In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

Muhammad (peace be upon him)

& His Message
-
Mercy to Mankind
Dr. Abdulazeez Abdulraheem

www.understandQuran.com
Outline
 Introduction
 Messenger of Mercy
– Equality
– Kindness
– For animals
– For environment

 His Message
Introduction
Who is he ?

Almost 1.2 Billion bear witness he is the

Messenger of God
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

MUHAMMAD is the most

successful of all Prophets and
religious personalities.“ (11th
Edition under Koran)
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
“.... 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)
 MICHAEL H. HART,
ranked him 1st in the list of the
Most Influential Persons in
:History
"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.”*

*
THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York, 1978, p. 33)
 LAMAR TINE,
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 than MUHAMMAD?
…He did it

 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

 He 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 Mission Impossible

He was born in Arabia in the year 570, 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 as a Prophet,

he changed the complete Arabian peninsula
His Mission Impossible

 From paganism and idolatry to SUBMISSION to the One

True 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

His Mission Impossible

Human history has never known such a complete

transformation of a society or a place before or
since

IMAGINE all these unbelievable wonders in JUST

OVER TWO DECADES.

Yes, this was done by Prophet MUHAMMAD

(pbuh)
WHY PROPHETS ??

– Sources of human knowledge - limited

– Normal realities can be understood by
observation
– Higher level realities - deductive
reasoning + scientific investigation.
– Ultimate realities (esp. why?)
– Science + Philosophy can only speculate
WHY PROPHETS ??

– No other source except divine guidance

conveyed thru prophets.
– God did not leave us without guidance.
From first man till the last.
 Mission of a Prophet
To lay down:
– Framework of belief
– Mode of worship
– Moral code
– Rules of culture and civilization
In fact to prescribe whole system of thought and
action (Al-Deen), which includes all aspects of life.
 Mission of a Prophet

– Read the book to people

– Purify them (belief and actions)
– Teach the book and Wisdom
– Be a practical model
– Train the individuals and society to
establish Islamic system of life (Kingdom
of God on earth)
 Mission of a Prophet

– Not all the prophets succeeded because

of the prejudice and intolerance of people.
Muhammad (pbuh) did succeed in
establishing the kingdom of God.
Prophethood

– God conveyed his message to man thru Muhammad

(pbuh) in two forms
 Quran - The Book
 Sunnah - Sayings, practices, and approvals of the prophet.
(PRACTICAL DEMO)

– Belief in Prophethood brings the life into real worship and

obedience, otherwise, the belief remains just the theory.
Requirements (of
Belief in Prophethood)

– Believe in him (as required)

– Obey him in all spheres of life
– His Sunnah is the explanation of Quran, nobody
can contradict his explanation.
– No independent decision in a matter prescribed
by the prophet
Position of a Prophet
– Servant of God
– Makes people to obey God and worship Him and
not himself, by conveying, No Force !!
– Just a human being. No share in divinity (4 areas
mentioned above, entity, attributes, rights, and
powers)
– Not a superhuman. So, Islam has saved its
followers from any exaggeration in this belief.
What Distinguishes
Muhammad (pbuh) from
Others ??
– Last Prophet
– Revived the faith conveyed by all prophets
– Pure message retransmitted thru him
– No messenger after him
– Book is preserved
– Sunnah (practice, sayings, approvals) is recorded in
details (No better compilation of any person in history
is present)
Why follow Muhammad
(pbuh)
– For instruction, we turn to Muhammad (pbuh), not
because of prejudice, but because
– Last Prophet → latest guidance
– Word of God → in pure divine, living language
– Historical record of his Sunnah is preserved
Muhammad's (pbuh)
Mission - Universal
– Quran confirms it
– Logical consequence of finality
– Complete code → supports finality
– No man in the last 1400 yrs like him
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

MUHAMMAD is the most

successful of all Prophets and
religious personalities.“ (11th
Edition under Koran)
 MICHAEL H. HART,
ranked him 1st in the list of the
Most Influential Persons in
:History
"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.”*

*
THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York, 1978, p. 33)
 Appearance

 Muhammad (pbuh) was of a height a little

above the average.

