Saturday, February 27, 2010
What Great Non-Muslim scholar says about Prophet Muhammed(pbuh)
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind. I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life. "
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad, (pbuh) says in (Young India)
"If a man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness."
George Bernard Shaw
“My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential person 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 religious and secular levels. 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."
Extract from the book "The 100 - a Ranking of the Most Influential Person in History" by Michael H. Hart
"Muhammad is the most successful of all Prophets & religious personalities."
Mentioned in Encylopaedia Britannica
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten."
Diwan Chand Sharma, "The Prophets of the East"
"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knew how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel, whenever I reread them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher."
Annie Besant in "The Life and Teachings of Mohammad"
Friday, February 26, 2010
Article on Prophet Muhammed in TOI
(SADIA DEHLVI, Feb 26, 2010, 12.00am IST)
The birth of a prophet signifies the rebirth of humanity. Prophets lead the way to God and help us discern good from evil. The twelfth of Rabiulawwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar, falls the mawlid, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad whom Allah created as rahmat ul alameen, mercy for all realms and worlds.
Let’s revisit and reflect on Muhammad’s mission of bringing Islam, that is, peace to the world.
The messages revealed to Muhammad over a span of 23 years constitute the Holy Quran. It addresses nations, communities, families, individuals and humanity as a whole, teaching the path to inner and outer perfection. The Prophet said: “I have come to perfect character” and the Quran praises his conduct. Muhammad breathes life into our souls, pours love into our hearts and guides us to unravel divine mysteries. He taught us to love the One God and emphasised that the path leading to Him consists of kindness, compassion and moderation.
The spirit of Islam is entering into a state of humility before the Lord. Despite all the glories bestowed on him as Habiballah, Beloved of Allah, Muhammad remained in prostration before Him, referring to himself as the slave of Allah.
A state of submission includes recognising those who know and seeking knowledge from them. Prophet Muhammad did not desire the Message, but was chosen for the revelations, which began at the cave of Hira while he was meditating during the month of Ramzan. The first word revealed was the command ‘ Iqra’ – read! “Read in the name of thy Lord and cherisher, who created man, out of a clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of the pen; taught man that which he knew not.” Iqra is the basis of human knowledge. In Islamic tradition, man’s primary duty lies in nurturing the intellect to seek the Creator.
Allah has honoured the pen, He swears by it in the Quran, which means ‘The Recital’. It is the last link in a chain of revelations going back to the very origin of man. The Quran declares Prophet Muhammad the Khatam al Ambiya, Seal of Prophecy, and confirms that of all prophets, from Adam to Abraham including Moses and Jesus. Muslim faith is incomplete without believing in the 124,000 Ambiya, prophets who have been sent to earth. The Quran informs that there has never been a time when God did not send Messengers who did not speak the language of the people. If followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are at odds, it is not because of the teachings of their founders, but despite these teachings.
The Miraj, Ascension of the Prophet to the Heavens, is a tale of love where God is the lover and the Prophet, the beloved. The lovers of Muhammad believe this union to be the greatest in all of heaven and earth for it carries clues on heavenly secrets. It tells us that the source of creation is pure light, love and goodness. It gives the joyful news that the gulf between the finite and infinite can be bridged. Muhammad returns not with wealth, but light. He returns to the world, but does not seek it and declares: “Poverty is my pride.”
This nocturnal journey forms the foundation for Muslim spiritualists seeking to make this Ascension by annihilating the ego, the i, for in the presence of God, there is no room for more than one ‘I’, that is the ‘I’ of Divinity.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
JIH Ladies wing preaching in Mandir
''National organiser of ladies wing of jamate islami hind mrs. atiya siddqa is adressing to baudhdha, muslims and hindu ladies in budhdha vihaar at baarshi taakli dist. Akola
World should try to understand teachings of Prophet: Kushwant Singh
Malappuram: “We should understand Islam and Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H) through his teachings and should not try to colour the religion with the paint of terrorism,” said veteran writer Kushwant Singh as he was inaugurating a function organized by Youth of Muslim League at Malappuram Town Hall.
Islam can said to be the most misunderstood religion in the world. The Christians could bring disgrace to Prophet Muhammed (P.BU.H) and thus to Islam. They are successful in bringing much disbelief to this sacred religion. The attempt to bring disgrace to Islam was started by the Christians when they realized the religion is spreading rapidly at far places.
With the emergence of the new child, terrorism, these people also got evidence for their statements against Islam. They began to use the names like Al Qaeda, Taliban etc. The attack on September 11, 2001 was another mark.
Instead of the religion, it’s Islamophobia, the fear of Islam that spreads in the world now. The enemies are very eager in spreading misconceptions about this religion worldwide. They say Islam is a religion of war with the proof of wars at the time of the Prophet. And that Prophet Muhammed (P.BU.H) is not a supporter of Peace and Equity.
But, let these people understand one thing, that Islam did not force anyone to join its path. The people in Indonesia, Malaysia and all accepted this religion on their own wishes and not on compulsion.
Prophet Muhammed has taught us of Omnipotent Allah, unlike others who have different gods for different purposes. And about women, other people say that Islam considers women as an instrument for enjoyment, because they allow men to marry 4 women at a time. They prove this saying that Prophet had made an example for that. But, they do not understand about the real care of Islam for women, which was hidden somewhere. These women were married by Prophet to help them as they were lonely in this treacherous world.
