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Prophet Muhammad: The man and his mission
Muslims mark the Holy Prophet’s birthday on April 11
By Hameed Abdul Karim
Most people think that the attack on the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) by secular fundamentalists, especially in the west, is something new. But the fact of the matter is that such attacks go back to the earliest days of his prophethood.

The recent cartoon controversy is only one in a long series of vilification campaigns that have gone on for centuries. No religious leader in history has ever faced such a dreadful campaign of character assassination. But that in itself should not come as a surprise since this blessed man, today, has more than a billion people all over the world revering him with a passion and fervour that secular extremists find hard to comprehend.

There is something in the continuing vilification campaign. Western secularists and their acolytes in Muslim countries see a threat in the ever-growing numbers into the fold of the man and his religion of Islam. And what may this 'threat' be? Could it be that as their numbers grow, his followers might want to overhaul the current economic system and replace it by one that is based on Islamic principles that requires the equal distribution of wealth?

And isn't it amazing that a Sri Lankan business magnate who is not a Muslim should open an 'Islamic Bank' founded on principles articulated by the Prophet Muhammad well over fourteen centuries ago? What would you call this modern trend that is based on a 'primitive' religion? Islamic fundamentalism?

The blessed prophet did not confine himself to only a fair economic system. What was close to his heart was the belief and worship of the one true God. So much so that when the tribal leaders of Makkah offered him all the wealth they could muster on condition that he give up the preaching of the new religion, he told them the Almighty had sent him as a 'mercy to mankind' and that even if they were to place the sun in one hand and the moon in the other he would never give up his mission to bring mankind in line with the will of God Almighty.

On one occasion, he heard of the pain of a young Jew who lay in his deathbed praying for death that would not come. He bent over the poor youth and in voice trembling with emotion told him to recite the 'Kalima'. The youth glanced towards his heartbroken father seeking his approval for what the prophet had asked him to do and he nodded saying 'Do as Abu Qasim says'. (Abu Qasim was a pet name of the Prophet meaning father of Qasim). The boy recited the 'Kalima' that there is no god except God and Muhammad is his 'Messenger' and soon after he breathed his last, going to his Lord as one who had submitted himself to the will of Allah - i.e. as a Muslim.

Love for Qasim
The Prophet Muhammad was extremely fond of his son Qasim and would take him around often placing him on his shoulders. His companions were surprised because they had not showered their sons with such affection and neither had their parents been that affectionate towards them. In a society that had to face the harsh realities of a desert country, love and affection seemed out of place. But here was a man whom they would have worshipped had he only commanded them to do so, going about town so obsessed with his son that they did not know what to make of it.

When young Qasim died, one can only imagine the grief it must have caused his father the blessed Prophet Muhammad. He was devastated and yet he led the funeral prayer weeping as he performed his duty as the leader of his people. After laying his son to rest in his tiny grave he placed two planks at both ends of the grave. When he finished this task he was so overwhelmed with sorrow that he kissed one plank and broke down like a child while his companions watched with anxiety unaccustomed as they were to such outpouring of emotions. One of them wanted to know how two planks were going to help young Qasim. “This will not help Qasim in any way but it will console his father,” he replied.

The rugged and reserved Arab, so afraid to love and be loved, learned that love for one's child was indeed a gift from God as the Holy Prophet had taught them. He taught men that it was okay to give vent to their emotions and cry the way he cried for his son.

At another time when one of his companions found him kissing grandsons Hassan and Hussain he asked him whether it was necessary to show such affection and the Beloved Messenger of God replied, 'If you do not show your love and affection to your children, how would you expect Allah Almighty to do the same for you?"

Story of Salman
Then we have the touching tale of Salman Farsi who was a servant in the household of the Prophet. He was from a wealthy family in Persia and had been kidnapped by dacoits and sold to slave traders. Eventually he was gifted to the Prophet Muhammad, as was Mariam, the Coptic Christian whom the beloved Prophet married and who bore him his son Qasim.When Salman Farsi's folks came to know that he was in the household of the Prophet they rushed to Makkah and pleaded with the Prophet to release Salman on the payment of a ransom of his choice. The Prophet very gently declined their offer of money and told them they could take Salman Farsi free.

How delighted was Salman's father when he heard this! He thanked the Prophet profusely and went to take his son. But to his horror Salman told his father that he loved him as a son should love his father but that he could never leave the Prophet Muhammad and begged that he be allowed to stay on with Allah's Messenger. A horrified father asked him why he chose slavery over freedom and young Salman replied, "Oh, my beloved father, Muhammad is the Messenger of God and I love him so much that I would not survive for even a day if I were separated from him. So please let me be with him.'

Then there is the story of Addas, a Christian from Nineveh. When the Prophet Muhammad was on a solo mission to the wealthy city of Ta'if he was humiliated and physically attacked and had to take shelter in a corner somewhere. Two brothers saw his pathetic condition and though not favourably disposed towards his religion took pity on him and asked Addas to go over and give him some food.

When the Prophet said 'In the name of God', as is the custom of Muslims before taking food, a stunned Addas told him that he had never heard those words in Ta'if before. The Prophet asked him from where he originated and when he gave the name of his native place, the Prophet said, 'You come from the land of my brother Prophet Jonah'. On hearing this Addas gently kissed the Prophet's head then his hands and finally his feet. The two Arabs were observing all this and upon Addas' return they wanted to know why he did what he did. He replied, “because he is truly a prophet of God”.

And women? How did the blessed Prophet treat women? His detractors would want the world to believe that he was a misogynist and chauvinist. But it would be fair to say that no man of his stature had ever treated women the way he did. He had raised them to a happy status at a time when the entire world treated them as mere chattels and the Arabs buried their new-born daughters alive.In his last sermon he ordered his followers to treat their wives with love, telling them that they had a right over them and therefore they had to be treated not only kindly but with respect. Men, he told them must act as protectors of women. This was unthinkable at that time as much as it is unthinkable in some places even now.

The beloved Prophet held his daughter Fathima very close to his heart and on one occasion he told his followers that if anyone were to hurt Fathima's feelings it would be like hurting his feelings and no Muslim at that point of time or even thereafter could ever harbour such a horrendous thought. The prophet was known to get up from a gathering when he could see Fathima approaching the house and go up to the door and greet her with a hug. Such conduct was unthinkable then, but even today you would be hard put to find a father treating his daughter the way the Prophet Mummmaded treated his!

He taught the believers that paradise lay at the feet of their mothers and that a child is required to love his mother four times more than his or her father.
Yet his enemies then and now would continue to vilify him. But if they would only care to look at their mothers and ponder over what the Messenger Muhammad -- the Beloved of Allah -- had said about their high status perhaps their thoughts might undergo a revolutionary change. Little wonder then that among converts to Islam women far outnumber men

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