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MUHAMMAD’S
CHARACTER AND HIGH MORALITY
PROVE HIS PROPHETHOOD
Muhammad
was the humblest at the zenith of
his achievements
If a man’s world-admired
accomplishments or the wealth
and fame he has gained do not
change him, if he can remain as
humble as he was at the
beginning of his career, this
shows that person’s strength
of character, morality and
virtue. Despite his unparalleled
achievements, which force even
his enemies to place him at the
top of the greatest men of human
history, the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings,
was poorer and more humble when
he entered Makka victoriously
than he was at the beginning of
his mission.
Those
who saw the Messenger would say:
‘One with such a face cannot
lie.’
One’s face reveals one’s
inner world and character. Those
who saw the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings,
could not help but admire his
appearance and, if they were
unprejudiced, acknowledge his
truthfulness. For example, ‘Adbullah
ibn Salam, the most renowned
Jewish scholar of the time,
believed in him at his first
sight of him, saying: ‘One
with such a face cannot lie.’
If a fire-fly claimed that it is
the sun, its lie could last only
until the sun rises. Turkish
people say that a liar’s
candle only burns till bedtime,
meaning that a lie has only a
very short life. So, a deceitful
one pretending Prophethood will
soon be discovered and no one
will accept him as a true
Prophet.
Muhammad’s
utmost conviction of his cause,
together with his sincerity and
solemnity prove his Prophethood
Even an insignificant man of
small standing, in a small group
in a disputed matter of little
importance, cannot tell a small
but shameful lie openly and
comfortably without displaying
such anxiety and uneasiness as
will make his enemies aware of
his deception. Since the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, challenged everybody
to come until the Last Day and
uttered many important speeches
in a large community concerning
a great cause, with great ease
and freedom, without hesitation
or anxiety, with pure sincerity
and great solemnity, and in an
intense and elevated manner that
provoked his enemies, it means
that he was certainly a Prophet
speaking whatever God revealed
to him.
Despite
being unlettered, the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, spoke on every issue
and has not been contradicted
ever since.
It is impossible for an
unlettered one to speak on a
matter requiring expert
knowledge, especially before
those with specialized knowledge
of that matter. However, despite
being unlettered, the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, spoke on every issue
from theology and metaphysics to
medicine, history, physics and
biology and has not been
contradicted ever since.
Besides, when he was raised up
as a Prophet, the arts of
literature, eloquence and
oratory were at their peak and
the Qur’an he received from
God challenged all of its
opponents to bring the like of a
single chapter of its but no one
has ever been able to do that.
This, again, clearly shows that
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, is a Prophet of God.
Muhammad
had to confront all kinds of
hardships and persecutions after
Prophethood and spent for his
cause whatever he had.
For the sake of a deception no
one risks his life, wealth and
reputation and bears great
hardships and persecutions
unless he has great aspirations
to more wealth and great worldly
positions. Before claiming
Prophethood, the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, was well off and had
a respected place among his
community. However, he had to
confront all kinds of hardships
and persecutions after
Prophethood and spent for his
cause whatever he had. His
enemies slandered him, mocked
him, beat him, expelled him from
his homeland and waged war on
him. He bore all such cruel
treatments and hostilities
without complaint and asked God
Almighty for the forgiveness of
even his enemies. The only cause
he pursued was to see everybody
believing in and worshipping the
One God exclusively and thereby
prosperous in both worlds and
saved from the torments of Hell.
Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, practiced with utmost
sincerity and honesty what he
communicated to others.
History has witnessed many
leading persons who, since they
themselves did not practice what
they preached or propagated, did
not have a large devoted
following. Their ideas did not
have an enduring effect on
people and the systems they
established did not last long.
However, the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings,
practiced with utmost sincerity
and honesty what he communicated
to others and was always the
first and foremost in obedience
to the religion he brought, in
worship to the Creator and in
avoidance of the religious
prohibitions. This shows his
full conviction of his cause and
that he is a Messenger of God,
Who sent him to humanity to
guide them to the True Path.
For
what reason other than conveying
God’s Message to people must
he have endured all kinds of
hardships and persecutions, such
as sleeping on earth, suffering
hunger for several consecutive
days, spending a considerable
part of his life on battlefields
and military campaigns, being
expelled from his homeland,
becoming subject to mockeries
and insults, etc?
Man acquires an established
character until he is thirty and
especially after thirty a man’s
character does not change.
Particularly, it is very
difficult for one to change his
temper and disposition after he
is forty. If-God forbid such a
thought!- there had been any
imperfection and blemish in the
character of Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, it would
certainly have appeared before
his Prophethood. Therefore, no
one with a bit of intelligence
and fairness, unless he is
prejudiced, can accept that one
who was never heard tell a lie
and witnessed deceive until one
was forty, would appear as the
worst, meanest trickster of
human history after forty.
A
lying, deceitful one cannot have
a large, dedicated following who
are ready to sacrifice
themselves for him. Despite
being among the five greatest
Prophets, Moses and Jesus did
not have followers as devoted as
Muhammad’s Companions.