At last, Kushwant Singh concluded with recommending everyone to read the book ‘Muhammed: A Prophet for Our Time’ by Karan Armstrong.
(By Aaliya N.P.,TwoCircles.net,)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Launching Programme of JIH-MUMBAI METRO
All communities come together to Spread the teachings of Prophet's Muhammad (PBUH)
Mumbai: In a unique event, Muslims and Hindus came together on Sunday to take part in the birth anniversary celebrations of Prophet Mohammed and announced the launch of a campaign to spread the message - “Muhammad (PBUH) For All”.
The function was held at the YB Chavan Centre at Nariman Point and was presided over by Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. Speakers after speakers – comprising religious scholars and intellectuals highlighted the saying of the Prophet and condemned terrorism. Mr.Ram Puniyani, Prof, IIT Mumbai and Ms.Pratima Joshi were the other prominent speakers who lend their support for the campaign.
Prof.Ram Puniyani, Professor, IIT, Mumbai praised the teaching of prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and clarified Islam is the total surrender of people towards Allah for peace. The tension between Hindu and Muslims are not because of Religion but because of Politics.
The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind-Maharashtra also launched “Muhammad for All”, a state-wide campaign to introduce the last Prophet of Allah and reject the belief that he is for the Muslims only. The campaign would be from February 17-28.
Jamaat has set up several groups consisting of the leading Muslim and Non Muslim personalities, Activists, Intellectuals and Social Organizations of Maharashtra who will travel across and will reach out to its targeted 2 crore people with the message.
Jamaat will specifically target the social evils like social injustice, female feticide, dowry; child labour, liquor, corruption, human rights violation, terrorism, violence etc.
Nazar Mohammed Madu, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra said: “India
Mr.Purshottam Khedekar, President of Maratha Sewa Sangh, said, “Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) has come with the Message of Universal Brotherhood, Peace and equality, which is infinite in nature and should be implemented. It’s wrong to confine his Personality to Muslims only. It’s the people who see great personalities for the some set of people. It’s him who wanted to unite and integrate human beings. He appealed for the better society and good governance. He fought with the people who fought with him.”
Prof.Ram Puniyani, IIT Mumbai said, “Muhammad PBUH has taught about Peace and Justice but maliciously Islam is related to Terrorism now days. He always preached against the violence and taught universal brotherhood.
Mr.B.N Hirdekar, Examiner Shivaji University , Kolhapur
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
“Muhammad (PBUH) for all” echo school students from Mumbra-Kausa
| State level campaign on “Muhammad (PBUH) for all” |
“Muhammad (PBUH) for all” echo school students from Mumbra-Kausa  As part of the state level campaign of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Maharashtra, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) Mumbra-Kausa Unit has successfully organized an inter school speech and essay competition on the topic “Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for all”. The sole objective of the competition was to disseminate the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) among the students & to propagate the message that Muhammad (PBUH) is not only a mercy for Muslims, but a Mercy for all creations. In all 250 essays were received from 20 schools in Marathi, Hindi, English & Urdu languages. 40 students from 20 schools participated in the speech competition.  The speech competition was held on the 31st of January 2010 at Ahmed Abdullah Garib Polytechnic, Kausa. The competition was held for the students of standard 5th to 10th divided into Senior & junior group. Shaikh Rafeeque Madani (HOD Arabic, Islamic International School), Dr. Irshad (Principal BMC school, Ph.D Urdu Language), Prof Safdar Ulde (Rizvi Junior college), Zaheer M K (Research & Development, Mahindra & Mahindra) were the judges for the competition. It was great to witness the competition among students with speeches in Marathi, Hindi, English and Urdu languages covering various aspects of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) life. Maulana Khalid Jameel Makki (Lecturer, Ex-Principal Jamia Islamiya, Mumbra) was the chief guest for the prize distribution ceremony. In his address he highlighted the importance of following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in totality & to be a good practicing Muslim. He also said the only solution to the problems of humanity is following the way of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Janaab Zafar Ansari sahab (Member, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Mumbra-Kausa) explained the objectives of the campaign & their expectation from students, parents and teachers  he following students were awarded prizes in different categories Essay Competition 1) Priyanka Deepak Shinde (1st in Marathi Medium) 2) Fatima Tabassum (1st in Hindi Medium, Junior Group) 3) Adnan Bamne (1st in Hindi Medium, Senior Group) 4) Aqsa Ashraf Surve (1st in English Medium, Senior Group) 5) Uwais Safdar Ulde (1st in English Medium, Junior Group) 6) Momin Akram Mehmood (1st in Urdu Medium, Senior Group) 7) Shaikh Tamanna Zakir (1st in Urdu Medium, Junior Group) Speech Competition 1) Uwais Safdar Ulde (1st in Junior Group) 2) Mohammad Waqar (1st in Senior Group) SIO Mumbra-Kausa thanks Almighty ALLAH for making the program a big success & appreciates brother Muzammil (Competition Convener) and his entire team for organizing the event. The cadre of SIO Mumbra-Kausa is highly motivated & will put in their best Inshallah for the campaign. We also thank all members of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Mumbra-Kausa for their help & support. |
Monday, February 8, 2010
Indian society and the teachings of Muhammed (s)
Indian society and the teachings of Muhammed (s)
By. A.Fauziya Puthige
Followers of almost every ideology, religion or great personality often try to project their own cherished beliefs as ideally suitable and beneficial at all times to one and all. This often appears to be only a pious attempt to justify or even glorify one’s own faith and loyalties. On the contrary, the intentions behind my humble attempt to find solutions to certain problems of modern India, in the life and teachings of a man born 14 centuries ago, are totally different. At the outset, let me briefly explain those very reasons:
1. Muhammed (s) born in the year 571 A.D was not just another preacher or reformer. According to his own claims, he was the last messenger of God, appointed by God to guide mankind. The message of God, meant to show mankind the path of success in this world and salvation in the eternal world, was revealed to him in its complete and final form. With him ended the long chain of messengers. No messenger or divine revelation would ever follow him.
