Allah, the light of the Universe, declared in His book, the Holy Qur'an:
"I am Allah - the Lord of the Universe"
And Continued to announce:
"The Qur'an is Revelation from Me. There is no manner of doubt in it. There will never be any change in it. If you entertain doubt about its veracity, you human beings, bring out the like of it or of only ten of it's A'yahs, or even only one You will never be able to do it."
And for the last more than one thousand four hundred years they have not been able to meet the challenge. Not that no one tried. Some famous intellectuals of their time did. But they failed miserably.
"Even if the entire races of humans and Jinns join hands they hall not be able to bring out the like of it though each one of them helps the other in this venture."
The Germans collected thousands of copies of the Qur'an transcribed during the centuries in all the nooks and corners of the world. They compared one to the other. They admitted, after considerable study and effort, their inability to find any discrepancy, difference or alteration. Did not the Lord guarantee its preservation?
"Verily! We have revealed this scripture/guidance and We sure are going to guard and preserve it."
He revealed this book to the Prophet whom He entrusted with the mission of Islam. Like in the case of His book, He assured His prophet:
"Allah will protect you from people."
In the first revelation, He simply bid him:
"Read! in the name of your Loard......"
In others, He addressed him endearingly:
"O! One wrapped in a shroud!"
Or.......
"O! One wrapped in a blanket."
Yet at other times. He called him by titles
unknown to man before and after such as - Twa-ha!" or "Ya-seen!".
Titles whose meanings have not yet been discovered.
At other places in the Qur'an, He conferred such titles on him as:
"The illumining sun!"
And many more, each one more eloquent than the other.
The mission entrusted to him was to:
"Teach them the Book and the Wisdom".
He was conferred with the unique honor of:
"The Seal of the Prophets."
So none to appear after him. And none has!
Says the Qur'an:
"Obey Allah and obey the Prophet."
And assuredly:
"If you obey the Prophet, you obey Me."
Obedience and love go hand in hand:
"If you love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you."
People came to follow and love him in an
unprecedented manner and on an un-heard of scale. All those who ever came in
contact with him - even those who could not during his lifetime.
He migrated from his ancestral city - Mecca - in order to continue with his
mission. Those who believed in Allah and His prophet followed suit. They
fought by his side against their own nearest kith and kin. Some shielded him
with their own bodies sustaining scores of wounds. Defending him, a lady
follower was severely wounded on a battleground. Another lost her father,
husband and son. But she did not grieve for them. Her only worry was the
safety of the Prophet. Mere kids vied with one another to join battle along
his side and they performed acts of valor.
His enemies, which included his own real uncle, throughout the span of
twenty-three years of his ministership, tried their worst to do him every
conceivable kind of harm. They called him "crazy". They dubbed him as
sorcerer, a sooth-sayer, and a poet. His own aunt strew thorns of his path.
Others placed filth of a camel's stomach on his shoulders while he was
engaged prayers. One even tried strangulating him. Some set urchins to pelt
him with stones till his ploring blood soaked his shoes. All Meccans, except
one, refused him protection commonly granted during his times to any one who
asked for it. They drove him and his kith and kin from their homes and
confined them in a narrow place besieging them for three years and depriving
them of food and help. They tried their utmost to batter him for the best
beau of Mecca. Their purpose was to compensate the tribe of the Prophet
before killing him. They also plotted his conjoint killing. They offered
huge rewards for capturing him during his migration from Mecca.
They engaged him in unequal battles around Medina. They targeted him during
battle. They resorted to desertion before and during battle. They invited
him for talks but plotted to kill him by sliding a boulder from the top of
the wall by which he sat reclining. The raised a rival mosque to create
dissensions. They poisoned him through a show of hospitality. They tried
way-laying him in a narrow pass during his return from a campaign.
But he stuck to his mission whole-heartedly, all alone. Then a small band of
the very poor persecuted slaves joined him as also did his wife, a friend,
two boys. There was a mere trickle of fresh supporters for a long time. He
met persecution with migration to Medina. The Constitution of the Muslim
State
was drafted and introduced. This was followed in quick succession by battles
against invading confederates and internal foes, campaigns, treaties,
patient propagation of Islam and reformation of social life. Then came that
unprecedented entry into Mecca,
bloodless and forgiving. There was great expansion in the number of Muslims
and of the territories of the Islamic Republic at the minimal cost.
The pinnacle was reached with his address at the last Pilgrimage:
"All of you are from Adam. And Adam was of clay. There is no preference of a white over a black nor of an Arab over a non-Arab. The most honorable in the eyes of Allah is one most pious among you."
He was not lettered. Yet he trained and educated his followers. He laid down:
"To seek knowledge is the duty of every Muslim - man and woman."
He emphasized that, for this, they may
"have to go even to China". Consider the distance and times. He founded as
open university. Its resident students were all the very poorest of the
community.
He was a small trader. Yet he led them on the battlefield, time and time
gain.
He was a commoner orphan. Yet he ended up as the master of all that he
surveyed in and around Arabia. He was never crowned nor ever addressed as a
king. he never went to a school much less a law college. Yet he was the
greatest teacher and the greatest legist. The portals of Lincoln's Inn stand
honored by his name.
Despite centuries of old prejudices against him: Carlyle paid him tribute of
brilliance under the caption:
Hero as a Prophet.
The survey of centuries of most influential personalities in history carried
out towards the end of the twentieth century by Michael H. Hart places the
Prophet right at the top.
Today after 1400 years, Muslims all over the world turn to him and his life
for guidance and inspiration. And they will continue to do so for all times
to come.
He worked and worked. He prayed and prayed till his missionw as fulfilled.
During the Last Pilgrimage, mounted on a camel he asked more than a hundred
thousand pilgrims thrice:
"Have I fulfilled my mission?"
Thrice they responded with one voice:
"Yes! O Prophet of Allah".
Each time he said:
"Then be my witness, O Allah".
More than everything else, he has been and shall ever be the most beloved of us Muslims, of whatever color, creed, clime, and country or time. His domain is our hearts. He is dearer to us than our lives.
THE DEAREST
Maqbool Elahi (December 12, 2000)
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