INTRODUCTION
In an American publication entitled The Hundred, the author mentions the one hundred people he believes to have exerted the most significant influence on human history. The author, Dr Michael Hart, was born into a Christian family and received a scientific education. But at the top of his roll of honour, he has placed neither Christ’s name nor Newton’s. There was one person, he believes, whose achievements excelled all others: that person was the Prophet Muhammad. No one else has had such an impact on the history of man. “He was the only man in history,” he writes, “supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.”
Just as to the American Michael, Hart the Prophet is the most outstanding figure of human history, to the English historian Thomas Carlyle, he is “the hero of the Prophets.”
In ancient times, when Abraham and Ishmael were building the House in Makkah, they prayed for a prophet among their descendants. Two thousand five hundred years later, this “hero,” the Prophet Muhammad, arose from the People of Makkah, bringing with him special divine succour. The prayer of Abraham was fulfilled, and with it, the purpose of the prophets’ coming to the world was achieved.
Before Muhammad, history did not carefully record the lives of the prophets. From a strictly academic and historical point of view, their prophethood was difficult to establish. The Prophet Jesus was the last of the ancient prophets and had a following of millions, yet so tenuous is his historical position that Bertrand Russell remarked: “Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all.” This is not the case with the Prophet Muhammad, the last of the prophets. His life is so well-documented and laid down in history that anyone who studies his life is forced to agree with Professor Philip Hitti that “Muhammad was born in the full light of history.”
The factor that makes the most significant contribution to the permanence of Muhammad’s prophethood is the Quran, that enduring miracle revealed to him by God. If this miracle had been of the same order as those bestowed upon his prophetic predecessors, its effects would not have outlived him, and his prophethood would not have been accepted in the way that it was by subsequent generations. A miracle is an extraordinary event that man, on his own, cannot produce. This definition applies in full measure to the Quran: it is beyond man even to emulate it. Therefore, there is no doubt that the Quran is a miracle wrought by the Almighty.
Muhammad’s role was exceptional in that he was to be the last of the prophets. God had so ordained it. The final revelation of God’s will was to be conveyed to the people by him, and, for posterity, the scriptures had to be preserved by him and subsequently by his devoted followers throughout the centuries. To ensure this train of events, the Prophet had to bring about a great revolution that would give him a world following.
Muhammad is the father of no man among you. He is the Prophet of God and the last of the prophets. God knows all things.
God chose the Prophet to give the kind of guidance to people they needed to lead good, virtuous lives. If people seemingly have complete control over what they do, it is because, in this world, they are on trial. If the illusion of free will causes them to act as they choose, they are being tested. Despite their divine mission, the Prophets cannot force people to change their ways. All they can do is communicate the message with which God has entrusted them:
Yet what should Messengers do but give plain warning?
God has done the maximum to ensure that we should not go astray in our journey through life. He has given us a conscience, enabling us to differentiate between right and wrong, and has placed us in a justice-based world. But - whenever man has failed to listen to his conscience or was deaf to the silent message emanating from every object of God’s creation, God sent His prophets to bring him the truth, and so that these God-sent messages should not be incomprehensible to the people of many different lands, they were communicated to them in their languages.
In pre-Islamic times religious institutions had become debased by the veneration of mere mortals, whereas the prophet Muhammad admitted no other form of religion but that based on the worship of the immortal God. Religious beliefs had frequently been founded on superstition, but by him, they were established on the foundation of reality. He taught people to conquer nature instead of worshipping it, thus paving the way for the scientific era. And where political power had been in the hands of one hereditary monarch, he showed the way to government by the people. While learning had been based on conjecture and assumption, he taught people to learn from observation of reality. In cases where human society had been vitiated by cruelty and oppression, he showed people how to live together in justice and peace. These are all achievements of the Prophet Muhammad. He changed the tide of human history.
From whatever angle one looks at history, ever-broadening reverberations of his impact will be manifest. All that is best in human values, all the important advances of human civilization, are direct or indirect results of the revolution he brought about.
His personal life was a perfect example for humanity. Because he was made to experience all kinds of exceptional conditions, he was able to provide a model for living both at the individual and social levels. He showed us the life that God would like us to live on earth, for in all matters, every one of his actions was by the will of God. Not only did he establish the perfect pattern for worshipping God, but he also showed how God helps those who truly devote their lives to His service. We can see from his life how if one fears God, there is nothing else one needs to fear. He will pour oil on troubled waters if one remains patient in the provocation. If one rises above negative impulses, one can win over everyone, even enemies. If one sacrifices this world for the next, one will eventually have the best of both worlds.
Just as the farmer who cultivates his land by divinely inspired methods reaps the best crop, so, at any time, can the followers of the Prophet prevail over others. God has provided all the conditions necessary for and conducive to the dominance of His divine religion. By understanding and utilizing them, adherents of this religion can bring Islamic thought into pre-eminence.
Between the time of the Prophet Abraham and the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, two thousand-five hundred years elapsed. Throughout this period, the stage was set for the arrival of the Prophet. The Prophet, acting at God’s behest, played the role for which he was cast. That was why his mission was supremely successful.
In making the Prophet Muhammad the greatest figure, and, consequently, one of the most resplendent landmarks in human history, God has bestowed his greatest favour on humanity. Therefore, whoever seeks a guide for himself cannot fail to see him, for he stands out like a tower, a mountain on the horizon, radiating light like a beacon, beckoning all to the proper path. Therefore, it is inevitable that a seeker of truth will be drawn up to the magnificent pinnacle on which he stands.
During the fourteen hundred years that have passed since the times of the Prophet Muhammad, the historical changes that have occurred and the massive advances in human knowledge that have taken place have all combined in support of Islam. The religion that the Prophet taught can still take pride in place over other faiths. But, for this to be achieved, divinely-inspired methods must be adopted. This rule, which applied to the Prophet, equally applies to his followers.