Thus considering the fact that Muhammed (s) remains the last messenger and mankind always having the need and natural right for guidance, it is crucial that this message remains competent and comprehensive enough to totally satisfy this basic requisite of Mankind who follow him throughout all ages If his message looses its edge with the passage of time and becomes irrelevant or even less relevant during any age, then it would inevitably lead us to conclude that God has ceased to guide mankind after a particular age, leaving them to grope in the wilderness of ignorance for ever. But it would be very unreasonable to attribute such a cruel apathy to God who repeatedly describes himself in his last message as the Most Merciful and the Most Beneficent.
Even common sense would not permit us to believe that on one hand God declares every man as accountable for his actions and holds his actions to be one of the main criterions to decide his eternal abode, and on the other, he fails to enlighten man as to what actions are expected of him and what entitles him to success here and in the hereafter. Because to leave one in darkness and later punish him for no crime of his, is something inconsistent with God’s quality of mercy. Hence it is the dictate of reason, that the message and teachings of the last messenger of God does always possess the vigor and vitality to impart light and guidance to all the people and societies of all ages.
2. Holy Quran, which is the most authentic source to identify what Muhammed (s), the messenger of God stood for, projects him throughout as the guide of the whole mankind and not of any particular region, group or age. Addressing him, it says; “We have sent you as a universal messenger .....” (34:28) and “We have sent you not, but as a mercy for all creatures.” (21:07). He addressed mankind as a whole and his message was meant to bring liberation and salvation to all sections of mankind irrespective of the regions or the times they live in.
3. The message presented by Muhammed (s), the ideology and the way of life introduced by him were neither his own nor did they emerge from his personal knowledge, research or experience. Here, we should understand that the greatness of a man, a mortal’s vision and out look is always subject to certain limitations. He cannot resist his immediate environment, imposing certain influences, limitations and compulsions upon his out look. Such influences naturally render one’s message partly or fully irrelevant to the circumstances that are partly or fully different. But the message conveyed by Muhammed (s) was the message of the creator and the lord of this universe, who is not a prisoner of time and space, who is free from and far above all limitations. It is the message of the Omniscient who being the creator of every human being, knows him to his core and hence he alone can fully comprehend all the problems of man and suggest proper remedies for them. Thus a message that emanates from such a unique source must naturally be equally applicable and beneficial to all the people and all the societies irrespective of the time and the region they belong to.
4. Muhammed (s) was not a mere visionary but a man of action. He did not confine himself to preaching but virtually proved the power of his message by practically establishing his vision as a system of life over millions of -individuals and made it prevail as the recognized law over a remarkably large part of this earth. When he started preaching the divine truth and the way of life based on it, Arabia was merely a desert of evils with just a few exceptional isolated remains of virtue. But in a matter of just a couple of decades it was totally transformed into a morally rich, economically abundant, militarily strong and culturally wealthy state, which went down in human history as an epitome of all time ideal & welfare state. All the evils which he promised to eradicate were truly eradicated. All the promised virtues were literally established. Complete peace and order was restored. And all this was achieved purely on the basis of truth and on the merit of his message and not by the force of swords nor through myths or miracles.
5. Well, all this happened 14 centuries ago. But it is very significant that Man was the real addressee of Muhammed (s), and Man has not changed during the course of time. In the words of Richard Livingston, “Man is the real problem in all the ages- the old and the modern problem! For, the new world is not so new. Humanity changes its clothes but not its nature. Adam puts on a more elaborate and complicate dress but remains the same old Adam” (Some tasks for education). Withstanding all the onslaughts of material changes and social evolutions, the nature of Man, his basic character, behavior, passions, instincts and attitudes have remained unchanged down the millennia. They are the same as they were during the primitive ages. Any objective comparison of evils and virtues found in the contemporary human society with those that manifested in the various events of global human history would prove this. Hence it would be fully reasonable if one considers any man of the modern age, or even the modern day Indian as the direct addressee of the message of Muhammed (s), which addressed ‘Man’.
When one begins his search for the solutions for the problems in the Indian society, the first difficulty he has to encounter is that of priority. Today the Indian scenario is so disturbing and so complex that even the most realistic among the students of sociology would hesitate to have a full look at the ugly face of realities surrounding them. Caste wars, communal hatred, genocides, riots, terrorism, regional and linguistic chauvinism, untouchability, illiteracy, discriminations, injustice, corruption, rapes, molestations, dowry deaths, superstitions, female infanticides, cruelty, immorality, prostitution…. ...so goes the long list of our maladies. Now which among these problems deserve our immediate attention? A nation as diverse as ours is never likely to reach a consensus in response to this question. In fact what one considers as most serious of all problems depends upon his world view, and his approach to life. In my view, the most serious problem facing Indian society today is the absence of a plausible ideology and I see that at the root of most of our problems.
