Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
In just 23 years, the final Prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
takes a conglomerate of tribes in some remote region
of the world, surrounded by perilous deserts,
largely isolated from the ideas,
from the events of the major civilizations
of their era and also further weakened
by their internal strife and disunity
and their prevailing illiteracy.
And somehow within two short decades,
they become a model generation
that transforms the world forever.
How is that possible?
Upon becoming the purest observers of monotheism,
this didn't just make them the most devoted
servants of God in terms of their ritual worship
of him, but also place them at the forefront
of contributing to humanity.
At night, they would be found standing in prayer,
longing for the divine,
with tears streaming down their cheeks
as they reflected over His revealed word.
By day, they would live for purposes greater than themselves
exhausting themselves in philanthropy,
in education and riding off as nights as well
liberating the world from the tyrannical regimes
that were subjugating them.
They brought justice to the nations.
As we find the book of Isaiah in the Bible
for telling that they would
and subsequently unlocked the virtue of enumerable,
aesthetics and reformers and men of piety
and women of piety and great thinkers for centuries.
Out of them, emerged the civilization
where chastity and integrity and propriety
were the norm and societies
in which alcoholism was never widespread.
Until this very day, when we see all around the world
as the World Health Organization reports
millions upon millions of alcohol-related deaths,
the lowest of these numbers are found
consistently in Muslim countries
as is the case with sexually transmitted diseases,
as is the case with suicide and homicide rates as well.
The impact of Islam on preventing alcohol abuse
and what becomes of it,
and on low life satisfaction in all of its manifestations
is sometimes just so glaring.
The hallmarks of Islamic civilization
feeding off of the inertia of that initial model generation
were justice and equality, balance and moderation,
diversity, progress and the pursuit of beauty.
Adam Smith, the famous 18th century economist,
he himself admits that, "The empire
"of the Caliphs," as he puts it,
"seems to be the very first state
in which a tranquility existed
that the cultivation of the sciences requires.
It was under the protection of those generous
and magnificent princes.
He says, "of the early years of Islam
that the ancient Greek philosophy
was finally restored."
"That tranquility
he adds, "which their mild, gentle, just,
and religious government,"
he says, "diffused over their vast empire
is what revived the curiosity of mankind
and drove them to inquire
about the connecting principles of nature."
Muslim centuries later also looked back
to the companions of the Prophet Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him, as the gold standard
for magnanimity and clemency and forgiveness
even when it came to military conflict
and rules of engagement.
To share just one beautiful example of the precedent,
the earliest model generation set,
Abu Aziz who was a waring poet,
who would spread propaganda and provoke armies
against the Prophet Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him,
was captured at the very first battle
in the Prophetic lifetime,
the battle of Badr.
And he says the Prophet Muhammad
told his companions, "Treat the captives well."
And that is why every time when it was lunch or dinner
they would leave to me the bread,
and he would only eat dates
without any sort of breads
"out of regard for the strict instructions
of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
And so we can look back at all of these accomplishments
all of these achievements and ask ourselves
how did this happen in a single generation?
Has history ever known anyone
with the ability to wean a people
off of alcoholism,
whatsoever, let alone do it overnight?
Why were Muslims able to just give it up?
These were a people whose honor
and whose income was interlocked with drinking wine
yet with a gradual program
that the Prophet Muhammad set them upon,
he reached his trajectory and whatever was remaining of wine
upon the final instructions, was poured into the streets.
The barrels were broken and they flowed all at once.
Has any single person ever been able
to ban and abolish age-old customs,
whether about unrestricted polygyny
or about male-only inheritance laws
or about female infanticide?
Even modern India today
after a hundred years, with strict enforcement
still struggles with their female infanticide problem.
And yet with the Prophet Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him,
and his meager resources over such a short span of time,
all of this was changed, such a blessed transformation.
Even the famous Indian scholar, Mullah Ali al-Qari
Rahimahullah
he comments on a statement of the Prophet Muhammad,
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
when he said to the people,
"Allah will raise people many ranks
by virtue of their commitment to his book," the Qur'an,
"and he will demote others accordingly."
He said, "and we saw this as a historical reality
within one generation after the Prophet Muhammad,
the entire leadership practically
of Muslim civilization was the slave class
because they committed themselves to scholarship
and committed themselves to studying the sacred texts."
And so captured in these past five episodes
are some of the unique achievements
of God's final prophet, Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him,
through which God solidifies our belief
and our certainty that all of this success
could have only happened at the hand of God.
He transformed those under his total tutelage
from one of the most savage
and lawless communities imaginable
to the best community of all, among humankind
brought out for the betterment
and in inspiration of humankind.
Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)