There is no other man who has influenced life for all times. There is no other man who is a perfect role model for all humans for all times. There is no other man who has given rights to people of every society for all times.

So who is it then? Einstein, Darwin, Marx, Socrates, Newton, Plato, Freud… (who?).

OK, is it Jesus, Moses, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Gandhi, Guru Nanak, Hari Krishna, Buddha, Hitler, Lenin, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Martin Luther King, Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln…. Or even (God forbid) Ali G, Tu Pac, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Princess Diana, David Beckam or Pele?

If you think it’s any of the above then you’re either not sober(too many pints, if you know what I’m saying) or you simply don’t know your history.

There is ONLY one individual or personality that is worthy of being known as the man of all times and that is no other than Muhammad, messenger of God. (Oh yeahhhh…I forgot about him…)

‘How’s that then?’…is probably what you’re thinking. ‘.Naa! Its cos we’re Muslims innit…and we have to believe in the Prophet, so its obvious we think he’s the greatest person ever, isn’t that a bit bias… if you know what I mean.’

If that’s what you’re thinking, I would say it’s a fair question but isn’t it sad that we don’t even know what our Prophet has done for us. If we did then you would definitely think that the Prophet is the greatest man of all times.

Well you know what, if nothing else you’re definitely gonna find out what the Prophet has done for the whole mankind.

OK, if you look at the great people throughout the history whether they are philosophers or intellectuals, scientists or inventors, politicians or revolutionary leaders, soldiers or military leaders, writers or entertainers, Prophets or religious personalities (I know it’s a long sentence, bear with me..) - none of them can be considered to be the ‘man of all times’ for one simple reason. They are all specialists in their own fields- and that is all. You wot!!

You see, they cannot offer guidance and solutions for the everyday lives of people till the end of time. They cannot offer a perfect role model for each and every individual in society till the end of time. They cannot answer each and every question regarding life for every society till the end of time.

They cannot give rights to each and every individual in society till the end of time. (‘Have you fallen in love with the words ‘end of time’ or what’?) There is no one individual who’s life and personality can offer guidance and be a perfect role model in each and every field whether it be social, economic, religious, spiritual, political, military, administrative, moral or cultural.

THERE IS NO INDIVIDUAL EXCEPT ONE SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL WHO IS CALLED MUHAMMAD, MESSENGER OF GOD.

Whether you are a politician, military leader, reformer, judge, legislator, philosopher, teacher, businessman, trader, manager, scientist, sportsman, worshipper, farmer, orator, father, brother, husband, friend, Muslim or non- Muslim - there is practical guidance and a perfect role model for you in the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

That is why that even after 1400 years have passed by, mankind still has to follow and get guidance from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The lifestyle (seerat) of the holy Prophet is all embracing, comprehensive, permanent, ever lasting and multi-dimensional. (..swallowed a thesaurus have we..?). The world is amazed and stunned that how can one personality guide everyone from an ordinary citizen to the head of the state. Let’s find out shall we:

The Holy Prophet liberated the slaves and protected the weak, he gave equal rights to women and gave the world the concept of the equality of mankind. These were ground breaking and revolutionary laws, which shook the world 1400 years ago.

Whether it be social or cultural, moral or human, political and economical , religious or spiritual the Prophet brought about a revolution in every walk of life which took mankind out of the darkness of ignorance and into the light of guidance- Islam.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

Liberation Of Slaves And Protection Of The Weak: The Prophet taught the lesson that to feed people who are hungry is an excellent and spiritual act. The Quran says ‘You can’t be pious until you spend for the poor.’

The Prophet announced ‘Whosoever kills his slave, he shall be killed . Whosoever imprisons his slave a n d starves him, he shall be imprisoned and starved himself.’ (Tirmidhi)

The Prophet said: ‘O people! If any of you possess food, which is more than you require, then he should return it to those who do not have enough for their basic needs. Each and everything given to you is from Allah and the basic necessity should be fulfilled in each and every society.’’(Bukhari)

It is due to statements like these that led to slaves and the poor retaining their humanity and living a respectful life.

RAISING THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Before the Prophet women were mere properties of their husbands and had no basic rights. The Prophet gave them matrimonial (look it up in the dictionary... ) , domestic, social, economic, fiscal (don’t ask!) and political rights. The dignity and honour of women was upgraded…. Now that’s what I call real girl power!

Mother: The Prophet stated that paradise was under the feet of your mother.

Wife: The Prophet stated: ‘The best among you is who is best for his wife, children and family, and I am best for my family.’

