The Prophet of Islam is a prophet until the Day of Judgement. On this basis, his teachings guide us till the last day of this world. But this guidance is only for those who understand the changing situations and apply Islam accordingly. According to the law of nature, circumstances are constantly changing, so it is necessary to discover the contemporary application of the Quran and Sunnah in the changed conditions and apply Islamic principles according to the spirit of the Quran and Sunnah. This religious requirement is called Ijtihad in the hadith.
Therefore, Ijtihad has been given great importance in religion. As per one hadith, Amr ibn al-‘As reported: The Prophet of Islam said, “When a scholar does his best (ijtahda) to come to a right decision or verdict concerning a certain matter, if his verdict is right, he will get a double reward, and even if his verdict is wrong, he will still get a reward.... one.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 7352; Sahih Muslim, Hadith no. 1716)
If we look at the teachings of Islam and the sunnah of the Prophet, we shall find that there is no conflict between these teachings and the demands of modern times and that Islam is practicable in the modern age in the complete sense of the word.
Islam's primary demand is that man should believe in one God. He should worship Him alone. He should embody truth, honesty, justice and other moral values. In short, within his private sphere, he should fully obey God. These teachings of Islam do not clash with the demands of modern times, which are equally practicable today.
Further, while discharging his responsibilities, the Prophet of Islam adopted the way of wisdom on all occasions and stages. Several sayings on this subject have appeared in the books of Hadith. The Prophet of Islam once said: “Wisdom is the lost property of a believer. Wherever he finds it, he should take it (as it belongs to him).” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2687) This tradition explains the importance of wisdom. This means that wisdom, whatever the source, belongs equally to all human beings. It is a common good and not anyone’s monopoly. Like the sun, everyone has an equal right to receive light. The Prophet’s entire life was filled with examples of wisdom. As a result of his grand vision, he urged his followers to adopt a wise approach in all their dealings. Prophetic wisdom is relevant in every age, especially in the modern era.
Featured Articles
Featured Videos
FAQs
Prophet Muhammad provides guidance for the modern man. I will give you one example. In the modern age, freedom has been given the status of summum bonum. Its prevalence stemmed, in fact, from the general reaction to the coercive system established by the despotic monarchs of ancient times. Freedom is without doubt extremely precious so far as human progress is concerned. But unbounded freedom, on the contrary, results in disaster. In a hundred-year experiment with unlimited freedom, thinkers are coming to the fore in the West who hold that freedom cannot be given the status of an absolute good. For instance, B.F. Skinner has written a book titled, ‘We Can’t Afford Freedom.’ The title indicates the gist of the book.
Through the Prophet of Islam, modern man is being shown how to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy freedom. The Prophet has brought real knowledge to the demarcation of what is lawful and what is unlawful. Similarly, through the Prophet of Islam, modern man can understand how to arrange for a practicable division of the workplace between men and women by according them equal respect. A knowledge of human limitations is essential for the proper organization of all matters in life. And man receives this knowledge of right and natural limitation only through a prophet.
This is the greatest boon of the Prophet to modern man: his teachings give man the opportunity to organize his life in a far better way, and on a far higher plane.
The mission of calling people to God, in essence, a divine task, is to convey the message of God to those who are still unaware of it. From the viewpoint of real status, a Muslim is a dayee and all other nations are his madu. That is to say that God has made Muslims the trustee of His final book, the Quran. Now it is their responsibility to convey the message of this book to all humanity. The success of both worlds, the present world, and the Hereafter, lies in fulfilling this duty.
The Quran tells us that the Prophet of Islam was sent as “a mercy for all mankind” (The Quran, 21:107). There is nothing mysterious about this. It is a natural reality, which can be understood by making an academic and rational study of it.
When a human being is born, he finds himself in a world, which is astonishingly vast and complex. How man has to relate himself to his world and how he has to form his ideas are matters of which he is totally ignorant. Neither is his birth accompanied by a guidebook, nor does he find a board set up on some hilltop inscribed with the necessary guidelines, which he is to follow. That is why man continues to grope in the dark, finding only scraps of knowledge to lay his hands on.
Through Prophet Muhammad, God Almighty sent the Quran to serve as a guidebook that provides guidance to all humanity.
A: This is a right observation. When man grows emotional, he develops contradictory behavior. What Muslims are doing is not in conformance with Islam because they only know their emotions and nothing else. The so-called Muslim leaders have found a way to gain cheap popularity by inciting Muslims to react. Let me cite an event from history. Ibn Taimiyyah wrote a book on the topic of disrespect of Prophet Muhammad in reaction to an instance where a Christian had said something disrespectful about the Prophet. He mobilized a crowd of people through speeches and took them to the court of the Turkish Sultan. The Sultan was angry and had Ibn Taimiyaah flogged saying that people were not even aware and it were his fiery speeches that incited them and made them negative. He sent Ibn Taimiyyah back!
Same events are being repeated today. The controversial video was not even known before the so-called Muslim leaders raised such hue and cry. Blameworthy therefore is not the common man but the clerics and leaders who misguide them through emotionally provocative speeches.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