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru once said; “Legislation cannot by itself normally solve deep rooted social problems. One has to approach them in other ways too”. But what are those other ways? In a country like ours the first way one can think of, to solve our social problems is obviously religion. Religion has always been an integral part of our society. During the olden days this nation had itself given birth to a number of religions. Even today one cannot imagine India without her religions.
But today an objective assessment of the prevailing facts would certainly lead us to conclude that by far the impact of religions on our society have been more negative than positive. In fact the origins of many of our current ills can be traced to these religions .Though all the religions might have originally been founded with pious intentions and lofty ideals, today most of them have either lost their original forms or have failed to keep pace with the changing times and thereby have become insignificant or obsolete. Concept of God is the foundation of most of the religions. But today we see this concept at such a level of degeneration that nothing remains immune of being elevated to divinity.
Places of worship have been demarcated as the ultimate territory of God .Concept of God has ceased to wield any positive influence on the social, moral and other aspects of human life. God or Gods having been reduced to mere objects of worship are invoked occasionally for petty favors. Gods and religions are mere tools in the hands of a few vested interests who misuse the sacred name of God to justify, sanction and promote many evil and harmful practices and sometimes even totally inhuman rituals.
It is here that the teachings of Muhammed (s) the Savior of Humanity come to our rescue.
The term used by Muhammed (s) to represent religion was ‘Deen’ which means a complete system of life and not a mere set of beliefs, and the name of the religion he introduced was ‘Islam’ meaning total submission to the Will of God. In the light of divine revelations, the messenger of God unveiled the true concept of God before mankind. According to this concept, God is not a prisoner in the temple, mosque or church but occupies a central and dominant position in this extensive universe and in every human life. Every perfection and absolute virtue belongs to God. Here is just one verse of the Holy Quran, to show the concept of God that he presented;
“He is Allah, there is no God but He, the Knower of the unseen and the visible. He is the All Merciful, the All Compassionate. He is Allah; there is no God but He, the King, the All Holy, the All Peace, the Guardian of faith, the All compeller, the All Preserver, the Almighty, the All Sublime. Glory be to Allah, he is far above all that they associate with him. He is Allah the Creator, the Originator, The Fashioner, to Him belong the Most Beautiful names, All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him. He is the All mighty the All Wise.” (59:22-24)
According to the teachings of Muhammed (s) God is not a mere object of worship but also the Law giver. Furthermore, regarding worship, he introduced a very unique and comprehensive concept. The term he used for worship was ‘Ibadah’ which meant moulding one’s entire life in accordance with the laws and the rules laid down by God. He saw any act, committed remaining within the limits permitted by the divine law, as an act of worship. That is what the Messenger (s) of God meant when he said “The whole earth is a Mosque for me.” Thus he envisaged transformation of the entire human life into worship and all this was implied in the very belief in God. He looked at life as an indivisible whole, never allowing it to be fragmented into mutually exclusive compartments called religious and non religious. His own life best illustrated this concept.
It was this all encompassing ideology, this comprehensive concept of God, religion and worship, that brought about a total revolution in one third portion of the then inhabited world within a matter of two decades. It was this ideology that transformed the Arabian peninsula from being the hub of ignorance, idolatry, drunkenness, debauchery, warmongering, tribal conflicts, racial discriminations, superstitions and moral bankruptcy to be the cradle of knowledge, enlightenment, uncompromising monotheism, discipline, brotherhood, equality, peace, harmony, solidarity, piety and highest standards of moral excellence. Even today this ideology persists in its pure and original form. Its addressee, the Man also remains unchanged. If we are sensitive enough to learn from history this successful experiment has a great lesson for us. If our prejudices have not blinded us we should consider the possibility of inviting this ideology to occupy the huge ideological vacuum currently prevailing in our society.
Next to the relation between man and God, the other arena where we have disastrously failed is the relation between man and Man. Though many strong agents of division have been active in this country down the centuries, raising walls between human beings, it was hoped that at least independent India would be free from all such forces and Nationalism would help us to fuse the Indian population into one single, integrated unit. But today all these dreams stand shattered. Differences of caste, language, region and religion have outgrown all expectations, posing a serious threat to the very existence of our plural society. These differences have very often taken the form of wild battles in various parts of the country and every suggested remedy aimed at bridging the gulf between these warring factions, has in fact contributed to further polarization and disintegration of the society.
The most important factor of division in India is caste. The immutable concept of caste is an all India phenomenon, even today. In spite of all its destructive effects witnessed and experienced by our society, neither our series of laws nor the galaxies of our great reformers have succeeded at eradicating this evil. According to the figures provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) an official institute, over 35,500 cases of crimes against Dalits were officially registered during the year 2007. (Significantly, regarding these officially provided figures, whether it is the one quoted above or those that will follow, let us not forget that they provide only a glimpse of the real scenario.