Daughter: Before the Prophet if a daughter was born the Arabs would bury their daughters alive. It was the Prophet who brought a stop to this criminal behaviour.

He came and abolished the superiority of gender. He stated: ‘when a female child is born, Allah sends his angels to that house and prays that peace be upon them. The angels then cover the new born girl under the shadow of their wings and caressing the head of the baby with their hands , saying that this is a weak person. Whoever will bear the responsibility of her cherishment will go on having the blessings of the Almighty as long as that person remains alive.’ (Tibrani)

EQUALITY OF MANKIND

The Prophet eliminated all wrong superiority’s: territorial, tribal, linguistic, racial etc. He declared:

‘No Arab is superior over a non-Arab. No non-Arab is superior over an Arab. No white is superior over black, no black is superior over white. All these superiority’s are man-made – the only superiority is that of piety, human conduct and moral behaviour.’ (Bukhari)

These were revolutionary and historical statements, which gave rights to everyone in every society for all times.

Moral and Human

You see the Holy Prophet is a perfect role model for everyone, for every time. He wasn’t only the teacher, preacher and propagator of moral values but he practised them in his own life as well. He provided us with moral values, moral behaviour, human values and etiquette which are practised world-wide till this day.

When you study his life you get practical guidance and an ideal role model on how to act as a husband, father, brother, neighbour, teacher, ruler, reformer, judge and as a human being. Anybody and everybody can get light from following the lifestyle of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Political

Before the Prophet there was the divine right of rule, monarchies, empires and dictatorships. The Prophet for the first time in history gave the idea of public consultation. He stated: ‘There is no rule without public consultation and representation.’ (Ibn Majah)

The concept of Khilafah was created. He stated: ‘no ruler can be obeyed if he commands falsehood’. (Ibn Majah)

The Prophet highlighted that the government is a public trust and that those people should only control it who deserve it. In a nutshell the government consisted of chosen representatives of the people.

The Prophet was the first human in history to give universal suffrage (votes to every adult) and this was only introduced in Britain 1350 years later... He gave the first written constitution to mankind, consisting of 60 articles.

He was the first person to establish a political state. He showed us how to establish an economic system, social system, moral system, commercial laws, civil laws, penal laws, executive laws, international laws all within the deen of Islam.

He also gave us the laws of war, the rights of Muslim and non- Muslim minorities. Nothing in the world of laws or rights was left unturned or undefined by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Military

The Prophet was undoubtedly the greatest military leader of all times. Within 10 years he conquered the whole of the Arab world (North Palestine, North Iraq) and established a stable government in a short period of time. The amazing fact was that in 10 years the Prophet fought in 88 wars and had only a few hundred casualties.

This is the historical achievement that historians cannot still understand today. It was due to the Prophet’s great statesmanship, political leadership and military leadership, which in 10 years made Islam the superpower of the world.

No military leader from Caesar to Hitler has ever achieved anything near to what the Prophet had achieved.

Religious and Spiritual

The Prophet gave mankind a complete way of life in the form of Islam. He did not give the world a religion but a deen. If he had given a religion then there would have been spiritual guidance from the religion of Islam and secular guidance from other sources.

The Prophet managed to combine both secularism and politics in an allembracing deen.

He taught mankind the oneness of God, finality of prophethood and life after death. He presented to the people the Quran – the literal word of God-, which was to guide mankind till the end of time.

He gave to the world his sunnah – his practise –, which was to illuminate each and every individual in the world till the end of time.

No Prophet or religious figure has influenced the world in the way Prophet Muhammad has.

I will finish with the statement of Michael J. Hart, a Christian who in his book The 100 lists the most influential people in history and it is no surprise, no.1 in the list was no other than our Great Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Check it out for yourself.

Muhammad, messenger of God is the best of creation. A perfect and complete role model for everyone. The most influential person in the history of mankind. There’s not much you can add to that now can you?

So, in a nutshell even after 1400 years have passed mankind still has to believe in, and follow, the Prophet because it is the only way we can solve the problems of every society for all times.

REFERENCE

• Muhammad(saw), Salvation to mankind (English lecture) by Prof. Tahir ul Qadri
• Seerat Muhammadi (SAW) (Urdu lecture) by Prof. Tahir ul Qadri
• The 100 by Michael J. Hart

FURTHER READING

As-Shifa of Qadi Iyad- Life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) Muhammad – His life and times by Martin Lings For further details on this topic contact The Revival.