Life and teachings of the last Messenger of Allah

The blessing Birth of Prophet (PBUH) was an epoch-making event in the history of human civilization. The teachings of the last Prophet (PBUH), Messenger of Islam, brought a sudden crack in the long tradition of superstitions, false sense of honour, immorality, and indecency, including the odious crimes against humanity, such as burying alive their daughters.
In his book Mulana Safi-ur-Rehman Mubarakpuri writes that when Prophet (PBUH) was born in the morning of Monday a bright light laminated the castles of Syria. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was an orphan child. His father Abdullah, died after a short illness in Medinah. There was a custom among the well-to-do families of the Arabs to entrust a child, while less than a month old, to a trust-worthy wet-nurse for upbringing, away from the humdrum of the town life. Accordingly, Hazrat Haleemah Sadia nursed him initially for two years.
Haleemah Sadia said that "many Bedouin wet nurses visited the house of Hazrat Aminah, but were unwilling to take her blessed child into their care. This was because he was an orphan child, with no father. In Arab custom, when a child returned to his or her home after spending years with wet nurse, the family would reward her generously. We thought that child's widow mother and grandfather would not be able to give us sufficient rewards."
"Finally, every Bedouin nurse had a child to bring up except me. I was ready to return home empty-handed, when I decided to turn back and collected Hazrat Aminah's child, even though he was an orphan. However, as soon as she lifted the blessed child, her luck improved greatly and her life filled with immense good fortune. Hazrat Haleema's herd of goats started to return home full of milk, while the rest of the Bedouins' goats used to return to them empty. They would complain to the shepherd and plead him to take the sheep and goats to the same place that Hazrat Halima took her flock." Such were the blessings for this kind-hearted Bedouin family!
At the end of the contracted period of two years, Haleemah urged Prophet's (PBUH) mother to give back the child to protect him from the outbreak of chicken pox in Makkah. A popular incident took place in Prophet's childhood known as the miracle of the "tearing open of the breast". Historians said that Angel Gabriel appeared in the form of a man, "operated on him by rending open his breast and washed his heart of impurities".
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)'s mother, Aminah, died when he was six years old. He was raised by His paternal grandfather, 'Abd al Muttalib, until the age of eight. The death of His mother and grandfather in quick succession had left an ineffaceable impact of the hard realities of life and prepared Him of taking life seriously. From young age, He had simple and unostentatious life, characterized by an inborn sense of civility and politeness as reflected in His aloofness from the reckless rivalries of the people around Him. He detached from the rites, ruthless customs and the practices of the day. He disliked the blind faith of His generation in the follies and foibles of its ancestors.
He went out for miles, away from humdrum of the town-life and spent considerable time, sometimes for days together, engrossed in introspection and mediation within a cave near the top of the Mount Hira also known as "Mount of light".
The Prophet, while on a retreat to Mount Hira for meditation during the month of Ramadan, received His first revelation from the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel held Him in a close, tight embrace and accosted Him as one who was assigned the role of a Prophet and said to Him "Iqraa", meaning "read" or "recite." He replied, "I cannot read." Gabriel embraced the Prophet and after releasing him repeated: "Iqraa". Prophet Muhammad's answer was the same as before. Gabriel repeated the embrace, asking to repeat after him and said, "Recite in the name of your Lord who created! He created man from that which clings. Recite; and thy Lord is most Bountiful, He who has taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not." These verses significantly underlined the role of the pen in propagation of awareness.
