The Prophet Muhammad A Simple Guide to his Life

272 Pages·2008·0.93 MB·English

by  Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents................................................................2
The Life of the Prophet ......................................................7
The Prophet in the Qur’an...............................................31
A Seeker of Truth..........................................................31
The Prophet As a Human Being..................................33
The Prophet – A Test for People..................................35
The Knowledge of the Unseen ....................................38
Ease in Difficulty...........................................................40
The Sustenance of God.................................................41
Basic Task ......................................................................43
Four Responsibilities ....................................................44
Communicating God’s Message .................................46
Unilateral Well-Wishing ..............................................48
A Positive Response .....................................................49
The Patient Attitude .....................................................51
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Table of Contents
Rising Above the Psychology of Reaction..................52
The Personality of the Prophet of Islam.........................56
Trust in God ..................................................................58
The Prophet’s State of Mind During Worship ...........60
Great Concern over Giving Guidance ........................61
Courage and Fearlessness............................................63
Sense of Equality...........................................................66
Concern about the Hereafter .......................................68
Respect for Human Beings...........................................69
Humanitarian Feeling ..................................................70
Trust in Realities ...........................................................71
An Uncompromising Attitude ....................................73
Despite Victory .............................................................75
A Prayer.........................................................................76
Prophetic Wisdom............................................................78
On the Occasion of Confrontations.............................79
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Table of Contents
The Starting Point .........................................................81
Tolerating Insult............................................................82
No Premature Action ...................................................84
Avoiding Confrontation...............................................85
Concession to Others....................................................86
Secrecy ...........................................................................88
Accepting the Status Quo ............................................89
Ease in difficulty ...........................................................91
Strategic Retreat ............................................................92
The Policy of Gradualness in Reform .........................94
Making Concessions as the Situation Requires .........95
Future Vision.................................................................98
The Policy of the Prophet ..............................................100
Verbal Dawah .............................................................104
The Principle of Differentiation.................................106
The Example of Husain..............................................112
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Table of Contents
Status Quoism.............................................................115
The Prophet of Islam and other Prophets ....................121
Sunnah Hudaybiya ........................................................142
The Prophetic Mission ...................................................159
The Prophet as a Model .................................................174
Implementation According to Circumstances .........183
The Finality of Prophethood .........................................189
Trusting Human Nature................................................202
Studying the Prophet’s Life in the Light of his Message
..........................................................................................216
A Great Potential ........................................................222
Islam and the Modern Age ........................................224
Dawah Activism .........................................................230
The Power of Peace ........................................................234
Peaceful Beginning .....................................................237
The Benefits of Non-Violent Activism......................239
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Table of Contents
Success Through the Non-violent Method...............241
Political Insurrection Unlawful .................................246
The Command of War in Islam .................................249
The Present Age and Non-Violence..........................254
Prophetic Guidance for the Modern Age.....................257
THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD A SIMPLE GUIDE TO
HIS LIFE..........................................................................272

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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet

THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn
Abdul Muttalib, who was born in Makkah in 570
A.D. and died in Madinah in 632 A.D. received the
prophethood at the age of forty. We give here a
brief sketch of his life.
Muhammad, may peace be upon him, was still in
his mother’s womb when his father Abdullah died.
A few years after his birth, his mother too passed
away. In accordance with the ancient Arab custom,
he was looked after by a Bedouin woman, Haleema
Sadia. Being an orphan, he was taken charge of by
his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. After the latter’s
death, Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, who was a
merchant, became his guardian. The Prophet
accompanied him on certain trading journeys. At
the age of twenty-five he married a Makkan widow,
Khadijah bint Khowailid, who was forty years old
at the time.
When the Prophet was forty years old, he received
his first revelation from God, in the cave of Hira
near Makkah, where he often used to go in search of
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
solitude. It was here that the Angel Jibril (Gabrial)
came to him for the first time and gave him the
good tidings that God had chosen him as His
Prophet. The first few verses revealed to him on this
occasion form part of chapter 96, titled ‘The Clot’ in
the Qu’ran.
The Qur’an was not revealed in the form of a book,
all at once, but in parts, very gradually over a
period of 23 years. Extraordinary arrangements
were made for the preservation of the Qur’an from
the very first day of its revelation. Whenever any
part of the Qur’an was to be revealed, Jibril
(Gabrial) would visit the Prophet and recite the
relevant verses to him. He would first of all commit
them to memory, then dictate them to his scribes, so
that they could be preserved for posterity. The
Prophet possessed an excellent memory, but being
unable to read and write, he appointed a number of
his companions as “transcribers of revelation.” One
or the other transcriber always remained in his
company so that he could immediately write down
the passages of the Qur’an as soon as they were
revealed. The Prophet took such great care in this
matter that even during such a critical and
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
precarious journey as that of emigration, he was
accompanied by a scribe, Abu Bakr. Along with
other necessary items he always kept pen and paper
with him in order that the revealed passages could
be immediately recorded.
Another special arrangement made along with their
preservation in writing was the memorizing of the
verses by most of the companions. These memorized
verses were then recited daily in their prayers. In this
way the preservation of the Qur’an was
simultaneously being done in two fool-proof ways.
When the entire Qur’an had been revealed, Jibril
(Gabrial) came to the Prophet and recited the entire
scriptures from the opening chapter to the last,
(titled ‘Men’), in exactly the same order in which
they exist today. The Prophet then recited the entire
Qur’an in this revised order to his companions. A
large number of them, who had already memorised
the entire Qur’an in its initial order, now adhered to
the new arrangement. They used to recite the
Qur’anic verses again and again in their daily
prayers and at the same time read out passages to
others.
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The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
In this way the Qur’an was compiled during the life
of the Prophet, and to this day it has remained in
the same form. Subsequently the first Caliph, Abu
Bakr, had this compilation prepared in the form of a
bound volume. Gradually, copies of it were
circulated to all the provincial centres.
After Muhammad “received the prophethood, his
lifestyle changed completely. He stopped going to
the cave of Hira, and engaged himself fully in the
communication of the message he had received
from God. At that time, idolatry being prevalent in
Makkah, the Prophet began to tell people that
idolatry was the practice of empty rituals. The true
religion was the worship of one God, obedience to
His commands alone, and a life lived in accordance
with His will. He stressed that the idolatrous
religions would not be acceptable in the Hereafter;
only to monotheism would any value be attached.
The true monotheists would be rewarded by God
with heaven in the Hereafter.
His method of propagating the true faith (dawah)
consisted mostly of reciting a passage from a part of
the Qur’an to the people (madu). Sometimes he
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