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- In the previous episodes
we spoke about humanity's undying need for prophets.
And, we spoke a bit about the historical anticipation
of a final prophet being sent by almighty God
for all of humanity.
Now, we want to talk about some of the unique qualities
of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,
which serve as some of the most compelling proofs
that him, in particular,
he must have been that final prophet of Allah.
(atmospheric chiming)
Interestingly,
even the Bible reports that Jesus Christ,
peace and blessings be upon him,
had given his followers some very logical criteria
on how to differentiate a true prophet
from a false prophet.
He was reported to have said,
you will know them by their fruits,
in the same way that you do not harvest or glean grapes
out of thorn bushes.
Likewise, you will not be able
to identify a false prophet
from a true prophet
without considering, what do you harvest from them?
What do you experience from them?
And, so, whether those fruits that Jesus Christ,
peace and blessings be upon him,
is reported to have spoken of,
were referring to the actions that come out of this prophet
or claimant to prophethood,
do they speak louder than his words
in the favor of his prophethood or against it?
Or, these fruits were the byproducts of his ministry,
what blessed achievements, impact on the world,
accomplishments came about from his teachings
or whether those fruits are what he called the world to,
the inherent beauty and purity of the message he came with,
regardless of what he meant,
peace and blessings be upon him.
The beautiful thing is these would all apply
to the prophet Mohammad,
peace and blessings be upon him, as well.
So, we will now cover the unique character
of the prophet, Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him,
for a few episodes,
followed by his unparalleled achievements
and positive impact on the world for a few episodes,
and, then, the purity, and beauty, and truth,
and profundity of his message for a few episodes as well.
Let's begin with his character.
One of the great scholars of Islam,
Ibn Taymiyyah, rahimahullah,
Allah bestow mercy on him,
he said it is actually a no brainer
when evaluating prophethood,
to simply look at his character,
because a person who claims to be a prophet of God,
as he argues,
is one of two people,
either one of the most righteous people ever,
the greatest integrity, the greatest virtue,
or he's actually one of the most corrupt people ever,
manipulative, opportunistic, exploitative.
He's saying, and since that is the case,
a prophet can only be one of the two,
a true prophet this way and impostor false prophet that way,
there is no room for confusion,
once you know who this prophet is,
and how they live their life,
and what their personality and character reflected,
whether they were actually a prophet or not.
You need not look beyond that, he says.
A person may say though,
how do I know that the character traits
of the prophet Mohammad
that are being told to me,
or I find in the books,
are actually accurate, historically established?
And, that's a valuable question
that a critical thinker should be having,
but we should establish here,
before moving on,
we know for certain these are not pious legends.
These are not just exaggerations by his followers,
because even non-Muslim historians
say the Muslims have every right
to be proud of their Isnad tradition.
You see, in Islamic scholarship,
our civilization had a unique process
for transmitting historical reports,
not just empty hearsay,
not just take it in good will.
There is a rigorous authentication process
that Muslim civilization, not just pioneered,
but was a standalone in.
And, this was stated by David Margoliouth,
the famous orientalist scholar,
Bernard Shaw, the famous historiography.
This is unlike any other tradition.
And, so, let's get to it.
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