 He was fair of complexion and altogether

very handsome.
 Appearance
 He did not speak unnecessarily and what he
said was always to the point and without
any padding.
 At times he would make his meaning clear
by slowly repeating what he had said.
 His laugh was mostly a smile.
 He kept his feelings under firm control.
 Dress
 His dress generally consisted of a shirt,
tamad (trousers), a sheet thrown round the
shoulders and a turban.
 His blanket had several patches (Tirmidhi).
 He had very few spare clothes, but he kept
them spotlessly clean (Bukhari).
 Dress
Once he enquired of a person in dirty
clothes whether he had any income.
Upon getting a reply in the affirmative,
he observed, "When Allah has blessed
you with His bounty, your appearance
should reflect it." [Abu Dawood]
 !!!House & Belongings
His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clay
and a thatched roof of palm leaves covered by
camel skin. It contained
– a rope cot,
– a pillow stuffed with palm leaves ,
– the skin of some animal spread on the floor and
a water
– bag of leather
– and some weapons.
!!!House & Belongings

These were all his earthly belongings,

besides
a camel,
a horse, and
an ass and
some land which he had acquired in the
later part of his life (Bukhari, Muslim,
Abu Dawood).
 MAHATMA GANDHI, 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.”
 MAHATMA GANDHI, says
’..in ‘Young India

"It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement

of the Prophet the scrupulous regard for pledges, his
intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God
and in his own mission….”
 !!!House & Belongings
Sometimes he slept on his cot, sometimes on a skin or
ordinary mattress, and sometimes on the ground.

To his disciples (who wanted to offer him a soft bed)

"What have I to do with worldly things. My connection

with the world is like that of a traveller resting for a
while underneath the shade of a tree and then
moving on."
 !!!House & Belongings
His wife A'isha (ra) says that there was hardly
a day in his life when he had two square
meals. [Sahih Muslim]
This was so inspite of him being the most
beloved ruler of the Islamic State of all
times.
 !For his family

He had declared unlawful for himself and his

family anything given by the people by way
of Zakat (obligatory donation of 2.5% of
savings) or sadaqa (charity).
 REV. REGINALD
, BOSWORTH SMITH

"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he

was Pope without Pope's pretensions,
Caesar without the legions of Caesar:
without a standing army, without a
bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed
revenue;
 REV. REGINALD
, BOSWORTH SMITH

If ever any man had the right to say that he

ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammed,
for he had all the power without its
instruments and without its supports."
 !Extremely humble
Though virtual king of Arabia and an apostle of
Allah, he never assumed an air of superiority.

He used to invite people be they slaves,

servants or the poorest believers, to partake
with him of his scanty meals. [Tirmidhi]

He did not like people to get up for him and

used to say, "Let him who likes people to
stand up in his honour, he should seek a place
in hell." [Abu Dawud]
 !At home

His wife A'isha (ra) said, "He always joined in

household work and would at times mend
his clothes, repair his shoes and sweep the
floor. He would milk, tether, and feed his
animals and do the household shopping."
[Qazi Iyaz: Shifa; Sahih Bukhari]
 …Spend his time
According to the demands on him for:
 offering worship to Allah
 public affairs, and
 personal matters.
…Spend his time
All his activities were full of supplications and
prayers.
His Love, Devotion, Dedication is transparent
through all these supplcns. (not just 5
prayers).
A full 300 page-books is there just on the
prayers he used to recite.
…Supplications
MIRACULOUS ASPECT
 Establish / Correct the relationship with
God
 Maintain it
Millions of Muslims throughout centuries have
been reciting these everyday.
Of course, they want to follow him in all
aspects (name, dress, beard, living style…).
 …Supplications

