Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is the last in the line of many Prophets including Moses (P.B.U.H), Abraham (P.B.U.H), Jacob (P.B.U.H), Ishmael (P.B.U.H), Joseph (P.B.U.H) and Jesus (P.B.U.H) sent by the God on this earth for the purpose of guiding the mankind.
Similar to all other Prophets, Muhammad (P.B.U.H) reminded the world of the message of God which included:
- There is no deity worthy of worship except the one who created this whole life on the planet
- Human life on this planet is not an accident, but a carefully planned and executed exercise by God and for this reason the current life is connected to its aftermath where people will receive their reward and punishment accordingly
- With the understanding that every human will be held responsible for all their actions in this world, it is important that they lead a life which is beneficial for them in this and the following world of reward and punishment
- For getting the best reward for your efforts in this world, there are few rules and regulations setup for you to test you in your efforts and qualify your actions for the different levels of rewards and punishments
- Follow the guidelines set for you and you will end up in the best of rewards and if not, then as every action has a reaction, you will receive the punishment of your deeds
This very simple message is the one which was propagated by all other Prophets before Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and the Last Prophet again reminded the humans about it.
The uniqueness of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was that he not only propagated a divine message based on monotheism, concept of day of judgement and Prophethood, but he also devised and implemented a unique social system in his local society which branched out further to provide the world with a completely new civilisation.
A system based on the values of peace, honesty, brotherhood, respect for women, modesty, financial equality and diversity. This gift of a practical human society was the biggest achievement of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) which still guides Muslims all over the world
But didn’t Muhammad (P.B.U.H) fought many wars and introduced the concept of ‘holy war’?
Yes, but not for the purpose of violence or bloodshed. In fact for all accounts it is accepted that he personally rarely harmed any of his enemies. The idea of any struggle by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was to ensure that the ‘values’ on which a new society was created in the state of Medina (his homeland) is protected against all elements who want to destroy it and bring back the inhumane practices of the past.
Thus any wars fought in that era were either to protect the new beginnings of that society or to expand the system to other areas in order to liberate humans of the wrong practices that were prevalent. Some examples of which are:
- Before the time of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) Arabs used to bury their young girls in order to save themselves of the ‘shame’ of having a girl. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) abolished that practice by law, even giving the happy tidings to fathers saying
‘Those who raise two daughters with respect, teach them the best education and marry them honourably is bound to be rewarded with heaven and live next to me’
- During those ages, slavery was a common thing and slaves were often suspect to inhuman treatment and hardships. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) devised the rule of equality in human society, in fact one of his most closest associated was Belal, an Ethiopian slave by background, and Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) honoured him beyond anyone else. He once commented ‘Belal, I hear the sound of your feet ahead of me in heaven on the day of judgement’. The equality established in Muslim society by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) resulted in a complete abolishment of the ‘class’ system that was firmly established before him in the tribal Arab region
- Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) established a unique wealth distribution system in the society where the top earners were made liable to look after the less privileged members of the society. In our current banking crisis, we have realised the importance of fair distribution of wealth, with wealthy people getting wealthier and the poor ones finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. This was the key aspect which Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) took on to correct and formulated an economic model which made sure that all members of the society remain equal in monetary levels. While equally maintaining open trade links with neighbouring countries and states. By modern methods it is not difficult to estimate that the annual growth rate of Medina was far superior to any of the current financial superpowers
Now these new measures taken by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) faced strong opposition from the followers of existing systems who benefited by them making money on the expense of women, slaves and the poorer members of the society. And for the implementation of this system Prophet (P.B.U.H) even had to engage in battles to abolish the old tribal chiefs in Arab and kings outside the Arabian Peninsula
But why Muslims cannot accept any comments regarding Prophet (P.B.U.H), is not ‘freedom of speech’ exactly the kind of thing which Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) stood for?
Yes, freedom of speech is exactly the kind of social value that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) established in the society of Muslims and propagated, in fact Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said ‘Saying the truth in-front of a tyrant ruler is the highest order of struggle in the way of God’
But for Muslims and Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) human sentiments, honour and respect are far important values than freedom of speech. Everyone has the right to say what they believe is right, but if it infringes someone else’s privacy, their respect and botches their honour then that should not be accounted in the freedom of speech. As you should not abuse anyone because of their race, their colour or any deformity in their body, similarly no one should have the right to ridicule, insult and make fun of anyone else’s ‘beliefs’
For Muslims, Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is not only a personality whom they love and admire, but he is part of their belief, forming the very fabric of Islam which Muslims have chosen as their pathway for life.
Once any film, cartoon or caricature ridicules the personality of Prophet (P.B.U.H) in anyway or form, they are not just making fun of any person, but a person who is the source of faith and belief for nearly 1 billion humans on this planet. This makes the act of any ridicule towards Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) a much severe act against humanity.
We all humans are equal in our emotions, most often we can hear any insults towards ourselves and our physical appearance, but as soon as anyone utters a word against our loved ones we lose our temperament. May it be our parents, our family, our friends or our country; any insult directed towards someone or something we love hurts us more than even any physical injury.
And the love of Muslims for our Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is nothing compared to any of our existing relationships. It’s a sacred relationship, a love based on devotion, faith, belief and thankfulness for that one personality which provided the guidance for millions of souls to follow him towards the righteous path.
We cannot comprehend what would have happened if Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) would not have revolutionised the human race. Maybe we would still have half the population on this plant as slaves, may be young girls would still be buried alive in hot deserts for the shame they brought, maybe we would still be ruled by kings who would kill anyone saying a word against them, maybe these 1 billion people of this planet would still be lost in worshipping false Gods and ending up in severe punishments
Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) guided us humans with love, patience, affection and relentlessly struggled against anyone who wanted to impose a system of cruelty on humans. He taught us the values of respect for women, the respect of parents, the right of neighbours, love for poor, equality of humans and above all self-respect as individuals.
This and only this is the reason why Muslims so ferociously protest against any single thing aimed at our Prophet (P.B.U.H). The anger in Muslims for such a thing to happen is matchless; I have seen 90 year old people weeping in anguish as to why they don’t have the strength in their bodies to protect the honour of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) I have seen the willingness to break even the Mount Everest in the eyes of youngsters if it stands in the way of protecting the honour of their beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H)
The hurt feelings, the shattered hopes, the weary faces of Muslims from the plains of US to the deserts of Arabia and beyond in the mountains of Himalaya represent the extraordinary pain these one billion humans are suffering from such an act of heinous crime against their beloved!
And thus it is the responsibility of me, you; Muslim or not, but as humans to support the campaign to ban anyone from committing such an act in the future. If we don’t take a stand for the hurt feelings of our fellow humans then this will transcend into breaking the very social fabric which makes us ‘human’. It will be a loss not for Muslims, but for humanity!
Which we in this world should not allow to happen!
No comments:
Post a Comment