The truth about Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
Loving him is following him
Muslims all over the world are deeply hurt by the recent caricatures
of our beloved Prophet Muhammad , in Danish and several other
publications.
Every now and then, some Western media outlets provoke Muslims by
insulting the Prophet Muhammad . The baiting often succeeds in
eliciting Muslims' outrage and sporadic violence.
The latest incident started with a Danish newspaper's caricature
portraying the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist. To add insult to
injury, Norwegian, French, German, Dutch and a few other newspapers
reprinted the defamatory cartoons to "defend"—they claimed—the freedom
of expression.
The real issue is not the freedom of expression. Free speech is not
and was never meant to be absolute. There are laws in the West that
ban certain kinds of speech, including those that incite anti-
Semitism, racism and violence. Moreover, some countries have laws
against blasphemy and defamation. To Muslims, banning blasphemy
against Allah and the Prophet Muhammad has a higher priority.
For the European newspapers to reprint the offensive cartoons to show
solidarity with their Danish counterpart seems akin to the plot the
leaders of Quraysh had hatched to assassinate Prophet Muhammad .
The Quraysh masterminds had figured that including representatives
from major tribes of Makkah in the heinous plot would make it
impossible for the Prophet's clan, Banu Hashim, to avenge. But Allah
willed that the Prophet Muhammad would migrate to Madinah unscathed
while the plotters laid siege to his house.
The West often underestimates the Muslims' reverence for their beloved
Prophet Muhammad, (sallallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and is, therefore,
staltred by the fierce Islamic reaction to an insult against him. Few
in the West know that for Muslims, loving their Prophet more than
themselves is a matter of faith, not choice.
Further, the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad , as a terrorist is a
falsification of history. He was considered "Al-Ameen," the
trustworthy, by his people even before he received the Prophethood.
Once, when asked by some of his followers to invoke Allah's wrath on
the enemies, he refused saying he had been sent as a mercy unto
mankind.
Objective Western intellectuals have acknowledged the superior
character of Prophet Muhammad . In his “The 100, a Ranking of the Most
Influential Persons in History," Michael H. Hart ranked Prophet
Muhammad, (sallallallahu alayhi wa sallam) No. 1 because "He was the
only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious
and secular levels.”
Alphonse de Lamartine, a renowned 19th Century French writer, had this
to say about the Prophet Muhammad : "As regards all standards by which
human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man
greater than him?”
Unfortunately, some Muslims forget that loving their Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) means following him. Burning Danish embassies, as
they did in Damascus and Beirut, to avenge the insult to the Prophet
Muhammad is a complete disservice to him. Our violent reaction only
plays into the hands of those who wish to reinforce the negative
stereotypes about Muslims.
Do Muslims need reminding that Prophet Muhammad , forgave the people
of Ta'if who had rejected his message of monotheism and pelted him
with stones, bloodying him? Islamic tradition has it that when Jibreel
(Archangel Gabriel) sought his permission to punish the perpetrators,
the Prophet , instead prayed that some day the inhabitants of Ta'if
would leave their idols and worship Allah alone. Within a few years
they did.
Prophet Muhammad's, (sallallallahu alayhi wa sallam) servant once
noted his forgiving disposition, said, "I served the Prophet , for ten
years, and he never said ‘uf’ (a word indicating impatience or
discontent) to me and never blamed me by saying, `Why did you do so or
why didn't you do so?" (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Prophet Muhammad's, (sallallallahu alayhi wa sallam) archenemies hated
his Message and hurled malicious insults at him, to which he responded
with forbearance. Years later when he, sallallallahu alayhi wa sallam
returned as victor to Makkah, his city of birth which he was forced to
leave, he asked its awed citizens, "What do you think I'm going to do
to you." They said, "You are a noble brother, son of a noble brother;
we expect only good from you." The Prophet responded with a general
amnesty.
Let Muslims not forget that the Prophet , encouraged freedom of
expression. In the Battle of Badr, he changed the battlefield against
his own opinion due to the passionate advice of some young soldiers.
Part of the West's success today is the freedom of expression, of
thought, of religion—that draws Muslims to it from their oppressed
societies. For that, Muslims should be thankful to the West. After
all, freedom is an Islamic value that the West has embraced while
Muslim societies have forsaken.
Defending Prophet Muhammad