 And don’t forget that he was

not just a spiritual guide… He
was a leader in all aspects of
life.
 LAMARTINE,

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.
 LAMARTINE,

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.
 LAMARTINE,

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....
 LAMARTINE,

As regards all the standards by which

Human Greatness may be measured, we
may well ask,
IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN
HE ?"
(ALPHONSE DE LAMAR TINE, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, PARIS,
1854, VOL. II, PP 276-277)
 His Behavior
By nature he was gentle and kind-hearted,
always inclined to be gracious and to overlook
the faults of others.
Politeness and courtesy,
compassion and tenderness,
simplicity and humility,
sympathy and sincerity
were some of the keynotes of his character.
 His Character

 About himself the Prophet (pbuh) said “Allah

has sent me as an apostle so that I may
demonstrate perfection of character,
refinement of manners and loftiness of
deportment." [Malik]
His Behavior

He was not annoyed if anyone

interrupted him even during the
SERMONS for anything.
 Bedouin (desert-man)
 His grandson
 His Behavior

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “He is a bad

person in the sight of Allah
* who does not behave courteously, and
* people shun his company because of
his bad manners.

[Sahih Bukhari]
Messenger of Mercy
 We have sent you except as a mercy for
the worlds (al-Qur’an)
 Extremely kind and merciful for
believers
 Even for his enemies - After Makkah’s
victory
 Kindness to Animals
 "Indeed, there is heavenly reward for
every act of kindness done to a living
animal.“
 If he saw any animal over-loaded he
would pull up the owner and say, "Fear
Allah in your treatment of animals."
 Love for the poor

 He said: "He is not a perfect Muslim

who eats his fill and lets his neighbour
go hungry."
 To his wife he said, "O A'isha, love the poor
and let them come to you and Allah will draw
you near to Himself." [Sahih Bukhari]
Messenger of Mercy
 He achieved a huge revolution without
almost any bloodshed!
 Only few hundreds were killed (initiated
by wars from others).
 Just compare it with any other revolution
of the world!!!
 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Ihave studied him - the wonderful man

and in my opinion far from being an anti-
Christ, he must be called the Savior of
Humanity.“
 !!!His Life in Brief
 Born in Makkah
 Married Khadijah (R) a widow of 40 years at the
age of 25. Stayed with her till her death
 Made Prophet at 40 years; Spread the message
 Opposition by Makkans (egos; positions; vested
interests; establishments)
 Migrated to Madinah at 53 (after 13 years); His
followers migrated too.
 !!!His Life in Brief
 Established Islamic State in Madinah; Taught
Muslims how to live (in all aspects of life: Spiritual,
moral, social, political, … all aspects of life… in all
types of situations).
 Attacked continuously by surrounding enemies
including those from Makkah
 Became victorious within 10 years!
 Whole Arabia became Muslim
 Died at the age of 63.
The Message of
Muhammad pbuh
Basic Definitions

– Islam: Peaceful, willing submission to God.

– Islam is not a religion alone. It is a code/way of life
(Deen). It encompasses all spheres of life.
– Religion guides in the area of 'ibadaat (worship)
only. Whereas Deen guides all spheres of life of a
man i.e. in mosque/church and state affairs.
Basic Definitions
– A Muslim is the one who submits himself to God
willfully and peacefully.

A Muslim's belief is:

– There is no God except the one true God
– and Muhammad is the messenger and slave of
God. (Peace be upon him)
Who was the first
Muslim on earth?
– Adam not Muhammad (peace be on
them both)
– Islam is not a new religion. It is the
religion given by God
to the first man and is
the same for the last one too and
for every one in between.
Misconceptions

– Muhammad pbuh is not the founder of

Islam. He came with the last edition
of Islam.
– Muslims are not Muhammadans.
– Muslims do not worship Muhammad
pbuh.
The Miracle given to
Muhammad pbuh – Al-
Qur’an

