ISLAM AND THE WORLD SUMMARY
CHAPTER 2: THE ADVENT OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD ﷺ
Key points from this chapter:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came with the mission of Islam and transformed those around him
He first shook the roots of their beliefs by proclaiming the Existence of The One True God – Allah ﷻ.
He then instilled lofty ethical principles in them
Issues such as immorality, racism, violence, love for wealth, etc. were all resolved through his mission
By the end of his life, the Companions were ready to take the message to every corner of the world
In the second chapter, the author delves deep into the mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and how he instilled lofty principles in those around him. The summary of the second chapter will be split into two sections. The first will summarise the mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his Companions as understood by the author whilst the second will speak about how this solved the issues in the world at that time.
The mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not a task for an ordinary man. The author notes that an ordinary reformer would only have focused on one or two defects in society. To rescue the world from its seemingly terminal decline, reformation in all aspects of life and society was needed. Only a man with divine guidance would be able to achieve this. To further challenge the notion that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was an ordinary leader, the author writes that any other leader would have ‘welded Arabia into one’ 7 and used the elite Arab cavalry to attack his neighbours. However, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not do this even though the Arabs such as ‘Utbah, would have readily accepted his leadership. The author opens the second chapter by saying, “As humanity lay gasping in the agonies of death, God raised up Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to bring life back to humanity and deliver it from darkness into light.8 Indeed, the mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ challenged all aspects of everyday life. From this, he created a new class of men who were of excellent character and had lofty ethical principles instilled deep within them. He began his mission by first challenging the pagan beliefs of the Arabs. By doing so, he shook the roots of the disbelievers. It is clearly demonstrated in the first chapter that the roots of moral depravity in the world came from pagan beliefs, which gave its followers no ethical guidelines by which to live their lives. The importance of first tackling the pagan roots of society and its impact can be summarised by the quote, “once the Gordian knot of disbelief had been cut, it was easy to unfasten the other knots that bound them.” [9] The Companions became so accustomed to giving up their will to Allah ﷻ that when their former moral practices were called to be changed, they did not resist. The characteristics instilled in them included fear of Allah ﷻ, social responsibility, detachment from the material, a civic conscience, complete obedience, honesty, self-criticism, courage and many more characteristics that are looked for in the perfect human being. Another point worth mentioning is how the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ redefined the meaning of love. Before the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, love depended only on beauty. However, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ redefined this and was the first man after many years to receive love based on character – a characteristic that his followers also took up. The statement of ‘Urwah ibn Mas’ud al-Thaqafi perfectly describes the love and devotion that the Companions of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had for their leader. He says “I have seen many monarchs. I have been in the courts of Caesar, Khosrau and Negus. I can swear that I have not seen any king held in greater respect by his subjects than Muhammad ﷺ is by his Companions. By God, when he gives an order, they all rush to carry it out; when he performs the wudhu, they nearly come to blows in their scramble for the water he has used for it; when he speaks, a hush overtakes them. So excessively do they revere him that they dare not raise their eyes in his presence to obtain a full view of him.”10 One may argue against the author’s point that they only acted like this out of fear. “However, it is quite clear that the Companions acted so due to their devotion and love to the Prophet. The incident of Ka’b (RA) and his refusal of the Ghassanid’s offer is just one of many examples of this.”Therefore, it is clear that the mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ completely changed those around him and it was as if he had created a new breed of men who resembled excellence in all walks of life.
Whilst looking at the changes that were made, it is also important to look at how this fixed the problems in the world. If Islam indeed was necessary to bring light into the world, how did it achieve this? Firstly, by instilling the love for God and the afterlife, the followers of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ became detached from the material world. This solved the issue of everyone competing for worldly gains. However, it did not just stop immoral acts in public; the fear of God also stopped them from doing immoral acts in private. The ideas of self-criticism and a sense of social responsibility meant that everyone felt that they had a part to play in society. They no longer acted simply on their whims and desires. Furthermore, the idea of a single humanity reinforced the selflessness of the Companions. It diminished all barriers of blood, colour and wealth within society which fixed many issues that were present in all societies. Society was split into classes and no one could rise up the ranks. However, Islam abolished this idea and people were no longer given status through birth or wealth but through piety. This allowed for equality in all things. The instilling of the aforementioned characteristics also solved the issue of poor leadership. It is without a doubt that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was a great statesman and leader. Moreover, as his followers sat by his blessed feet and learnt from him, they picked up these characteristics, which ensured that they would be ready when the time came for them to lead. The detachment from the material also meant that when they became leaders, they would not chase after wealth as their neighbouring rulers did. They would instead seek to improve the lives of those they ruled over, which is indeed what they did in the coming decades. Therefore, this shows that many of the world’s short-term and more deep-rooted long-term problems were solved through the advent of Islam and the mission of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
To conclude, Chapter Two evidently shows that Islam brought light into the world and challenged all aspects of personal life and the broader society. Therefore, this successfully reinforces the author’s view mentioned in the first Chapter that Islam’s advent was necessary to rescue the world from its terminal decline. This chapter shows how Islam began this rescue.