Historical Background
Prior to the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) the entire world had plunged into darkness.The light of civilization had faded away from Egypt to China and from Persia to Rom.The Roman and Persian empires,the two world powers,were in the worst state of tyranny and terrorism.Emperors were considerd gods or representatives of gods.With the clergy and army being at their disposal,they had strangled the common man through heavy taxes,bribes and forced labor.Devastating wars,frequent changes in the rulling dynasties,and large territories frequently passing from one empire to another caused newer forms of oppression.Churches and temples,on changing hands,became places of worship of each conqueror in turn.All over the world,the common man was deprived of the basic necessities of life and could not even raise his voice in protest.Freeedom was unknown and no religion or philosophy could guide him.Religion had become a profitable trade in the hands of religious orders in alliance with the rulling class.Greek philosophy had lost its force,the teaching of Confucius and Mani were forgotten.Budhist,Vedantic and Christian teaching had become ineffective.When humanity despaired and found no way of escape,the crisis reached its peak.It was at this critical stage that Allah Almighty selected a redeemer of humanity from a tribal area of the Arab Paninsula,which neither the Roman Empire nor the Persian Empire wanted to annex due to its barbarism,lack of yielding to any discipline,and utter moral degradation.
In the midst of this degradation,The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was assigned a mission to redeem humanity from the slavery of men (kings,emperors,clergymen,etc.) towards the service of One Almighty God.He stood up single-handed to change the entire world,while those who hated evil,like him,and were unable to reform their surroundings,had retired to forests and mountain caves and become monks.The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on the other hand,boldly faced the situation,challenged the Roman Empire,the Persian Empires and the rest of the world alike,and crushed them to restore freedom for all.
The Mission of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
The mission of Muhammad (pbuh) was to redeem humanity from the clutches
Of slavery,to transform the whole life of man from within and without,his individual as well as his community life.This all-embracing program was not taken up haphazardly but was the result of firm conviction,deep meditation and contemplation.For years,the deep questions of life,its meaning and purpose,engaged the Prophet’s mind.Every year for one month,in the cave of Hira he examined his own capacities and thought over the world condition,devoted his mind to the basic problems which afflicted the human society,but did not take any practical step until he received guidance in Divine Revelation.The greatest truth was that Allah is the Master of the universe and man is His servant.It was from this seed that the tree of wholesome civilization grew.
The revolutionary proclamation of the Prophet: ”Lailahaillallah” (there is no God but Allah) although brief,has tremendous significance.It was a decleration that threre is no divine being except ‘Allah” the only God,Who should be obeyed,loved,worshipped,praised and remembered.From Him one should expect all good and His displeasure one should fear.He will reward the good and punished the wicked.He is regarded as the master,ruler and lawgiver.His injuctions must be obeyed,and His prohibitions avoided.Lives must be moilded according to His will.Everything must be sacrificed on His command and His pleasure should be made the ideal of life.It was this comprehensive meaning of divinity that was condensed into the single phrase lailahaillallah..
Human society was suffering because these attributes of divinity were appropriated by different people and innumerable divinities were rulling over society,such as social rities,tribal and group traditions,and ruler and clergy dominance,under which man was powerless.Lailahaillallah struck at the root of all this.One who believed in this proclamation,declared that he did not recognize any other greatness except that of God,did not submit to any other rule,did not recognize any other law or code of conduct and would not bow before any other power,nor seek anyone else’s pleasure.This proclamation was in fact the declaration of man’s freedom.
The second part of this proclamation,”Muhammad-ur-Rasool-ul-Lah” (Muhammad is da Messenger) declared that the only means of uplift ans social reform was the Prophethood established by Allah (Almighty God),that real knowledge is provided through Revelation,which guides the thinking of mankind.That the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has completed the chain of Prophethood and that he was the last Rasool (messenger) of Allah .That life’s purpose can be secured from this source alone and it is only through Divine guidance that humanity can successfully advance towards its true goal of achieving the pleasure of Allah and inheriting Paradise.It was this interpretation of the proclamation that was made the foremost item of islam.To embrace islam,one has only to say and believe in this slogan.When this belief entered peoples hearts,it changed the entire outlook of man and gave birth to a new humanity on the march towards progress and rectitude.
The Prophet’s Mission and the Modern World
We study the teachings of Plato,Socrates,Marx,Einsten etc ,without any prejudice,but there are innumerable prejudices in the way of seeking guidance from the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).There is a notion that Muhammad (pbuh) is the Prophet of the Muslims only,therefore, non muslims have nothing to learn from him.THIS IS INCORRECT!.Muhammad (pbuh) was assigned for the guidance of Humanity as is ordained in the Qur’an : say;O mankind, I am the Rasool of Allah towards ALL of you.”This includes all human beings:Muslims,Jews,Christian,Buddhists,Hindus,people of other religions and atheists as well.
The life of the Prophet is often not studied as a whole,but in fragments.An unbiased study of his biography clearly indicates that the personality which shines in the background of the European renaissance and whose hand could be traced behind democracy,international movements and religious reforms is none else but Muhammad (pbuh).Studying a mission and the sponsor of the mission can never lead to a true appraisal if there is an overdose of biased and hostile literature on the subject,which can prejudice the minds of even those who are not absolutely averse to the Truth.
The Qur’an’s message is for all humanity,for the whole world of the east and the West,for black and white,for the classes and the masses,for labor and their employers,for men and women of all walks of life,for all religions and political persuasions,for the rulers and yhe ruled,for the learned and ignorant and for every man in every field of activity.The Qur’an deals with “Man” (which is used in the Qur’an to mean men as well as women) and not with his
civilization,ethnicity,language or colour.Man’s birth,growth,senses of good and bad,hot and cold,laughter and crying,happiness and sorrow are all alike.Time has changed,civilizations have changed,but ‘Man’ is the same as it was at the time of the creation of Adam and will remain the same until the Last Day.That’s why Allah’s message is for all times:it is applicable to us today as it was applicable at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) one thousand and fourteen hundred years ago.
