Many people today are wanting to know about Prophet Muhammad especially in America and Europe. Who was he exactly? What did he teach? What his character was? And why was he loved and followed by million of people?
The following is facts about Prophet Muhammad. To shorten the article we took all reference to historians and writers. However should you want to read more about Prophet Muhammad in debth click here Muhammad’s Biography
He was born
to a noble tribe to the lineage of the leaders of Mecca.
His name comes
from the Arabic root “hamd” and literally means ‘praised one’. People at his time and until this very moment, praise him many times per day, peace be upon him.
He never fell
into the common practice of his tribesmen to worship statues, idols or man-made gods.
He required his
followers to engage only in lawful marriage relationships with women, and forbade sex outside of Almighty God’s Ordinance.
He insisted on
giving women their proper rights, dowries, inheritance and property.
He never committed
adultery, and he forbade others from doing it.
He never lied
and never broke a trust never bore false witness, and he was famous with all the tribes in Mecca and was known as: “The Truthful” (Al-Ameen).
He taught that
Killing any innocent life was forbidden.
He believed that
God was truly One God, and as such, He was to be worshipped alone, without any other god beside Him.
He held God
in the highest of reverence and never took God’s Name in vain or for any vain glorious purpose.
He despised false
worship and all of the complexities and degradation to which it leads.
His patience and
humble attitude were exemplary and all who knew him had to admit to these virtues.
He never once
engaged in sex outside of marriage, nor did he ever approve of it, even though it was very common at the time.
He adhered to
the Commandments of Almighty God, just as prophets of old had done in the past.
He forbade usury
and interest on money lending, as Jesus, peace be upon him, had done centuries before him.
He never gambled
and did not allow it under any circumstances.
He never drank
alcohol or strong drink; even though it was a very normal thing for people of his time and place.
He did not
engage in gossip and used to turn away from hearing anything related to it.
He fasted for
days at a time to be closer to Almighty God and away from the narrowness of worldly attractions.
He taught that
Jesus was the immaculate conception and miracle birth of Mary, and that she was among the best creation of Almighty God.
He insisted even
to the Jews of Medina, that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the one predicted to come in their Torah (Old Testament).
He said Jesus
did many miracles by the permission of Almighty God, curing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind and even bringing a dead man back to life.
He stated clearly
that Jesus, was not dead, rather Almighty God had raised him up.
He foretold that
Jesus, is going to return again in the Last Days to lead the true believers in a victory over the evil and unrighteous people, and he will destroy the Anti-Christ.
He commanded the
payment of charity to the poor and he was the defender and protector of widows, orphans and the wayfarers.
He ordered people
to unite with their families and honor the ties of kinship and he restored relationships between family members.
His only relationships
with women were in legitimate, contractual marriages with proper witnesses according to law.
His relationship to
Ayesha was only that of marriage. Their relationship is described in every detail by Ayesha herself in the most loving and respectful manner as a match truly made in heaven. Ayesha is considered as one of the highest scholars of Islam and lived out her entire life only having been married to Muhammad. She never desired any other man, nor did she ever utter a single negative statement against Muhammad.
Muhammad forbade any
killing until the orders came from Allah. Even then the limits were clearly spelled out and only those engaged in active combat against the Muslims or Islam were to be fought in combat. And even then, only according to very strict rules from Allah.
There was no
genocide of Jews. He offered mutual protection and forgiveness to the Jews even after they broke their covenants with him many times. They were not attacked until it was clearly proven they were traitors during time of war and tried to bring down the prophet, and the Muslims at any cost. Retaliation was only to those Jews who had turned traitor and not others.
Slaves were common
in those days for all nations and tribes. It was Islam that encouraged freeing of the slaves and the great reward from Allah for those who did so. Prophet, gave the example of this by freeing slaves and encouraging all of his followers to do the same. Examples include his own servant (who was actually considered like a son to him) Zaid ibn Al Haritha and Bilal the slave who was bought by Abu-Bakr only for the purpose of freeing him.
While there were
many attempts of assassination made on Muhammad, (most famous was the night that Ali took his place in bed while he and Abu-Bakr escaped to Madinah), he did not allow his companions to slaughter any of those who had been involved in these attempts. Proof for this is when they entered Mecca triumphantly and his first words were to command his followers not to harm such and such tribes and so and so families. This was one of the most famous of his acts of forgiveness and humbleness.
Military combat was
forbidden for the first thirteen years of prophethood. The desert Arabs did not need anyone to tell them how to fight or do combat. They were experts in this area and held feuds amongst tribes that lasted for decades. It was not until the proper method of warfare was instituted by Allah in the Quran, with proper rights and limitations according His Commandments, that any retaliation or combat was sanctioned. Orders from Allah made it clear who was to be attacked, how and when and to what extent fighting could take place.
Destruction of infrastructures
is absolutely forbidden except when it is ordained by Allah in certain instances and then only according to His Commands.
Cursing and invoking
evil actually came to the prophet, from his enemies, while he would be praying for their guidance. Classic example is that of his journey to At-Taif where the leaders would not even hear him out nor offer so much as the normal courtesy called for and instead they set the children of the street against him, throwing rocks and stones at him until his body was bleeding so much, blood filled his sandals.
He was offered revenge by the angel Gabriel, if he would give the command, Allah would cause the surrounding mountains to fall down upon them destroying them all. Instead of cursing them or asking for their destruction, he prayed for them to be guided to worship their Lord alone, without any partners.
Prophet Muhammad, claimed
every person who is born is born in a state of submission to God, i.e. submits to God’s Will and obeys His Commandments. Then as they grow older they begin to distort their faith according to the influence of the prevailing society and their own prejudices.
Muhammad, taught his
followers to believe in the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus, and to believe in them as true prophets, messengers and slaves of Almighty Allah. He insisted on ranking all the prophets up at the highest level without any distinction between them.
He also taught
that The original Old Testament, Psalms and The New Testament were originally from the very same source as the Quran, from Allah.
He prophesied and
foretold of events to come and they happened as he had said. He even predicted something from the past that would come true in the future, and it has. The Quran states pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea while chasing after Moses and Allah said He would preserve Pharaoh as a sign for the future. Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book, “Bible, Quran and Science” makes it clear this has happened and the very person of Pharaoh has been discovered in Egypt and is now on display for all to see. This event took place thousands of years before Muhammad and it came true in the last few decades, many centuries after Muhammad’s death.
There has been
more written about the prophet Muhammad, than any other person on earth. He has been praised very high even by famous non-Muslims for centuries. One of the first examples we quote from is from the Encyclopedia Britannica, as it confirms (regarding Muhammad) “…a mass of detail in the early sources shows that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were likewise honest and upright men.” (Vol. 12)
People do not hesitate to raise to divinity and even make ‘gods’ out of other individuals whose lives and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking, none of these legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad, accomplished. And all his striving was for the sole purpose of uniting mankind for the worship of One God on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad, or his followers never at any time claimed that he was a son of God or the God-incarnate or a man with divinity but he always was and is even today considered as only a Messenger chosen by God.
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of Muhammad; have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. They offer the same undying hope for treating mankind’s many ills, which they did when he was alive. This is not a claim of Muhammad’s, followers, but the inescapable conclusion forced upon by a critical and unbiased history.
By now you should already be asking, could these extraordinary, revolutionary and amazing statements, all about this one man, really be true? And What if this is all true? The answer to these questions and many other more are in The Holey Quran which was reveled to Muhammad. Read the Quran and be fair to yourself and ignore others, what matter is you not anyone alse.