– A UNIQUE BOOK
– Memorized in Full by hundreds of thousands
– TOP in being read daily by millions all over the
world (Encyclopedia Britannic, 11th edition)
– Preserved in its ORIGINAL form for the last 14
centuries
Center, The KAABA in
Makkah
– Built by Prophets ABRAHAM and ISHMAEL 3000
years ago
– Muslims throughout the world face towards it
while praying
– 1.5 MILLION Muslims in Hajj; 1.5 in Umrah
– Where everybody (males) dress the same and
race, wealth, status, etc., all are removed.
The FASTEST Growing
Religion in the world:
– Not by Sword or Money ! “Today it is 'perhaps' the fastest
growing religion in US” (Maston Speight, Director of the office
of Christian Muslim relations of the national council of churches
of Christ of the USA)
– 'World's fastest growing religion' (Robert Morey, Director of
research and education foundation, Austin, TX) in spite of the
Muslims powerlessness and decadence in the past 2 centuries.
– 'In modern times it has made great gains in Africa' (The
1990 Almanac, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston) .
The FASTEST Growing
Religion in the world:

– Never witnessed large scale desertions: As

against all other religions.

– Devoid of Major Splits: Divisions (Shiites, Zaidi,

etc.,) are around 10% only.
MUSLIMS: A GLOBAL
COMMUNITY
Total Population: 1 Billion
Indian Subcontinent: 30%
sub-Saharan Africa: 20%
Arab World: 18%
Southeast Asia: 17%
USSR and China: 10%
Non-Arab Middle East: 10%

Countries with more than 50% Muslim population: 57

Famous Books of Islam

1. Psalms of David
2. Torah: The old testament
3. Bible: The new testament
4. Quran: The final testament
Famous Prophets of
Islam

– ADAM
– NOAH
– ABRAHAM
– MOSES
– JESUS
– MOHAMMED
– (Peace be on them all)
Basic Sources of Islam

– Quran : The Book of Allah

– Sunnah: The sayings, practice, and
approvals of the prophet
Muhammad (pbuh).
Three Main Elements
of Islam

– Sovereignty of God on all matters of life; spiritual

and material.
– Prophethood: Guidance (spiritual and material) is
sent thru prophets from Adam thru Mohammed
(peace be upon them.)
– The Hereafter (Life after death) Obedience...
…..Paradise for ever
Disobedience….Hell for ever
BASIC PILLARS OF
ISLAM
Every act done with the consciousness that it
fulfills the divine will is considered an act of
worship in Islam.

Nevertheless, the specific acts of worship termed

as the Pillars of Islam are on the higher plane of
spirituality.
BASIC PILLARS OF
ISLAM
They are:
1. The Declaration of Faith (Shahadah): 'I bear witness
that there is none worthy of worship except God and
that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
2. The Prayer (Salah): 5 times a day as a duty towards
God. To strengthen the belief in God. To inspires man
to higher morality.
3. Fasting (Siyam): Cultivates piety, patience and love for
the poor.
BASIC PILLARS OF
ISLAM

4. The poor-Tax (Zakat): To give 2.5% annually of

one's net savings as alms to the poor. (Life
insurance in a Muslim community)

5. Pilgrimage (Hajj): To Makkah, provided one has

the means (financial and physical).
Articles of Faith
– Existence, oneness and Attributes of Allah
– Belief in Angels
– Belief in Holy Books
– Belief in Prophets
– Belief in the Hereafter
– Belief in the Destiny (All past, present, and future
events are from Allah and in His Knowledge.)
Universality of
Message

– Quran always address "O Mankind", "O Son of

Adam". And Not to people of any particular race,
tribe, are, color, language..
– "The believers are like brothers" (Quran).
– "All men are equal in Islam. The Arab has no
superiority over non-Arab, nor does the non-Arab
have superiority over Arabs except in the fear of
God." - Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
FAITH IN GOD
Not just that HE exists but
– Creator, Master, Ruler, Administrator of the
universe;
– No one has share in His
 Entity (Asma)
 Attributes (Sifaat)
 Rights (Huqooq)
 Authority/powers (Ekhtiaraat)
Purity of Faith
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

