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But there is another aspect of this problem.
Man lives in society. Our lives
are bound with the lives of others willingly
or unwillingly, directly or
indirectly. We eat the food grown in the same
soil, drink water, from the same
the same spring and breathe the same air. Even
while staunchly holding our own views, it would be helpful, if we try to
adjust ourselves to our surroundings, if we also know to some extent, how
the mind our neighbor moves and what the main springs of his actions are.
From this angle of vision it is highly desirable that one should try to
know all religions of the world, in the proper sprit, to promote mutual
understanding and better appreciation of our
neighborhood, immediate and remote.
Further, our thoughts are not scattered as
appear to be on the surface. They
have got themselves crystallized around a few
nuclei in the form of great world
religions and living faiths that guide and
motivate the lives of millions that
inhabit this earth of ours. It is our duty,
in one sense if we have the ideal of
ever becoming a citizen of the world before
us, to make a little attempt to know
the great religions and system of philosophy
that have ruled mankind.
In spite of these preliminary remarks, the ground
in these field of religion,
where there is often a conflict between intellect
and emotion is so slippery
that one is constantly reminded of 'fools that
rush in where angels fear to
tread.' It is also not so complex from another
point of view. The subject of my
writing is about the tenets of a religion which
is historic and its prophet who
is also a historic personality. Even a hostile
critic like Sir William Muir
speaking about the holy Quran says that. "There
is probably in the world no
other book which has remained twelve centuries
with so pure text." I may also
add Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) is also a historic
personality, every event of whose life
has been most carefully recorded and even the
minutest details preserved intact for the posterity. His life and works
are not wrapped in mystery.
My work today is further lightened because those days are fast disappearing when Islam was highly misrepresented by some of its critics for reasons political and otherwise. Prof. Bevan writes in Cambridge Medieval History, "Those account of Mohammad(pbuh) and Islam which were published in Europe before the beginning of 19th century are now to be regarded as literary curiosities." My problem is to write this monograph is easier because we are now generally not fed on this kind of history and much time need be spent on pointing out our misrepresentation of Islam.
The theory of Islam and Sword for instance is
not heard now frequently in any
quarter worth the name. The principle of Islam
that there is no compulsion in
religion is well known. Gibbon, a historian
of world repute says, " A pernicious
tenet has been imputed to Mohammadans, the
duty of extirpating all the
religions by sword". This charge based on ignorance
and bigotry, says the
eminent historian, is refuted by Quran, by
history of Musalman conquerors and bytheir public and legal toleration
of Christian worship. The great success of
Mohammad's(pbuh) life had been effected by
sheer moral force, without a stroke of
sword.
But in pure self-defense, after repeated efforts
of conciliation had utterly
failed, circumstances dragged him into the
battlefield. But the prophet of Islam
hanged the whole strategy of the battlefield.
The total number of casualties in
all the wars that took place during his lifetime
when the whole Arabian
Peninsula came under his banner, does not exceed
a few hundreds in all. But even on the battlefield he taught the Arab barbarians
to pray, to pray not
individually, but in congregation to God the
Almighty. During the dust and storm of warfare whenever the time for prayer
came, and it comes five times a everyday, the congregation prayer had not
to be postponed even on the battlefield. A party had to be engaged in bowing
their heads before God while other was engaged with the enemy. After finishing
the prayers, the two parties had to exchange Positions. To the Arabs, who
would fight for forty years on the slight provocation that a camel
belonging to the guest of one tribe had strayed into the grazing land belonging
to other tribe and both sides had fought till they
lost 70,000 lives in all; threatening the extinction
of both the tribes to
such furious Arabs, the Prophet of Islam taught
self-control and discipline to
the extent of praying even on the battlefield.
In an aged of barbarism, the
Battlefield itself was humanized and strict
instructions were issued not to
cheat, not to break trust, not to mutilate,
not to kill a child or woman or an
old man, not to hew down date palm nor burn
it, not to cut a fruit tree, not
to molest any person engaged in worship. His
own treatment with his bitterest
enemies is the noblest example for his followers.
At the conquest of Mecca, he
stood at the zenith of his power. The city
which had refused to listen to his
mission, which had tortured him and his followers,
which had driven him and his people into exile and which had unrelentingly
persecuted and boycotted him even when he had taken refuge in a place more
than 200 miles away, that city now lay at his feet. By the laws of war
he could have justly avenged all the cruelties inflicted on him and his
people. But what treatment did he accord to them?
Mohammad's(pbuh) heart flowed with affection
and he declared "This day, there is no
REPROOF against you and you are all free."
This day he proclaimed. "I trample
under my feet all distinctions between man
and man, all hatred between man and man." This was one of the chief objects
why he permitted war in self defense, that is to unite human beings. And
when once this object was achieved, even his worst enemies were pardoned.
Even those who killed his beloved uncle, Hamazah, mangled his body, ripped
it open, even chewed a piece of his liver.
The principles of universal brotherhood and
doctrine of the equality of mankind
which he proclaimed represents one very great
contribution of Muhammad (pbuh) to the social uplift of humanity. All great
religions have preached the same doctrine
but the prophet of Islam had put this theory
into actual practice and its value
will be fully recognized, perhaps centuries
hence, when international
consciousness being awakened, racial prejudices
may disappear and greater
brotherhood of humanity come into existence.