The Misconception of Western Writers

The Misconception of Western Writers

The Western “scholars” of Islam and the orientalists who have published a number of books on the life-history of the Prophet (SAW), have generally erred in their over-all assessment of the Prophetic mission.

The main reason for their misunderstanding is that they did not at all appreciate the culminatoy and summatory character of his prophetic mission. They do have a vague notion of the basic and primary objectives of the prophetic call, and hence they feel that a prophet may at best be a preacher, a mentor, a teacher, a reformer and a warner. But as they are not clear about the finality of Prophethood and the summatory character of Prophet Muhammad’s mission, they cannot possibly imagine a prophet as a statesman, a commander of fighting armies, and an administrator. They just cannot swallow the fact that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) performed all the above mentioned functions, that he was both a preacher and a statesman. Finding it difficult to reconcile mentally all the capacities of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), some openly repudiated his Divine messenger-ship and only acclaim him to be a great leader. Others had recourse to very naive and foolish theses.

Thus, in the words of Dr. Michael Hart, “he [Prophet Muhammad] was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” 
Arnold Toynbee maintains that “Muhammad failed as a prophet and succeeded as a statesman.” 
Montgomery Watt speaks of the Prophet as “one of the greatest sons of Adam”, but, unable to harmonize the “secular” with the “religious”, he has, very wrongly, divided the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) into two disparate and disjointed phases, hence the titles of his two books are “Muhammad At Makkah” and “Muhammad At Medinah.” The insinuation here is that the personality of the Prophet at Makkah was entirely different from his personality at Medinah. 

All this, in fact, is the result of a fundamental misconception regarding Prophet Muhammad’s Divinely ordained mission as the last of all prophets.

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....

The Revolutionary Struggle The Objective & Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

The Revolutionary Struggle

The endeavour and struggle of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to bring about the Islamic revolution too was unique and unparalleled in the entire human history, in so far as all the variegated stages of the revolutionary process were completed in one man’s life span. There is on other instance in world history in which a propounder of a revolutionary ideology — starting from theoretical dissemination and going through all the phases of organization, passive resistance, challenge, and armed conflict — successfully brought about a revolution. This, in fact, is the most remarkable feat of our beloved Prophet (SAW) that, starting the mission of making Islam dominant from his individual self, he established the “Kingdom of Heaven on earth” within a brief span of twenty three years (of lunar calendar) so that Islam was practiced in its totality, both in letter and in spirit, throughout the length and breadth of the Arabian peninsula.

Now, we would like to discuss two important points which link up with ideas presented in the above lines. The first point is about the short-sightedness and erroneous judgement of Western scholars vis-à-vis the revolutionary struggle of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), while the other relates to the ummatic obligation of Muslims with regard to completing the mission of the Prophet.

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....

The Leader of Revolution Muhammad (saw)

The Leader of Revolution

We will no doubt be guilty of irreverence if we consider Prophet Muhammad (SAW) comparable to other leaders of historical revolutions in the world. But, nevertheless, it is a fact that no one in the entire human history deserves the title of “leader of revolution” more than Prophet Muhammad (SAW). 

This is because all revolutions witnessed by mankind — including the French and the Bolshevik Revolutions — were partial and imperfect, as they affected only some part of the collective human existence. Thus, the French Revolution brought change in the political structure and the form of government, while the Bolshevik Revolution mainly changed the economic setup of Russia. 

On the other hand, the Islamic Revolution of the 7th century C.E was a total and absolute transformation which affected all aspects of life. Everything changed. 

• Right from the basic metaphysical beliefs to the ethical value-structure, 
• from the eating and drinking habits to the dynamics of interpersonal relations, 
• from the rites and rituals for worship to ceremonies and customs, and from the social setup and 
• economic system to the political order and statecraft — all underwent radical changes. 

Indeed, this was a Revolution in the true sense of the word.

Source:The Objective and Goal of Muhammad (SAW)

To Be Continued ....