Many keen observers of the situation in our country believe that these figures hardly represent 5% of the facts.) ‘Untouchability in rural India’ a widely discussed book released in 2006 contains details of an extensive study conducted by a non government group covering 565 selected villages of 11 different states in India. The facts revealed by this study regarding the plight of Dalits in this country are totally unbelievable. The study revealed that untouchability is being practiced extensively not only in the private circles but in the government offices too.
In 37.8% of the surveyed villages Dalits were forced to sit separately in government run schools. In 27.6% of the villages they were prevented from entering the Police stations! In 35% of the villages Dalits were barred from selling any thing in the local market. In 47% of the villages Milk Co operatives refused to buy milk from Dalits. In 25% of villages Dalits were not allowed to buy milk from such Co Operatives. 64% of Dalits were not permitted to enter any temple. In almost 50% of the villages they could not use the cremation ground. In 73% of the surveyed villages Dalits could not enter any non Dalit house. According to the figures released by the government during the period between 2001 an 2005 on an average, 3 Dalit women were raped everyday.
This horrible bane of discrimination cannot be completely eradicated unless our society initially changes its outlook as to what should be the criterion to decide one’s status. Muhammed (s) too had to encounter such a society where birth was the standard to determine the status of a person. The result of this notion manifested itself in destructive conflagration between tribes and races .Blacks and foreigners were treated with contempt One’s color, tribe, wealth and the glory of his ancestors were a vital factor in determining his status. But Muhammed (s) succeeded in transforming these discriminating people and these furious tribes into one strong ideological family, with unbreakable bonds of love and brotherhood.
Holy Quran says “O Mankind, indeed we have created you of a male and a female and have made you nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Lo Allah is knower and Aware!”(49:13). Upholding this concept, the Messenger of God emphasized that all people are created by one God and originally all are progeny of one man, Adam. Muhammed (s) proclaimed “O Mankind! Indeed your Lord is one and your father is one. No Arab is superior to a non Arab and no non Arab is superior to an Arab, no white is a superior to a black and no black is superior to a white except in the matter of ‘Thaqwa’ i.e. piety”. (Musnad Ahmed 5/411). On another occasion, denouncing every kind of discrimination he said; “Verily your status should not be for putting some one to shame. All of you are the descendants of Adam...... None, except on the basis of righteousness has any superiority over the other ....” (Musnad Ahmed 5/158).
His contribution to human equality is not confined only to his sayings or to the verses he quoted from Quran, the divine book revealed to him. He relied more upon his practices than his sermons to promote equality and universal brotherhood. He interacted with people, personally convinced and persuaded them to consider piety, righteous conduct and strong character as the yard sticks to measure one’s greatness. His teachings and actions were so effective that as people got closer to him they not only happily gave up their long nourished pride and prejudices based on birth, color etc., but also began to feel ashamed about entertaining such notions.
On the day of his victorious entry into the holy city Makkah, when it was time for the prayer, the messenger of Allah invited Bilal (R) a negro companion of his, to stand over the roof of Kaaba – sanctum, sanctorum of the theist world of those times - and call people for prayer. When Bilal climbed over the roof, some people who were yet to reconcile with the reality of equality and brotherhood felt offended and expressed their discontent about an erstwhile slave, who was seen earlier as meaner than an animal standing on the roof of Kaaba the holiest of all mosques.
Muhammed (s) noticed this discomfiture and delivered an address, then and there striking at the very root of this racist sentiment. He said “People should give up taking pride in the deeds of their dead fathers and ancestors who have been reduced to ashes in the hell. People with such pride are more contemptible than a swine subsisting on garbage. God has forbidden you from taking pride in your ancestors. Men are only of two kinds, the faithful and the transgressors. All men are the progeny of Adam and Adam was born of clay” ( Thirmizi , Kithab-al-Manakhib).
Once when Abu Zar (R) a companion of the Messenger, addressed Bilal (R) as “Son of a Negress”, the messenger’s reaction was immediate. He said Abu Zar! you still smack of the evil traits of jahiliyya (i.e. ignorance of the pre-Islamic era)”. This brief remark of his was so penetrating in its spirit that Abu Zar(R) fell on the ground and asked Bilal (R) to trample his face for the offensive words he had uttered in emotion. Such adamant stress on the equality and brotherhood of man eliminated all the prejudices that once dominated that society. In the new era, even the erstwhile slaves were chosen on the basis of merit not only to lead large congregational prayers but also to become rulers. Only this concept of equality before God and brotherhood of mankind can liberate any society from the shackles of all discriminations even today.
Another major problem facing the modern Indian society today is communalism. This country has been witnessing violent clashes and organized blood shed between various religious groups since almost a century. These clashes have often turned into massacres of huge scale. The number of such clashes and blood shed and the damages caused by them in terms of loss of human lives and properties have rapidly increased with the passage of time. Figures provided by National Crime Record Bureau (NSRB) say that India witnessed 59,915 incidents recognized as riots by the government, during one single year ie.2007, which means 164 riots per day!
Hatred between communities, which was a phenomenon exclusive to the urban India for long, has now penetrated deep into the innocent atmosphere of the rural India too. More and more people seem to be shedding off the spirit of tolerance towards the faiths of their fellowmen. Surprisingly when the communal frenzy grips a region and the hysteria of hatred breaks out, not only the professional criminals but even persons who are otherwise considered as just and civilized, indulge in purely inhuman acts, ignoring all the dictates of justice, sanity and civility.
