WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT HIM…
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA confirms:
“…a mass of detail in the early sources show that he was an honest and
upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were
like-wise honest and upright men.”
(Vol. 12)
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW said about him:
“He must be called the Saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him
were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in
solving its problems in a way that would bring it much needed peace and
happiness.”
(The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936)
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He
preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral
code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a
powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teachings and
completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all
times to come.
“His Name is MUHAMMAD”
May Peace of God Be Upon Him (pbuh)
He was born in Arabia in the year 570 C.E. (common era), started his mission
of preaching the religion of Truth, Islam (submission to One God) at the age
of forty and departed from this world at the age of sixty-three. During this
short period of 23 years of his Prophethood, he changed the complete Arabian
peninsula from paganism and idolatry to worship of One God, from tribal
quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion, from drunkenness and
debauchery to sobriety and piety, from lawlessness and anarchy to
disciplined living, from utter bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral
excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of
a people or a place before or since - and imagine all these unbelievable
wonders in just over two decades.
LAMARTINE, the renowned historian speaking on the essentials of human
greatness wonders:
“If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the
three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in
modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and
empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers
which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies,
legislation, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in
one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the
altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls…his
forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea
and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic
conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these
attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power
to restore a dogma. This dogma was two-fold, the unity of God and the
immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling
what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other
starting an idea with the words.”
“Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas,
restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty
terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As
regards all the standards by which Human Greatness may be measured, we may
well ask, Is there any man greater than he?”
(Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp 276-277)
The world has had its share of great personalities. But these were one-sided
figures who distinguished themselves in but one or two fields, such as
religious thought or military leadership. The lives and teachings of these
great personalities of the world are shrouded in the mist of time. There is
so much speculation about the time and place of their birth, the mode and
style of their life, the nature and detail of their teachings and the degree
and measure of their success or failure that it is impossible for humanity
to reconstruct accurately the lives and teachings of these men.
Not so this man. Muhammad (pbuh) accomplished so much in such diverse fields
of human thought and behavior in the fullest blaze of human history. Every
detail of his private life and public utterances has been accurately
documented and faithfully preserved to our day. The authenticity of the
record so preserved are vouched for not only by the faithful followers but
even by his prejudiced critics.
Muhammad (pbuh) was a religious teacher, a social reformer, a moral guide,
an administrative colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a
devoted husband, a loving father - all in one. No other man in history ever
excelled or equaled him in any of these different aspects of life - but it
was only for the selfless personality of Muhammad (pbuh) to achieve such
incredible perfections.
MAHATMA GANDHI, speaking on the character of Muhammad, (pbuh) says in (YOUNG
INDIA):
“I wanted to know the best of one who holds today’s undisputed sway over the
hearts of millions of mankind…I became more than convinced that it was
not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of
life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet,
the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends
and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God
and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before
them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the
Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the
great life.”
THOMAS CARLYLE in his (HEROES AND HEROWORSHIP), was simply amazed as to:
“how one man single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering
Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two
decades.”
DIWAN CHAND SHARMA wrote:
“Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never
forgotten by those around him.”
(D.C. Sharma, THE PROPHETS OF THE EAST, Calcutta, 1935, pp. 12)
EDWARD GIBBON and SIMON OCKLEY speaking on the profession of Islam write:
“‘I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET, AN APOSTLE OF GOD’ is the simple and
invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has
never been degraded by any visible idol; the honor of the Prophet has never
transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living precepts have
restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and
religion.”
(HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRES, London, 1870, p. 54)
Muhammad (pbuh) was nothing more or less than a human being. But he was a
man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of One
and Only One God and to teach them the way to honest and upright living
based on the commands of God. He always described himself as, “A Servant and
Messenger of God,” and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
Speaking on the aspect of equality before God in Islam, the famous poetess
of India, SAROJINI NAIDU says:
“It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in
the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered
together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the
peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: ‘God Alone is Great’… I
have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that
makes man instinctively a brother.”
(S. Naidu, IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)
In the words of PROF. HURGRONJE:
“The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of
international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as
to show candle to other nations.” He continues: “The fact is that no nation
of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the
realization of the idea of the League of Nations.”
The world has not hesitated to raise to divinity, individuals whose lives
and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking, none of these
legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad (pbuh) 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 (pbuh) 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.
MICHAEL H. HART in his recently published book on ratings of men who
contributed towards the benefit and upliftment of mankind writes:
“My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential
persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he
was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the
religious and secular levels.”
(M.H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY,
New York, 1978, p. 33)
K. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO, an Indian Professor of Philosophy in his booklet,
(“Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam,”) calls him the
“Perfect model for human life.”
Prof. Ramakrishna Rao explains his point by saying:
“The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole
truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of
picturesque scenes! There is Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad, the
Warrior; Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the
Orator; Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad,
the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad, the
Judge; Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these
departments of human activities, he is alike a hero.”
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of
Muhammad (pbuh) 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
(pbuh) followers but also the inescapable conclusion forced upon by a
critical and unbiased history.
The least you could do as a thinking and concerned human being is to stop
for a moment and ask yourself: Could these statements sounding so
extraordinary and revolutionary be really true? And supposing they really
are true and you did not know this man MUHAMMAD (pbuh) or hear about him,
isn’t it time you responded to this tremendous challenge and put in some
effort to know him?
It will cost you nothing but it may prove to be the beginning of a
completely new era in your life.
“By Allah I long to escape the prison of my ego and lose myself in the mountains and deserts , these sad and lonely people tire me” —Rumi