IMAGE CREDIT: UNKOWNEveryone knows his name, few know his story, I am not sharing his story but a glimpse of it and a few of his ways that have inspired me.
In 7th century Arabia a child by the name Muhammad was born, orphaned by father and few years later by mother. He was raised by his uncle a well respected man in his society.
Muhammad was neither tall nor short, neither dark nor fair – it is said his skin resembled the colour of the moon. He was neither thin nor heavy built. His hair was neither curly nor straight. Rosey cheeked, with large black eyes and thick lashes. When he walked he walked with purpose and when he addressed you he would turn his whole body to face you.
He was known and named as ‘the trustworthy one’. So much so that his first wife a wealthy business woman, 15 years his senior proposed to him. Their marriage was a love story of 24 years until she died, he mourned her until his own death 13 years later. He remarried multiple times after her passing, all took place as a means for diplomatic alliances; which appropriately so were a norm at that time in history.
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Muhammad, peace be upon him, received revelation at the age of 40 at Mount Hira – in a cave he often visited to meditate. His first encounter with the Angel Gabriel revealed to him the first verse from the Holy Quran leaving Muhammad feeling as a mad man, frightened and shaken to his core (and not as an enlightened man claiming an awakening). It is said the Angel grabbed him so tight telling him: “READ” and Muhammad replied: “I do not know how to read”, this happened three times before the rest of the verse was revealed:
Read [O Muhammad!] in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Honorable who taught with the pen, taught man what he did not know.
-Quran [The Clot 96: 1-5]
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I love the last Prophet for his beautiful heart, for indeed when the physical form passes away the character and good deeds echoes for eternity.
Some lessons we learn from him:
- All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.
- It was only after 13 years of enduring torture from the aggressors that Allah revealed to him: “fight those that fight you” and that only came with rules such as: fighting is only on battlefield: never including women, children, monks, elderly and the likes, never mutilate a dead body, don’t cut down trees or kill animals. He was handed down from God a military code that was extremely humane with rules of high ethics.
- He answered back to evil with goodness
- He forgave when forgiveness was hardest
- His message was to all humanity and not to one group of people
- He never cursed the disbelievers, he prayed for them and said: perhaps one day they will believe
- He ordered us to honour the guest, and not worry about having enough food to share
- When asked who is the most worthy of good companionship, he repeated: your mother, three times. Raising the status of the woman and the mother.
- He advised us with moderation in everything, even religion
- He taught the perfect balance between worldly affairs and the meditative life, asceticism is not from Islam as we do not deny we live in earth in physical form
- Service unto others is a form of worship
- Visit the sick and the elderly
- Do not expect your rights from people
- To look at our own faults before looking at the faults of others
- Be in awareness to negative emotions and know that they are a poison for the soul
- Richness is contentment of the soul
- The best jihad is to conquer the self
- Be in a state of gratitude at all times
- Be in this world as a traveler passing through this life
- Give up what disturbs your peace
- To take care of 5 before 5: youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation and life before death
- From the beautiful Islam of a person is to leave what has no meaning for him, like gossip and backbiting.
- On his death bed he repeated: take care of the women, three times
- Women are not created weaker but more generous than men. They are created more beautiful and less fierce, as beauty hates to hurt and harm others. That is why they seem weak to people, but in reality they are not. Angels are the strongest of created beings, and women are closer to the angelic nature than men, as they are readier than men to carry angelic light.
- On the Day of Resurrection when each soul will be saying: nafsi, nafsi – myself, myself. Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, will be saying: ummati, ummati – my community, my community. And it is said he will not enter heaven until he gets all his community in there first.
Say (O Muhammad): “I don’t tell you that with me are the treasures of Allah, nor (that) I know the unseen; nor I tell you that I am an angel. I but follow what is revealed to me by inspiration. Say: Are the blind and the one who sees equal? Will you not then take thought?
-Quran [The Cattle, 50]
The gift of Islam is it gives life meaning, we feel what is real and what is unreal. We are all searching for meaning so to believe this life has been created without meaning is a concept that refutes itself.