Before the Prophet was actually commissioned to come out in open revolt against the corrupt social order and to undertake a mission destined to be universal, of setting things right, He had attained the full stature of a respected and trusted person (Ameen) to whom people would entrust their valuables and bring their problems for solution. He was about 35 when He had prevented a tribal controversy from developing into a bloody warfare.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) knew that the foundations of Islam were to rest on knowledge and that this announcement would bring tremendous hardship for Him and His followers. One day, He gathered the people and announced, "If I were to say to you that there hides a large army behind this rock - ready to attack you, would you believe Me?" They all responded, yes we will, because You have never ever lied to us. He then told them that there was no God but Allah and that he was His Messenger.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was well known for His kind-heartedness, purity of thought and refinement of taste. Hazrat Ayesha once said that she never saw the Prophet burst into laughter. He would at the most, smile. It is reported that when Ayesha was once questioned about His character she merely observed
"His Character is (fully reflected in) the Quran" The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is reported to have instructed His two representatives, whom He sent to Yemen as instructors, "(see that you) make things easy (for the people) rather than difficult, cheer rather than scare them and cooperate with each other."
He never took revenge on anyone for personal reasons and always forgave even His staunchest enemies. Hazrat Aisha said that God's Messenger never took revenge on His own behalf on anyone. She also said that God's Messenger was not unseemly or obscene in His speech, nor was He loud-voiced in the streets, nor did He return evil for evil. He would forgive and pardon.
The people of the Quraish rebuked Him, taunted and mocked at Him, beat Him and abused Him. They tried to kill Him and when He reached Medinah, they waged many wars against Him yet when He entered Makkah victorious with an army of 10,000; He did not take revenge on anyone. He forgave all. Even His deadliest enemy Abu Sufyan, who fought so many battles, was forgiven, and anyone who stayed in his house was forgiven.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was always considerate in respecting the wishes and legitimate desires of others. His wives were no exception. Once, in deference to the commonly expressed wish of certain wives, weather. Once Prophet (PBUH) was riding on a camel through a narrow pass in the mountains, along with Uqbah bin Amir; After some time, He asked Uqbah to have his turn on the camel, but the latter thought it improper to ride himself and let God's Messenger walk on foot. However, Muhammad got off the camel and forced him to ride.
Before the rise of Islam, women had no respect and honour. They were kept away from the share in inheritance. They were treated as a commodity. Prophet (PBUH) emphasised on the dignity and honour of women. He Said, "Treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers."
Asia Week in one its issue writes that, "In an age when no country, no system, no community gave women any rights, in a society where the birth of a baby girl was regarded as a curse, where women were considered chattel, Islam treated women as individuals." Women are entitled to a share in the inheritance of their parents. No one - not even her father - can force a girl to marry against her expressed consent and a woman does not cease to be an individual after marriage.
In early days of Islam when the Muslims had to migrate, many women left their homes and took the road to Medina alone. They were present on the battlefield looking after the wounded and even took part in the fighting. Among the first martyrs for Islam was a woman, Sumaiyya.
The Messenger of Allah taught that "woman, as a mother deserves service, love, submission, obedience and gratitude from her children. She makes sacrifices and endures hardships bringing up the children. She feeds them and takes care of them by sacrificing her comforts in the day and her sleep in the night without any greed or compulsion."
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) emphasised on the provision of justice and fair dealings regardless of color, creed, or race. Once a Quraish woman was found guilty of stealing, some people wanted to save her from punishment in order to protect the honour of the family of the Quraish. They wanted to squash the whole affair. The Prophet said, "Bani Israel were ruined because of this. They applied law to the poor and forgave the rich."
Dr Noor-ul-Ain Dindang Mababaya, Secretary General of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) writes "Allah the Almighty sent Muhammad (PBUH) as His universal Messenger to mankind, giving them glad tidings, and warning them against sin. Allah sent Him to perfect all moral values and to serve as the best example for mankind to follow.
"Aside from the Holy Qur'an, Allah has endowed the Prophet (PBUH) with wisdom, the Ahadith through which the readers can learn how He spent His life as the best example to humanity. It provides detailed specifications for what is determined in generality by the Qur'an. It covers the secondary obligations, which facilitate primary ones. In fact, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) successfully conveyed the Qur'an to mankind through the Ahadith."
The teachings of the Prophet (PBUH) ensure peace, harmony, brotherhood, equal opportunity, fair dealing, self-esteem, respect, management and salvation of all ailments of mankind. The teachings of the last Messenger of Allah apply to every situation, every age, and every man of all walks of life.