Solution to this crisis lies, neither in discarding religions nor in merging various religious identities into one single unit, but in promoting the spirit of tolerance and respect towards the rights and sentiments of the fellow beings and motivating people belonging to different groups to come together on grounds, commonly agreed upon by them. This was exactly the solution prescribed by Muhammed (s) in a similar scenario that prevailed during his times. Apart from propagating the idea of original brotherhood and making people consider every fellow being as their own brother irrespective of what his faith is, he taught people to recognize the right of every individual to follow the religion of his choice.
Holy Quran says; “There is no compulsion in religion.” (2:56) At another place, it asserts the same in the form of a Question: “If it had been your God’s Will, all those who are on earth would have believed. Will you then compel people against their will to believe?” (10:99). Quran also forbids its followers from offending the beliefs and practices of people belonging to other faiths. It says; “you should not revile what they call upon (i.e. worship) beside Allah” (6:108).
Madinah the city of the Messenger (s) had a large population of Jews. One of his very first acts on entering this holy city was to negotiate a treaty of peace and harmony between Jews and Muslims. According to this treaty, it was the responsibility of the Islamic state, not only to respect the beliefs of Jews but also to guarantee them protection against any kind of harm. Through this treaty he inculcated the principle of tolerance, in the conscience of the Islamic civilization from the very first day of its inception. When a Christian delegation from Najran came to Madinah, he invited them to stay in the mosque and even allowed them to conduct their religious services on one side of the mosque while he prayed with his companions on the other side.
Muhammed (s) inspired a very strong sense of justice in people. He did not permit any kind of injustice even while dealing with the strongest of his opponents or even on the battle fields. Holy Quran warns; “O believers, I stand out firmly for Allah, as witness to fair deal and let not hatred of any community lead you to depart from justice. Be just. That is next to piety ....” (5:9). According to the teachings of the Messenger (s), treating the neighbors fairly and caring for them, irrespective of their faith is an essential requirement for one to be considered as a Muslim.” He once said; “By God, he is not a believer.” He repeated it thrice. When people asked him “who?” he said; “He, whose neighbor is not safe from his high handedness.” On another occasion he said; “He is not a believer, who eats to his fill when his neighbor is starving.” He proclaimed that life, honor and rights of every citizen have equal sanctity and must be equally respected and protected.
While he believed in positively promoting the spirit of peaceful and harmonious co- existence of all sections in the society, he took steps to completely discourage the potential divisive elements which tried and conspired to breed animosity among the people. Holy Quran terms the act of dividing people as mischief and villainous. It says; “Truly Pharaoh elated himself in the land and divided people into sections. He was indeed a maker of mischief.” (28:4). Holy Quran has called such acts as ‘Fitnah ‘(act of tumult) and has described it as an act worse than murder and bloodshed. It permits the state even to wage war against such elements. It says “...fight them until there is no tumult...” (8:39).
In our society the need for peace and harmony is very much felt and is also frequently talked about. But at the same time the mischievous elements have been given a free hand to play havoc with the sentiments of the people and work openly and also in an organized manner to pollute the innocent minds by spreading provocative misconceptions and hatred. Unless we bring to an end this contradiction in our attitudes and start a genuine struggle to promote the concept of brotherhood, spirit of tolerance, love for peace, strong sense of justice and at the same time, do all that is possible to contain the elements which sow the seeds of animosity, we have no way out of this grave crisis.
One more challenge currently threatening our national existence is linguistic and regional chauvinism .During the post-independent era, in spite of all efforts to strengthen the spirit of nationalism, it is regionalism that has been rapidly growing in the country and it is regionalism that is working behind the outcry of separatism and the resultant chaos, burning several parts of our country today. In fact, nationalism, which we so much rely upon has not only failed miserably in resolving the crisis of regionalism but on the contrary, it has proved to be the very mother of regionalism. In its essence, Nationalism is nothing but love and loyalty to a particular territory. Regionalism on the other hand, is only a distorted, rather shrunken form of Nationalism. Fortunately today at least a section of Indian intelligencia is realistic enough to admit that, it is the over emphasis given to nationalism, that has resulted in escalation of regional tendencies.
Muhammed (s) was born in a society with deep fervent regional feelings. Arabs used to call non-Arabs as ‘Ajam’ meaning, dumb people. Every city had its own legends and folklore glorifying its past. Muhammed (s) tackled this problem by spreading, not nationalism but universalism, which is one of the remarkable characteristics of his message. In his message, God is ‘Rabbul Aalameen’(God of the worlds) Himself, ‘Rahmathullil Aalamin’(Blessing for the whole mankind) and the holy book revealed to him is ‘Hudallil Aalameen’(Guidance to whole mankind). He promoted the belief in Universal brotherhood of mankind. Holy Quran says; “Difference in your language and your color are among the ‘signs of God.” (30:22).
The Messenger of God, convinced people that these accidental factors do not make any one greater than the other. “Hijrah” or the migration of the messenger (s) and his followers from Makah to Madinah stands in history as a monumental symbol of victory of truth and ideology over nationalism or regionalism. The fact that Islamic calendar commences from the date of this migration shows how significant this event is in the history of Islam. By clearly stating that “No Arab has any superiority over a non Arab and No non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab ...” he shattered the idol of Arab nationalism.
