The Review of Religions, October 1992
A tribute to the Holy Founder of Islam
O beneficent lord
And master …
The idols …
You shunned … caring not for the darkness
And evils which prevailed around you.
Out of the darkness…you took birth
And grew … but … was soon orphaned …
And although … a hanif (means righteous person) before the boon of God’s spoken
Word … He had ordained that you become recipient
Of the Glorious Quran … a paragon of virtue … par-excellence …
And
A light unto the worlds … so trekking “the mountain of light”
In the cave Hira … in your fortieth year … the
Angel Gabriel shone forth … with the words “Read” … and you replied …
“I cannot read … again the
Angel said “Read” … and you gave the same reply. Then embracing
You … the Angel said, “Read thou” in the name of thy Lord Who
Created … created man from a clot of blood. “Read! and thy Lord Lord is the Most
Beneficent … Who taught man by the pen … taught man what he knew not”
Refusing idolatory … and you invited idolaters to the Word of God …
Silently continuing to preach … until … you
Began to taste the fruit of your deeds … one by one … men
Gravitated to your light … illumined by Wisdom of the
Almighty God … which enveloped you … body and soul … thenceforth …
Words of the
Wise Quran continued dawning upon you … piecemeal … words
Of power … adding light to your light … illuminating the way
For others … giving sight to the blind … hearing to the deaf … healing
The sick …
Raising the dead … and causing the dumb to speak. You are the
Immaculate one … attracting people who leve you … like moths
To an open flame … they fly headlong into the fire … sacrificing safety
For you … who are more dear to them than their own life. To those
Who know you … you are “The Prince of Peace” … more dear to them …
Than their fathers … their mothers … their wives or their children … sacrificing
Their all for you …
Loving you second only to “the One God” … the Survivor … the Lord of all
The worlds. The Spiritual Light and Love of God …
Permeates your being … sculpting you in wisdom, moulding you in truth …
You are their “Alamin,” “the Trustworthy,” you continued preaching Secretly …
Until God gave you command to proclaim publicly … that
Which He had revealed. Persecutors … then drove you from your homes …
Forcing you to take arms in self-defense … because you had been
Wronged … but God was with you … Greatly outnumbered …
Your enemy thought you weak … an easy target … an unworthy
Foe, but with your
Small band … you proved a potent adversary for them … God
Had fight … was God’s fight … defeating you … would mean
Defeating God … you were invincible …
By God’s decree with three hundred and thirteen weak and
Decrepit old men … and young children … you crushed a well-equipped
Army of one thousand well-trained soldiers … and with a
Similarly weak
Force … Later … you literally smashed a well-trained … skilled Army
Of ten thousand. The forces of nature and the angels of God
Assured your victory … in your every battle
By God’s command. Although poor and uneducated … when opportunity
Availed … you were “the business man’s” … “business man” …
And while yet poor … you served the rich with honesty …
Dedication
And diligence
You were the model husband … the perfect father … the best neighbour …
To your neighbours … willing always to share … loyal to
Your kinsmen … kind to the weak and the orphans. Attaining wealth …
You demonstrated …
How the rich must serve the poor … you spent the whole of your wealth
In the service of mankind. When you became King of
Arabia … and could have punished the perpetrators of war … you forgave them
All …
Who would come under the banner of Bilal (a former Ethiopian slave) and
Permitted them to worship in the sacred mosques of Islam … yes.
You
Are par-excellence … an embodiment …
The most noble of God’s creation … would that I could have spilled
My blood as martyr for your sweet sake and safety. You are
Altogether lovely … you are my beloved … you are Muhammad
May God be forever pleased with you … and bless you … and Elevate you
To the most exalted station “Maqam-e-Mahmud” which He has promised
You … Amin. “Innaka la tukhliful mi ad.” Verily, He never breaks His promise.
Note
Let me reiterate that this period was father to the renaissance period, and cradled the civilization enjoyed by Western world today.
These expressions are meant to serve in some small degree as a tribute to the life of the Holy Founder of the religion of Islam. The greatest benefactor of mankind. He was the last of the law-bearing Prophets of God. His coming was prophesied by the holy founders of all religions, and their successors. His law was the last law or revealed book for mankind as a complete unit. Prophets before him were national prophets. His message was universal. God commands him to say in the Quran, O mankind, truly I am a Messenger to you all from your Lord. The God of Islam is the One God of all people. The Quran says, All praises belong to Allah (God), Lord, Creator, and Sustainer of all of mankind, and not Hear ye Israel, the Lord our God is One God or The Lord God of Israel, who does wondrous things. While we have great love for Jesus, he was not the universal prophet that was promised. Jesus says in the Bible, I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now, howbeit, when He the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all things. We say that spirit of truth was the Holy Prophet Muhammad (on whom peace and the blessings of God). His teachings and his example are perfect, containing all truth necessary for all people, of all ages to come. His teachings shall never be superseded. He is the beloved one of more than a billion souls, in numerous countries of the world. He was the most successful of all the prophets, inasmuch as the whole of his country, Arabia, had embraced his message before his death, and the message, had begun to spread in several countries adjacent to Arabia. No other religion spread so fast. No other prophet wrought such a wholesome change in the lives of so many. No other people transformed or changed so completely. Note the Bible says that prophet which shall presume to speak in the name of other gods shall die. The Holy Prophet of Islam spoke every revelation he received from God in God’s name “Bismillah hir rahma nir rahim” (In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful) and he further said any work that is begun without this praise (In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful) is likely to be devoid of God’s blessing. The Bible thus proves that he was not a false prophet.
So great was this Master Prophet, that God has said of him, but, for thee O Muhammad, I would not have cared to bring into existence the whole of the Universe. He was in love with God, and God was in love with him. A tree is known by its fruits (Bible).
However, as much as we love him, we do not worship him, we worship Allah (God) alone.