“Orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a culture without images, founder of 20 terrestrial empires and 1 spiritual empire.

That is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?”

(Lamartine in “Historie de la Turquie”)

“It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme.”


(Annie Besant in “The Life and Teachings of Muhammad”)

The Man Muhammad
(May God’s Peace be Upon Him)

- HIS LIFE (small summary)


-WHAT HISTORIANS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him).

- MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) IN THE BIBLE


- WAS MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) A FAKE?


- (1)WAS HE (peace be upon him) A LIAR?

- (2)WAS HE (peace be upon him) A MADMAN?


- (3)THE MIRACLE OF THE QUR’AN

- (4)WAS HE (peace be upon him) INSPIRED BY THE DEVIL?


- CONCLUSION

HIS LIFE


Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born around 570 CE in Makkah, he was orphaned at a young age so he was brought up by his uncle. He worked as a tradesman, married at the age of 25 and lived a modest and relatively uneventful life. He was however well respected and noted for his honesty and integrity, and as such was given the title “The Trustworthy One”. he used to spend long hours meditating in a cave around Makkah.

Here, at the age of 40, he started getting revelations from Almighty God. He immediately started preaching to his people, to direct their lives and worship purely to God alone, and to forsake all forms of idolatry (i.e. the worship of other than Almighty God alone.) to prevent people from worshipping him like previous prophets had been, he always referred to himself as the Messenger and Slave of God. He and his early followers were persecuted for their beliefs, but many people began to become Muslim. As the persecution became severe he and his followers were forced to flee to another city Madinah to the north of Makkah in Madinah, the people accepted his message and made him their leader. From this position of strength he was able to spread Islam far and wide.

The enemies of Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent armies to wipe out the small Muslim community, however, although being significantly outnumbered they were able to overcome or repel the aggressors. Within a few years he was able to conquer Makkah. In victory, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a very merciful, and many of his former enemies, including the leaders became Muslim. By his death, at the age of 63, Muhammad (peace be upon him) had spread Islam to most of the Arabian Peninsula and his followers spread the religion to most of the world.



Prior to Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Arabs had been irrelevant in history. Muhammad (peace be upon him) united them and changed them into a nation that would take their religion to most of the world within 100 years of his death. History had not seen such a startling change or the speed by which a new religion would grow. Unlike other empires whose gains were transitory, and soon disappeared, Islam’s ability to conquer hearts and minds has lead to its permanency.


Muhammad (peace be upon him) lived in the full light of history, his followers took great care to preserve his teachings. They are collected together today as the Hadeeth and are the source of Islamic Law with the Qur’an. Muhammad (peace be upon him) explained, implemented and lived the teachings of the Qur’an.



Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught many things that were truly revolutionary and transformed the society. He (peace be upon him) encouraged the liberation of Slaves, (1200 years before Abraham Lincoln) and taught; “No white is better than a black, and no black is better than a white. Superiority is by righteousness and obedience to God alone.” Malcolm X commented, “America needs to understand Islam, because this is one religion that erases from its society the race problem.”

Women were given rights that regards to inheritance, and education, rights they only gained in Britain in the 20th century. He (peace be upon him) taught, “the most perfect amongst the believers… is the best in manner and kindest to his wife”.



Bernard Shaw wrote “If a man like Muhammad (peace be upon him) were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems”.

And he was able to establish a state throughout the Muslim lands, based purely on God’s law, incorporating all aspects of life. To Muslims, Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the supreme example for all people, he was the exemplary prophet, statesman, military leader, ruler, teacher, neighbour, husband, father and friend. His actions, interactions with people and rulings form the basis of how Muslims lead their lives today.

WHAT HISTORIANS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him).


Although Muhammad (peace be upon him) was one of the world’s greatest personalities, very little is known about him in the west. However, many historians have studied and written about him.

“He was a Caesar and Pope in one; but he was the Pope without Pope’s pretensions, he was Caesar without the legions of Caesar without a bodyguard, without a palace, without fixed revenue. If ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it was Muhammad, for he had all the power without its instruments and without its supports.”

(Reverend Bosworth in “Mohammad and Mohammadism”)

Note, as Muslims we say he was neither a Caesar nor a Pope, rather a Prophet of Almighty God.

“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 with Muhammad?”

“…IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THAN HE?”

(Lamartine in “Historie de la Turquie”)

“I have studied him – that wonderful man – and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of humanity”

(Goerge Bernard Shaw in “The Genuine Islam”)

“It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and his own mission. These and not the sword, carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.”

(Mahatma Ghandhi in “Young India”)




Michael Hart in 'The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History,' New York, 1978.