His emphasis over the universality of Man, made his followers all over to accept one common language and one common direction in their worship without least hesitation. Besides,they were motivated to accept one universally common pattern of life .The messenger (s) closed all doors of chauvinism by proclaiming that “who ever calls people towards ‘Asbiyyah’(Chauvinism and prejudiced goals) is not among us. Who ever fights with the spirit of chauvinism is not among us and who ever dies for chauvinism is not among us”.
Another arena where the Indian society has failed miserably is that of character and morality. Losses of character and moral bankruptcy have ample ways to manifest themselves. To quote just a few examples,
• 32,318 cases of murder and 20,737 cases of rape were registered in the country during the year 2007.
• 0ver 1.85 lakh cases of various crimes against women were registered during the same year.
• A report released by AFP a reputed international news agency on 13th November 2008 said (Excerpts);
“INDIA needs a complete overhaul in the way it handles rape allegations, human rights campaigners say, after a German woman dropped a sex attack claim citing pressure and intimidation. The woman alleged that her 14-year-old daughter was raped by the son of a prominent minister in the resort state of Goa but withdrew the complaint on Monday, saying she was made to feel like a criminal. Separately, a British woman who was raped in New Delhi said on Tuesday that Indian authorities do not take sexual assaults seriously as her attacker was freed on bail after serving just three months of a 21-year jail sentence.
The German woman said in a letter released to the media on Monday that since she filed the complaint in mid-October, she and her daughter had endured a 'living hell', as police tried to get her to drop the allegation. 'We have learnt the bitter truth, that making genuine complaints against the rich and mighty is entirely counterproductive,' the letter said. The woman's lawyer, Mr. Aires Rodrigues, added that the German woman and her daughter were verbally abused by a doctor who was tasked to conduct a medical examination. “Even the victim was treated like the accused by police,” he added. According to the latest available statistics from India's National Crime Records Bureau, there were 19,348 rape cases in 2006 - a 678 per cent increase since 1971 when records began. The increase far outstrips rises in other violent crimes such as murder, robbery and kidnapping. In January, India's first female President Pratibha Patil called for stricter punishments and for women to learn self defense!”
• According to official figures, India has an estimated 70 million drug addicts and the number is significantly on the rise, spreading at a rapid pace to semi-urban and backward areas
• In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported presence of 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of maturity ie.18 years (INDIAN EXPRESS 8TH MAY 2007). The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decade (BBC News 3rd July, 2006).
• But according to a report by Human Rights Watch ,the number of sex workers in India is around 15 million, with Mumbai alone being home to over one lakh (100,000) sex workers. It is known as the largest sex industry centre in Asia.
• As per the National Survey on ‘The Extent, Pattern and Trends of Drug abuse in India’ conducted by the Government in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, The current prevalence rates within the age group of 12-18 years are 21.4 percent for alcohols, 3 percent for cannabis, 0.7 percent for opiates and 3.6 percent for other illicit drugs. The survey also indicated a high concentration of drug addiction in certain social segments and high-risk groups, such as, commercial sex workers, transportation workers and street children.
• According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India’s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males but in India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship. In the backdrop of this scenario, Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect the sex of a child advertise with catch lines “spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later”! This implies that by avoiding the birth of a girl, a family could avoid paying a huge amount as dowry on the occasion of her marriage. According to UNICEF, the problem is worsening as the scientific methods of detecting the sex of an unborn baby and performing abortions are improving day-by-day and the availability of these methods is increasing in rural India.
Now if anybody expects our rulers, political representatives, administrators or officers of our government to reasonably take action, he just has to cast one look at their world and that will liberate him from all such illusions. He will be sure that it would be foolish to rely upon the existing laws, the laws makers or the law enforcing authorities to eradicate all these evils since both our bureaucracy and political fronts have rotten due to rampant corruption and extensive criminalization. To cite a few shameful examples;
• A report presented by Transparency International (TI) in 2005 claims that more than 50% of Indians have direct, first hand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office. This anti corruption body estimates that in India the bribe paid only by the truckers amounts to over 5 Billion Dollars per annum. The monitory value of petty corruption in 11 basic departments such as education, healthcare, judiciary, police etc. is approximately Rs.21,068 crores!
• In the Loksabha formed after the national general elections of 2009, there are 150 newly elected MPs with criminal cases pending against them. The charges against 73 of these MPs are quite serious in nature such as rape, murder abduction etc. A further disappointing fact that would upset even the extremely optimistic among us who hope for some improvement in the future is that, as compared to 2004, the number of such MPs with criminal records has gone up. There were 128 MPs with criminal cases in 2004 Loksabha, of them 55 had serious criminal records. This indicates an increase of about 17.2% in the number of MPs with criminal records and increase of 30.9% in the number of MPs with serious criminal records.
(Statistics based on study by ADR i.e. Association for Democratic Reforms.)
Another frightening fact is that these law makers who have mastered the art of law breaking do not belong to any particular region or party. Neither any major political party of this country nor any state can claim to be clean in this regard. Obviously the rot is universal! With the process of elections itself having lost its credibility, art of rigging having achieved its perfection, and with ‘season of crimes’ being the other name for the time of elections there is no surprise that our system nourishes such criminals and paves way for them to get elected again and again with impressive margins.
