The Unlettered Prophet

The Unlettered Prophet

Muhammad had not studied philosophy in the schools of Athens or Rome, Alexandria,

India or China, yet he could proclaim the highest truths of eternal values to mankind.

Born as an orphan and blessed with no worldly goods, yet he was loved by all. He had

studied at no military academy, yet he could organize his forces against tremendous

odds and gained victories through the moral forces that he marshaled. In the person of

the Prophet of Islam, the world has seen the most exceptional union of a prophet,

organizer, and leader. He was unlettered, yet he could speak with an eloquence and

fervor that moved men to tears of ecstasy.

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His supposed weakness (being unlettered) was his greatest miracle. He was

among Arabs who considered the mastering of their language as important as their

pride. When the Quran was revealed, the beauty of the language of the Quran

overwhelmed the Arabs. They were astounded by the rhetorical miracle of the language.

Allah challenged the Arabs to compose ten verses like the Quran. When the Arabs

failed, He challenged them to compose only one verse. Once again, they failed. Like

Moses’ and Jesus’ miracles, the miracle of Muhammad (the Quran) is in the subject that

his people perfected, mastered and held in high regard.

Before the revelation, Muhammad was not known to be among those who

mastered the language. It is a known fact that no one can master a language

instantaneously at the age of forty. So when Muhammad started reciting the Quran to his

people, they accused him of being possessed by evil spirits, because they had not seen

him talking this way. Any Arab-speaking student can differentiate right away between

any verse in the Quran and a statement from the Prophet. None of the thousands verses

in the Quran has any similarity in style to any of the thousands sayings of the Prophets.

Because the Arabs did not see anything like the Quran, which was narrated by an

unlettered man, and they denied the message, they concluded that the Quran must have

been from evil spirits. This is a classic case in all religions. It is the same old story:

• Pharaoh accused Moses with black magic, and that Moses was possessed with evil

spirits, Surah 20, Ayah 71.

• The Jews accused Jesus with black magic, and that Jesus was possessed with evil

spirits, Luke 11:15

• The pagan Arabs accused Muhammad with black magic, and that Muhammad was

possessed with evil spirits.

• Now, some Christians and the Jews accuse Muhammad with black magic, and that

Muhammad was possessed with evil spirits in Sunday schools and by half the truth

TV evangelists!

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The Quran refers to the accusation of the pagan Arabs to Muhammad in many

verses:

Surah 51, Ayah 52 “Similarly, no apostle came to the Peoples before them, but they

said (of him) in like manner, "A sorcerer, or one possessed"!”

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Surah 25, Ayah 5 “And they say: "Tales of the ancients, which he has caused to be

written: and they are dictated before him morning and evening."

The pagans spread the rumor that Muhammad, similar to all previous prophets, was a

sorcerer, or one possessed with evil spirit. When the beauty and power of the Quran are

pointed out, and its miracle as coming from an unlettered man, the pagans hint at other

men wrote them, though they could not produce any one who could write anything like

the Quran.

Islam and Community

 Islam and Community

The community (Ummah) in Islam is not founded on race, nationality, locality,

occupation, kinship, or special interests. It does not take its name after the name of a

leader or a founder or an event. It transcends national borders and political boundaries.

The foundation of the community in Islam is the attitude that designates submission to

the Will of Allah, obedience to His Law, and commitment to His Cause. In short, an

Islamic community is present only when it is nourished and fostered by Islam. Its

foundation is the family.

The Islamic community has a historic mission far beyond mere survival, sheer

power, breeding, or physiological continuity. Such a mission is described in the Quran as

follows:

Surah 3, Ayah 104 “Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is

good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to

attain felicity.”

Surah 3, Ayah 110 “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what

is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah.”

The historic role of the Islamic community is to be the embodiment of the

virtuous, the wholesome, and the noble. A truly Islamic community is the alert guardian

of virtue and the bitter enemy of evil. What is required from the community at large is

likewise required from every individual member. This is because the whole community is

an entity with every member accountable to Allah. The statement of the Prophet (Pbuh)

best describes the role of the individual Muslim:

“Whoever of you sees something wrong must seek to rectify it by action or deed; if

he cannot, let him try to change it by word; if he cannot, let his feelings of disapproval

and condemnation intensify and this is the minimal degree of faith.”

As we see, this description is very significant and comprehensive. In this age of

revolutionary media, no one in his right mind can underestimate the power of corrected

actions, or the power of communication by words, or the power of feelings.

The historic role of the Islamic community is further restated in the Quran:

Surah 2, Ayah 143 “Thus, have We made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that ye

might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves.”

Such a role of witnessing is both highly significant and extremely demanding. It

means that the community of Islam must be exemplary. It must set the highest standard

of morality and be the reference point of others. It must avoid excesses and

extravagances and static rigidity. To strike a middle course of action, to be steadfast and

consistent, to know what to accept and what to reject, to have morals and at the same

time remain adaptable is probably the hardest test of human character and social

viability. But this is the role of the Islamic community and the historic mission of Muslims.

And it is the very criterion that qualifies the Muslim as the best human community ever to

evolve.

With regard to the continuity of the Islamic community, certain points are noteworthy.

It is the duty of Muslims to do everything within their means to ensure that continuity.

The rules of marriage and inheritance, the duties of charity and pilgrimage, the human

rights and obligation of kin, the individual conscientiousness and social belongings - all

these are oriented towards the healthy continuity of the community in Islam. On the other

hand, God has pledged to protect this community in several ways.

