Saturday 27 February 2010

Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time


Today is our beloved prophet's birthday. I will write a little bit about his biography that I recently read- Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time, by Karen Armstrong.

(Maybe some wonder why I read this particular book. Some time ago I thought I must read his biography again, and this is the first book that appear on search result of 'Muhammad' from the local library's archive. And the book was also mentioned by Ust Hasrizal-although what he said was he recommended the book for anybody in the West who wants to know more about the Prophet).

Frankly the last time I read about him was for SPM! And this is the first proper biography that I read, the previous ones were children books and exam revision books!

Karen Armstrong's mission on the book was to potray to the West that Muhammad (pbuh) was a man of no violence and that jihad means struggle- not war. She said to know him and to appreciate what he achieved, we must first understand the pre-Islamic Arabia- which is what the first chapter is about.

I just realized that what he bravely embraced was an almost impossible mission.

The most precious moral value at that time was arrogance and honour. He lacked both. He was shy, orphaned and lived on the blessings of his uncles. His small wealth came from his rich wife. He was illiterate. His clan (Bani Hasyim) was not that respectable among the Quraysh (only an inferior clan). Imagine what the elders were thinking at that time. This was the boy that they fed, now he wanted them to follow him? If a man of this profile comes to us now, would we listen to him? Especially in this age of evidence-based-everything.

Even many of the hanifs (people who still followed Prophet Ibrahim's teaching- worshipped Allah one and only) at that time did not follow him (eg Waraqah ibn Naufal-Khadijah's cousin).

At that time Mecca was the central shine of Arabia. The Quraysh gathered all the gods worshipped by various tribes at the Kaabah, so that they would stop to worship there on their routes during their trading journey. This is the main source of income for the Quraysh. So what Muhammad (pbuh) was preaching was a major economic threat as well. No wonder they wanted him dead.

And what great faith Khadijah, Abu Bakar and Ali had on him.

We are nowhere near them. Not when we have faith because we already knew of the Prophet's success, what he said is proven, and when we have the beautiful Quran as a proof of his prophecy.

What proof do we have that we love him? Remembering his birthday? Reading his biography? Visiting his grave?

There is of course nothing new about the Prophet in the book that I didn't know or never heard before, but it is my view of the world that has changed since teenage years that made me look at his struggle differently and hopefully, appreciate it more.

2 comments:

kak intan said...

kita pun dah lama tak baca buku-buku mcm ni.

Unknown said...

..try Muhammad by Martin Lings..