Such being the state of affairs, there is nothing to wonder about, when our esteemed leaders advise our women to learn karate and such other martial arts to combat rape and see no other remedy to the problem nor is there any astonishment when a chief minister consoles all the concerned saying; “What is a rape after all ? In America a rape takes place every minute. It is as common as drinking tea. You drink a cup of tea, commit a rape”.
We have many state governments issuing licenses to prostitution and cabaret centers and earning a pretty share of their income through trade of liquor, and lottery, a form of social gambling. There are a number of other evils with which we have learnt to peacefully co exist. Today, an average Indian’s apathy towards essential values has increased to such a level and his insensitivity towards moral issues has grown to such an extent that no crime shocks him, no rape moves him, no murder disturbs him and no evil pricks his conscience. Corruption, fornication, theft, robbery, hoarding, black marketing are all integral parts of today’s India.
Even the Arabia of Muhammed’s (s) time was not unfamiliar to all these evils. Each evil cited above was rampant in that society too, though in varying proportions. The only significant difference being that there was absolute anarchy in that society and we have governments at all levels to witness these evils. The divinely guided strategy adopted by the Messenger of God (s) to eliminate all these evils was multi dimensional.
For instance, female infanticide was rampant in Arabia during the time of the last Messenger of God (s). Many buried alive their daughters, the moment they emerged from their mother's womb. Rarely did anybody feel any sense of guilt about this crime. On the contrary they felt guilty about being identified as the father of a female child. Muhammed (s) was successful in totally eliminating this inhuman practice within a matter of few years through out the vast area of land that was under the influence of his teachings. He achieved this great goal by firstly inculcating deep love and fear of God and a strong sense of accountability before Him in every human being. Secondly, he developed great respect for the life of each human being irrespective of race, creed, religion, region or gender.
Thirdly he glorified the act of protecting and looking after female children to such an extent that people started feeling proud to be called as father of daughters. Even the social practices introduced by him as part of that comprehensive system of life called Islam were fully in support of the female child. To quote just one example, according to his system at the time of marriage it is compulsory for the boy to pay dowry to the girl and not vice versa! Following are a couple of verses of Quran that had great impact on human civilization;
“And when the girl child that was buried alive is asked, for what sin she was slain.” (81; 8,9)
“…….Whoever kills a human being except (as punishment ) for manslaughter or corruption on earth it shall be as if he has killed all mankind and whoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind ……” (5;32)
Belief in the accountability in the life after death or the day of judgment is one of the basic tenets of his teachings. He projected ‘thaqwa’i.e. fear of Allah and total abstinence from all acts which caused god’s displeasure as an essential character of a believer. According to him the desired degree of ‘thaqwa’ was such that even in the absence of any external hurdle and even in spite of being under pressures to commit a sin, a man was expected to abstain from it purely on the ground of his belief in the Omni present God, and his sense of accountability before Him.
Quran says; “He (God) knows even the deception of the eyes and all that is concealed in the hearts” (40:19).
About the Day of Judgment it states; “Then shall any one who has done an atom’s weight of good shall see it and any one who has done an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.”(99:78).
This belief worked as such a strong moral safe guard that for the people who once embraced these concepts, it was sufficient merely to inform them, as to what was virtue and what was evil and they would voluntarily do the right and abstain from the wrong. Arabs were extremely fond of wine and even used to sing songs in praise of wine .But when the divine command forbidding wine was declared in Madinah, even those engaged in drinking wine at that moment, threw away all the wine they had with them, without the least resistance. And now it is part of history that on that particular day the soil of entire Madinah was wet with disposed wine. So was the fate of other evils too. Though there were certain exceptions to this general trend, they were dealt with by other means.
Secondly Muhammed (s) himself stood before his society as the supreme example of highest character and morality. Holy Quran says “Verily in the messenger of Allah you have the best example.”(30:12) He was an absolute ideal for the people in every aspect of life.
Thirdly, he not only informed people the distinction between virtue and evil, but also made it obligatory on every believer to personally promote these virtues and struggle to eradicate evils in the society. As a consequence he made people accept the establishment of virtue and eradication of evils as their personal and collective responsibility. He said; “Whosoever of you sees an evil action, shall remove it with the might of his arm. If he is unable to do so, he must orally denounce that evil and if he fails even in that, then he must at least have abhorrence for it, and that is the weakest state in faith.” According to the teachings of Muhammed (s) ‘Amr bil Maaroof ’ and ‘Nahi Anil Munkar’ or, enjoining people towards virtue and forbidding people from doing the evil is a duty of both the individual and the society.
Fourthly, he introduced and implemented punitive laws to treat those who indulged in crimes in spite of all the preventive measures mentioned above.
Teachings of Muhammed (s) and the prescriptions suggested by him in the light of divine guidance for the welfare of human society are incredibly practical, remarkably effective and are exceptionally in conformity with human nature that it cannot only reform individuals but also transform societies and bring about a miraculous change in human life during any age, when embraced and implemented in its totality. However it is not the knowledge of his sayings that is going to revolutionize any society but the pure character that blossoms when his teachings are truly followed. Let me conclude, with this verse of Holy Quran:
“Verify Allah will never change the condition of a nation until they change themselves.”(13:11)
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