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 secular and religious level. ...It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. Paul on Christianity. ...

It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.

More Quotes from famous Non Muslim Authors and Historians can be found here:

http://www.islamicboard.com/prophet-...uhammad-s.html (What non-Muslims say about Muhammad (s))

WAS MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) A FAKE?


It is clear on analysis of Muhammad (peace be upon him)’s life that he acted as if he really was a prophet, and believed that God was helping and guiding him, the incredible success that he seemed to reinforce this. Opponents of Islam thus claimed he was either a liar or someone who was deluded (i.e. he was mad, and really thought he was a prophet.) Let’s take each hypothesis at a time.





(1)WAS HE (peace be upon him) A LIAR?


There are many stories from the Prophet’s life that go against the fact that he was a fake. For example, an eclipse of the sun occurred after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him)’s son Ibraheem. The people thought it was a sign from God, like a condolence. If the Prophet (peace be upon him) was a fake, one would have expected him to seize the opportunity to back his claims of Prophethood. However, he (peace be upon him) criticised them and said the eclipse had nothing to do with the death of his son.

As more people became Muslims, the Makkans offered to make him their King, give him all the wealth they acquired, and give him any women which he desired, all this if he compromised some of his teachings. Even though the Muslims were few in number and being severely persecuted, he refused. Again, a fake would have been expected to seize the opportunity to gain all the world had to offer him.


If Muhammad (peace be upon him) lied, why did he – after gaining authority in Arabia, live so simply? Surely he would have tried to gain as much from the worldly life as possible, rather than saying his reward was in the Hereafter, often sleeping on rugs that left deep marks on his body, and standing in prayer through the nights.

Before revelation started to come down to him, he was loved by all the people for his goodness, honesty and truthfulness. He was wealthy and from the most noble and respected clan from amongst the Arabs. Why would he then jeopardise all this, and his life by attacking the society and its customs?



A liar would not reprimand himself, like in the story of the blind man in the Qur’an. A liar would often praise himself, yet in the Qur’an we find the name of Jesus mentioned much much more often than Muhammad (which is only mentioned 4 times in the Qur’an!) and Mary, mother of Jesus being described as being ‘chosen above the women of all nations’, a title that maybe he would prefer for his own mother; if he was a liar!

(1)WAS HE (peace be upon him) A MADMAN?


Was Muhammad (peace be upon him) deluded? There are many instances in the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that it is clear he really thought he was a Prophet. Thus some opponents of Islam suggest that rather than being a liar, he was a madman.

However this causes many problems also. How could Muhammad (peace be upon him) keep on getting things correct, which were not common knowledge at his time? For example, the Qur’an refers to many scientific facts, in all of these facts there are no mistakes, even though most of these facts were only proven to be true in the last few decades. Maurice Bucaille the physician;

“In a century, where for many, scientific truth has dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely the discoveries of science that in an objective examination of the Islamic revelation have heightened the supernatural nature of certain aspects of the revelation.”


There are many prophecies made by Muhammad (peace be upon him) and also within the Qur’an. Again, there are no mistakes. For example, the prophesy that the Qur’an would be preserved in its original form for all times. How could Muhammad (peace be upon him) know that the book would remain unaltered for 100s, and up to this day, over 1400 years? If we wrote a book today, the chances of it being preserved let alone preserved in its original form are remote. Yet the Qur’an is still preserved, word for word, letter for letter.



Again, in the Qur’an, God tells Muhammad (peace be upon him) that He will protect him from Mankind. How could Muhammad (peace be upon him) know that he would have a natural death? This prophesy is all the more amazing when you look at the persecution attempts on his (peace be upon him)’s life, and numerous battles Muhammad (peace be upon him) had to fight for his faith.




The story of Abu Lahab, one of the fiercest early opponents of Islam, supports Muhammad (peace be upon him)’s authenticity. Several years before he died, a verse was revealed in the Qur’an which stated that he would remain in the Hell-fire forever, i.e. he would never become a Muslim. All the man had to do to destroy (and disprove the Qur’an) was to say he had become a Muslim (even if he didn’t mean it), but he never did this, even on his death-bed.

Many books have been written arguing in favour of one hypothesis or another. It is important to note, however that you cannot be a madman and a liar at the same time.

A madman has no reason to lie because he really believes he is a Prophet.

MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) IN THE BIBLE



In the Qur’an it states Muhammad (peace be upon him) was prophesied in other scriptures. This fact is backed by the fact that many of the early muslims were learned Christians and Jews who were expecting a prophet in Arabia. When we analyse the scripture we find in the Bible in Deuteronomy 18:18 God tells Moses (peace be upon him) “I will raise up for them (the Jews) a prophet like you from among their brethren.” Christians feel this prophesy refers to Jesus (peace be upon him). However it is clear this Prophet will be like Moses (peace be upon him) and from the brethren of the Jews. The Jews are descended from Isaac (peace be upon him) and the Arabs are descendants of Ishmael (peace be upon him.) Ishmael and Isaac were brothers, the sons of Abraham (peace be upon him). Thus the brethren of the Jews are the Arabs (descendants of Ishmael). Moses and Muhammad (peace be upon him) were far more similar to one another than Jesus (peace be upon him). Both had:


-Natural Births
-Married
-Had Children
-Were initially rejected by their people
-Finally accepted and led their people (both religiously and secularly)
-Had to flee from their homeland
-Overcame their enemies
-Brought forth new laws (established God’s law)
-Had Natural Deaths.

It is important to note that the Jews were waiting for the prophet at the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) – they felt this prophet (the one like Moses) was different from the Messiah/Christ. In John 1: 19-25, they asked John the Baptist (peace be upon him) whether he was Elijah, or the Christ, or “the Prophet” Thus showing that they were waiting for 2 great prophets, the Christ and “the Prophet.” Muslims believe Jesus (peace be upon him) was the Christ, and Muhammad (peace be upon him) was “the Prophet.”



More Prophecies in the Bible can be accessed from here:
http://www.islamicboard.com/comparat...criptures.html (Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) Prophecised in other Scriptures.)

The Miraculousness of the Qur'an


What is the Qur'an?

It is the final revelation of the will of Almighty God's to all of mankind, which was conveyed through the Angel Gabriel, in Arabic, to the Prophet Muhammad in its sounds, words and meanings. The Qur’an, sometimes spelled Koran, was relayed to the Prophet's companions, which they memorized verbatim, and which has been publicly and continually recited by them and their successors until the present day. In short, the Qur'an is the book of guidance from God par excellence. The Qur'an is still memorized and taught by millions of people. The language of the Qur'an, Arabic, is still a living language to millions of people, so unlike the scriptures of other religions, the Qur'an is still read in its original language by countless millions of people. The Qu'ran is a living miracle in the Arabic language; and is know to be inimitable in its style, form and spiritual impact. God's final revelation to mankind, the Qur'an, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years.


The Qur'an, in contrast to many other religious books, was always thought to be the Word of God by those who believed in it, i.e. it wasn't something decreed by a religious council many years after being written. Also, the Qu'ran was recited publicly in front of both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities during the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The entire Qur'an was also completely written down in lifetime of the Prophet, and numerous companions of the Prophet memorized the entire Qur'an word-for-word as it was revealed. So unlike other scriptures, the Qur'an was always in the hands of the common believers, it was always thought to be God's word and, due to wide spread memorization, it was perfectly preserved. In regards to the teachings of the Qur'an - it is a universal scripture, and it is addressed to all of mankind, and not to a particular tribe or "chosen people". The message that it brings is nothing new, but the same message of all of the prophets - submit to Almighty God and worship Him alone. As such, God's revelation in the Qur'an focuses on teaching human beings the importance of believing in the Unity of God and framing their lives around the guidance which He has sent. Additionally, the Qur'an contains the stories of the previous prophets, such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus; as well as many commands and prohibitions from God. In modern times in which so many people are caught up in doubt, spiritual despair and "political correctness", the Qur'anic teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is gripping the world today.



God supported His last Prophet Muhammad with many miracles and much evidence which proved that he is a true Prophet sent by God. Also, God supported His last revealed book, the Holy Quran, with many miracles that prove that this Quran is the literal word of God, revealed by Him, and that it was not authored by any human being. This chapter discusses some of this evidence.


Click link to see why the Qur'an is truly from God:

http://www.islam-guide.com/frm-ch1.htm

WAS HE (peace be upon him) INSPIRED BY THE DEVIL?


The final explanation used by non Muslims against Muhammad (peace be upon him) was that he was inspired by the devil. However, the Qur’an tells all Muslims to pray to God, and seek refuge from the devil before reading the Qur’an and performing other forms of worship which encourage good. Obviously, this is a contradiction in itself. The devil would not encourage people to ask God’s help against him. Nor would the devil call for the worship and obedience of God, or to give in charity, to uphold the family ties, or to support the weak etc.





CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was one of history’s great individuals, whatever you believe in, wherever you are from, we ask you to find out more about this incredible man!