1. First, He pledges to preserve and protect the Quran that is the source of all wisdom.

This also means that there shall always be a community to follow the Quran; the

Quran shall not be without followers even though there are followers of other books.

2. Second, Islam itself is continuity. Whenever a nation deviated from the path of Allah,

He restated His word, reaffirmed His Truth, and commissioned new reformers to

carry on.

3. Thirdly, Allah has issued a strong warning to the effect that if Muslims turned away

from the right path, they would be the losers, and Allah would replace them by

righteous people, Surah 47, Ayah 38.

Again, the believers are warned that if they neglect their faith, soon God will

produce people whom He will love and they will love Him, humble towards the believers

and strong against the unbelievers, fighting in the way of God, and never afraid of

reproaches, Surah 5, Ayah 54.

A Logical Question To Everyone...........

A Logical Question To Everyone...........

Throughout time immemorial, man has been in search of the truth. The truth, relative to

physical phenomena and spiritual experiences, has lead mankind to a winding course.

Sometimes, confusion and disorientation of the principles of life, unfortunately, can taint

this course. Religion and philosophy are the historical vehicles for the search of truth.

While religion presents the Divine aspect of the purpose of life, philosophy is a human

attempt to gain a higher intellectual knowledge of oneself, morality, and the underlying

meaning of life. The current tendency to separate science and religion imposes

disgraceful restrictions on science to achieve even more prosperous horizon. This book

incorporates theology, natural sciences, and philosophy in an attempt to satisfy the

eternal quest for the search of the ultimate truth.

It is easy to go through life avoiding difficult questions about our origin and our

destiny. It is easy not to talk about dying, or why people suffer. However, life would not

be the same if there were no questions and answers. It is important to have an accurate

understanding of our origin, and yes, its pursuit is worthwhile. Everyone needs a sense

of identity, purpose, and personal goals. This is impossible without a sense of origin.

What a person believes about human origin will condition that person’s life style and

affect one’s ultimate destiny. Our origin goes back, perhaps, tens of thousands of years,

and our destiny takes us from the present time to eternity. Although our life on this earth

spans through, perhaps, 60 or 70 years, we are heavily involved with this short time

while neglecting our origin and destiny.

Sometimes we have very interesting and yet vital questions that linger in our

minds:

1. • Why do humans suffer and how can one be happy?
2. • What is the purpose of this life?
3. • What will happen to us after death?
4. • Does God exist?

• Were we created or did we evolve from apes?

• Why do we have this huge universe?

When one asks these questions to anyone, one gets different answers such as:

1. • I do not care, and I just want to enjoy my life.
2. • Leave me alone. I am trying to survive.
3. • I do not know. I never thought about that.
4. • I know that God exists, but I am confused with all those religions. I do not know which one is right. I will try to live a good moral life, and that is it.
5. • I know that God exists, but I am not really doing a good job in preparing myself to meet Him. Maybe I will do that when I retire and have more time.

Only a small percentage of people know why they exist, and they are living their

lives the way it is supposed to be. Those are the people who understand their priorities

in life and act accordingly. Those are the people who appreciate human knowledge and

know its limitation. Those are the people who realize the difference between science and

reality. Einstein said “One thing I have learned in a long life - that all our science,

measured against reality, is primitive and childlike... Science without religion is lame,

religion without science is blind.”

In the present time, it seems that science and technology have an answer for

everything. Consequently, many people may tend to think that they know everything. If

you ask one of those persons about life and how it started, the answer will be quick, and

most likely will be: life started as an organic substance that came to earth through a

comet that collided with earth billions of years ago. Life after that evolved according to

Darwin. Ask him again about human behavior, and he will start referring to Freud. Then,

most people tend to think that we know all the answers about everything. The reality is

that we know very little about few things. And if you don’t believe this statement, just ask

a pharmacist how aspirin works, a brain surgeon how the brain works, or a

psychoanalyst how we dream.

One of the top priorities of anyone in this life, regardless of one’s wealth or social

status, is to make one’s house comfortable. The English language provided the word

“home” to emphasize a feeling of comfort, security, peace, and love in a house. Humans

spend a lot of time and energy to change a house into a home. If someone plans to

move to another house, he usually reserves his energy and money to the next house.

However, everyone knows that all our homes are temporary, and sooner or later

everyone will move to another house or home called “the grave.” Should we not be wise

and invest a little bit in making sure that this grave is a home? Should we not make sure

that this home will have "light and heat"? Would we not like to have this grave as a piece

of paradise? Ancient Egyptians dramatized this concept 5000 years ago. They did not

just build graves; they built pyramids. The fourth dynasty pharaoh Khufu (also known as

Cheops) built the great pyramid of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world,

as his tomb. The pictures of this tomb do not do the pyramid any justice. This pyramid is

much larger than anyone would think. It covers 13 acres and contains more than 2

million blocks of stone. This proves that what the ancient Egyptians experienced in their

daily life was just as important as what awaited them beyond the death’s gate. They

firmly believed in an afterlife that was not all that different from the normal life. This

concept of ensuring comfort in the afterlife, although practiced by polytheists, had its root

in the original monotheist religion, perhaps by Enoch (Prophet Idris in Arabic). Some

scholars believe that Prophet Idris was the same as the ancient Egyptian god Osiris.

The questions, that everyone should ask, are:

1. • Should I invest heavily in a home that I will live in, perhaps, for tens of years, or in the home that I will live there for, perhaps, thousands of years?
2. • How can I make this home for thousands of years extremely comfortable?

The Quran goes one step further than that by labeling life in the grave as only a visit,

which indicates a short stay, compared to eternity.