a man who was the best humanity could achieve in elevation, loftiness, and honesty. People heard him reprimanding them for any exaggeration In glorifying him or even when they merely stated his eminence without any exaggeration. He prohibited them even from standing up in his presence when he came upon them when they were seated. He said,” Do not stand as non-Arabs do when they glorify one another.”

When the sun eclipsed on the day of the death of his beloved son Ibrahim, the Muslims mentioned that it was an eclipse out of sadness for the loss of Ibrahim. But the great and honest Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) hastened to refute and negate this assumption before it turned Into a legend. He stood among the Muslims, addressing them as follows: “The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah. They never eclipse for the death or life of anybody.”

He was the one trusted with the minds of people and their thinking, and so accomplishing what was entrusted to him was more worthy than the glory of all the world. He was certain that he came to humanity to change their way of life and that he was not a Messenger to the Quraish alone, or to the Arabs only, but was Allah’s Messenger to all the people on earth!

Almighty Allah directed his vision to how far his mission would reach and his banner flutter. He perceived the truth of the faith he announced, the living immortality it would have until Allah inherits the earth and those upon it. Nevertheless, he did not see in himself, or his religion or his unprecedented success more than a brick in the construction! This great man stood to proclaim this idea In one of his best statements, saying, “The relation between prophets who came before me and myself is like a man who built a house and constructed it well and decorated it, except for a brick In one of its corners. This made people go around it and express their astonishment, saying, Won’t this brick be placed? I am such a brick, and I am the last of the Prophets.”

All that long life he lived, all these struggles and heroism, all his glory and purity, all the victory achieved in his life for his religion and the victory he knew would be achieved after his death were nothing but a brick, a mere brick in a lofty and deeply founded building. He was the one who proclaimed this and reiterated it. In addition, he did not makeup such a speech out of assumed modesty, to nourish a hunger for glory. he emphasized the situation as a fact. It’s delivery and transmission he considered part of the quintessence of his message. Though modesty was one of the essential characteristics of Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), it was not the only sign of his greatness, which reached an unrivalled level of excellence and superiority to be a sign and a symbol itself.

That was the teacher of mankind and the last of the prophets. He was the light seen by the people, and he lived among them as a human being, and then after his departure from this world, he was seen by the whole world as a truth and a memory.

Have you ever noticed that when people read about the companions of the Prophet, they are often amazed by their unwavering faith, their incredible sacrifices, and the noble purpose they pursued in their lives, which was unprecedented?

This reason was nothing but the light they followed who was Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Almighty Allah had combined in him the vision of truth and self-dignity, which honoured the life and illuminated the destiny of mankind.

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