– Say: He is God, The One and Only

– God, the Eternal, the Absolute
– He begets not, nor is he begotten
– And there is none like unto Him. [Quran
131:1-5]
Requirements (of Faith
in God)
– Worship Him alone
– Pray Him alone
– Have hope and fear from Him alone
– Take the law from Him alone. Law
making should be within the limits
prescribed by Him and under His
permission.
BELIEF IN THE
HEREAFTER
– This life is a test.
– At the end Accountability
– Time for accountability - fixed by God
– present order of things will be replaced by
another
– All human beings will rise once again in the new
world
– Everyone will face God individually
BELIEF IN THE
HEREAFTER
– Judgment based on not just God's
knowledge but Proofs from angles, his
environment, his book of deeds etc.,
– No undue intercession. No bribery, No
advocacy without His permission.
– Criteria: Did the man conduct himself a/c
to Islam?
BELIEF IN THE
HEREAFTER
– In one of his sermons calculated to instil the fear of
Allah and the day of reckoning in the hearts of men,
Prophet Muhammad pbuh said:
– O people of Quraish be prepared for the hereafter, I
cannot save you from the punishment of Allah;
– O Bani Abd Manaf, ….; O Abbas… O Fatima, daughter
of Muhammad, even you I cannot save you from the
punishment of Allah."
Three Categories of
people
– Who Reject - Hellfire forever
– Who Believe, but distorted way - (a/c to
scholars, such people will be sent to Hell
for sometime and then sent to Heaven)
– Who accept and practice - Paradise
forever
Three Categories of
people
– Every thing in this life is pure blessing of
God and it is impossible for human to
deserve any reward. The prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) clarified that even he
also will enter paradise because of the
mercy of Allah and not based upon his
actions. The actions we do just enable us
to receive that mercy which will send us
to paradise.
SOME ISLAMIC
PRINCIPLES

– Oneness of God
– Oneness of mankind: No one can claim that he is
better than others. It is only God Who knows who is
better. It depends on piety and righteousness.
SOME ISLAMIC
PRINCIPLES
– Oneness of Messengers and the Message:
– Muslims believe that God sent different messengers
throughout the history of mankind.
– All came with the same message and the same
teachings.
– Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail,
Jacob, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad. They
are all the Prophets of Islam.
Equality in Islam
(POLICY)

– O' Mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male

and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that
ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each
other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God
is (he who is) the most righteous of you. Quran 49:13

– God looks not to your FIGURES nor to your WEALTH but to

your HEARTS and to your DEEDS - Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be upon him)
Equality in Islam
(PROGRAM)

– Group prayers - a part of the program

– 5 times a day for every locality
– Once a week for the whole city
– Once a year for the whole Muslim world i.e.
pilgrimage to Makkah.
– Where everybody prays shoulder to shoulder.
 SAROJINI NAIDU, the
famous Indian poetess 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'...

(S.NAIDU, IDEALS OF ISLAM, VIDE SPEECHES & WRITINGS, MADRAS, 1918)

 PROF. JULES MASSERMAN
: of USA Psychiatric Association

Leaders must fulfill three functions

– provide for the well being of the led,
– provide a social organization in which
people feel relatively secure
– provide them with one set of beliefs
 PROF. JULES MASSERMAN
: of USA Psychiatric Association

People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first

sense.

People like Gandhi and Confucius, on one hand, and

Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the other, are
leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense.

Jesus and Buddha belong in the third category alone.

 PROF. JULES MASSERMAN
: of USA Psychiatric Association

Perhaps the greatest leader of all times

was MUHAMMAD, who combined all
three functions.

To a lesser degree, Moses did the same."

 ANNIE BESANT
in The Life & Teaching of
MUHAMMAD says
"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life &
character of the great Prophet of Arabia, …., to feel
anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one
of the great messengers of the Supreme. …
I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new way of
admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher."
!!!Thank you