The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).

A thread.

The founder of Islam, the Seal of Prophets, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him) was the best guidance for mankind. The man who Allah chose for the revelation of His final and perfect Book. The man who spent his life according to Quran’s teachings.

Allah the Almighty sent the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as an exemplary guidance to mankind. At a time when the Arab land was consumed in corruption and was committing the heights of injustices, it was Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) who stood up for justice and reform.

The Arabs succumbed to worldly ills. Corruption, unjust punishments, unnecessary wars, no compassion and the absolute violation of hunan rights was the norm. Islam and The Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)’s advent changed this.

Following the revelations he received from Allah the Almighty, the Prophet of Islam (SAW) taught mankind equality, respect, freedom and justice. From protecting the rights of human and non-human beings alike, he reformed and guided with teachings that will remain forever.

When he first claimed prophethood, he was met with opposition. He was attacked in the most brutal ways, he was constantly threatened to succumb to the worldly leaders of the time - they made his life so difficult that on Allah’s will he migrated but didn’t take vengeance once.

Even when he migrated, enemies still didn’t stop oppressing him. Despite propagating the religion which respected the rights of all the world, his peaceful message was met with hate and brutality. Now I will briefly state the different reforms that came through Islam.

The Holy Quran gives rights to men, women, children, parents, elderly, the sick, the poor, the needy, the orphans, the widows, animals and plants. The Quran taught obedience to one’s country and its laws, it taught to strive for peace & justice and to go to war if only necessary.

All of these teachings were followed and exemplified by the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh). If anyone who was the true champion of human rights, animal rights, environmental rights and women’s rights, it was the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh).

He encouraged education for all men and women alike. He taught men to be good to women and told women to be good to men. While being the founder of Islam, He was also the head of a state where everyone - no matter what religion, race, background were treated equally.

He taught no white is superior to a non-white and no arab is superior to a non-arab. He taught Allah created everyone equal, and it is one’s own righteousness that pleases Allah not the colour of your skin or gender.

He was the man who stood up for a woman so she could marry of her own choice. It was the Prophet Muhammad of Islam (SAW) who freed slaves when they came under his control after his marriage with Hazrat Khadija (ra).

He treated all his wives equally. People say why he married more than four times when Quran allows only four -that’s because before this verse was revealed, it was normal for arabs to marry many times but men never treated their wives with fairness. The Holy Prophet (SAW) did.

The Quran refers to his wives as the mothers of believers so it would be contradictory for those marriages to be cancelled. Nevertheless the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was the best husband to all of them and not once his wives complained against each other because they were happy.

He used to help with home chores, he used to do his own work, he used to sleep on a simple bed that provided little comfort. He treated children with the utmost affection and love. He cared for the needy and the oprhans. He always called for forgiveness, justice and peace.

Alot of people question if Islam is peaceful then why did the Holy Prophet (SAW) fight wars. The simple answer is - all wars that were fought in his time were defensive in nature and were fought in accordance with Allah’s teachings in the Quran.

When the enemies of Islam were doing everything to defeat and weaken it by hurting Muslims, Allah instructed Muslims to fight in their and in Islam’s defence. The wars were fought as the absolute last resort. The Holy Quran sets clear guidance that was followed.

According to the principles in the Quran, the Holy Prophet (saw) taught that apart from the ones literally fighting the war, no woman, no child, no elderly, no animal, no tree, no bird was to be attacked or hurt while fighting. Muslims strictly followed this.

The Holy Prophet (saw) on personal level faced so much oppression but he didn’t avenge anyone apart from a handful of criminals who committed heinous crimes. He forgave the murderers of Hazrat Fatima (ra), his beloved daughter. He forgave every enemy of his without a grudge.

An elderly woman used to throw garbage on his way everyday outside his home, and one day when she didn’t, he enquired about her and found out that she was ill. It was the Holy Prophet (saw) who forgot everything she did and went to her and checked on her health.

Once he was leading prayer in congress when he heard a child cry and he was worried that the mother might be restless so he shortened the prayer.
He married a woman older than him, who was also a widow.

The first revelation of the Quran was “Iqra” which means “read.” The Holy Prophet (pbuh) was not an educated man yet Allah chose him to be His Messenger because of his firm faith in tauheed of Allah and his righteousness. He taught Muslims to strive for peace.

He taught Muslims to love their country and respect its laws and rights. If something about the country clashed with one’s faith, then the Quran and the Prophet’s life tells us that instead of causing unrest and anger, migrate.

That one man who exemplified the heights of justice, compassion, care and equality and the man who meant no harm to the world and the people still gets scrutinised for things he never did or said. As Muslims we should inform people about Islam and the Prophet (saw).

Send durood and blessings on him and his family. That’s the most important duty we have as Muslims whenever someone stands against our beloved Prophet (saw). The next most important thing is to not respond with anger but through kindness informing the world about his character.

Also, reacting to Charlie Hebdo’s actions with more hate and anger will get more attention to his work not the life and character of the Holy Prophet (saw) and that flares up more hate so use this opportunity to promote Islam and the character of Holy Prophet (pbuh).