A lying, deceitful one cannot
have a large, dedicated
following who are ready to
sacrifice themselves for him.
Despite being among the five
greatest Prophets, Moses and
Jesus did not have followers as
devoted as Muhammad’s
Companions. The followers of
Moses, upon him be peace,
betrayed him when he left them
for forty days to receive the
Torah on Mount Sinai, and began
to worship a golden calf which
Samiri made for them. Even after
so many years of intellectual
and spiritual training in the
desert, except for two
God-fearing men, they did not
obey his order to fight against
the Amalekites, the people of
Goliath. As for Jesus, upon him
be peace, one of his most
devoted twelve followers
betrayed him and attempted to
submit him to his enemies. But
the followers of Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings,
known as the Companions, were so
devoted to him that they
sacrificed for him their lives
and properties and their
families and tribes. Although
brought up among a primitive
people and in a climate of
ignorance, devoid of any
positive notions of social life
and administration, without a
Scripture and immersed in the
darkness of the uncivilized era
after the Prophets, in a very
short period, they became in the
footsteps of their exalted
leader, the Prophet Muhammad,
the masters, guides and just
rulers of the most civilized and
socially and politically
advanced peoples and states, and
ruled the world from east to
west in a world-admired fashion.
Also,
innumerable exacting and
profound scholars and
world-famous scientists and
pure, spiritual masters were
brought up among the succeeding
generations following the
Companions. The civilization
they established was the most
magnificent one history has ever
known. Is it conceivable, then,
that all those most shining
stars of human history followed
a lying, deceitful one? God
forbid such a thought!
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, was the
most famous of humanity for high
moral conduct and virtue.
The Prophet Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, was the
most famous of humanity for high
moral conduct and virtue. He
appeared in the heart of a
desert which was almost the most
uncivilized part of the then
inhabited world and where people
were immersed in the worst kinds
of immorality. Then, who do you
think brought him up as the most
virtuous one with the highest
morality and best conduct? He
had lost his father while he was
yet in the womb of his mother.
When his mother died, he was
only six years old. It was
impossible for his grandfather
and uncle to bring him up as the
most virtuous of all times, as
they themselves did not have all
of the good moral qualities
Muhammad had and in the same
degree as he had. His teacher
was God, as he himself said: My
Lord educated me and taught me
good manners, and how well he
educated me and how beautifully
He taught me good manners!
No
one in human history has ever
been able to combine in himself
all of the virtues and good
qualities as perfectly as the
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings.
Human history has seen many
virtuous persons. However, no
one has ever been able to
combine in himself all of the
virtues and good qualities as
perfectly as the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings. There have been many
generous people but they have
not been able to show enough
courage when and where
necessary. Likewise, there have
been many courageous people, who
have not been able to be lenient
and generous at the same degree.
But the Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings,
combined in his person all the
virtues and laudable qualities
at the highest level.
Virtue
and good morality also require
balance. For example, if
generosity exceeds its limits,
it changes into extravagance.
Similarly, if thrift cannot be
kept within moderate limits, it
changes into miserliness.
Courage is usually confused with
rashness and dialectics or
demagogy is sometimes taken for
being intelligent. In addition,
virtue also requires knowing how
to act in certain conditions.
For instance, the self-respect
which a weak man should wear
before a powerful one becomes,
if the powerful one assumes it,
self-conceit. The humility which
a powerful man should wear
before a weak one becomes, if
assumed by a weak man,
self-abasement. Forbearance and
sacrifice (of one’s rights) on
one’s own account is good and
a virtue; but when done on
behalf of others, it is bad and
a treason. An individual may
bear patiently with whatever is
done to him personally; but it
is impermissible for him to, on
behalf of the nation, bear
patiently what is being done to
the nation. Whereas pride and
indignation on behalf of the
nation are commendable, on one’s
own behalf they are not.
The
Prophet Muhammad was perfectly
balanced in his virtues and good
moral qualities.
The
Prophet Muhammad was perfectly
balanced in his virtues and good
moral qualities. He was
perfectly courageous where to
show courage was necessary,
while he was perfectly mild,
forgiving and humble among
people. He was perfectly
dignified but also very
gracious. There was no one more
generous than him but he was
also thrifty and condemned
extravagance. In short, all
virtues and good qualities
existed in him in a
well-balanced combination.
Prophet
Muhammad had all of the
essential attributes pertaining
to Prophets
According to theologians, there
are six essentials of
Prophethood common to all of the
Prophets. They are truthfulness,
trustworthiness, communication
of God’s commands,
intelligence, infallibility and
being free from all kinds of
bodily and mental defects.
History is a witness that the
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, had all of
these six essential attributes
in a most perfect fashion.
Muhammad’s
achievements are unparalleled in
history
A man encounters in his life
many situations where he must
make decisions with no delay and
hesitation. Many decisions made
in such situations may cause him
great difficulties. The Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, made so great
achievements in so short a time
as 23 years that they are
unparalleled in human history.
He never faltered and all of his
decisions proved to be true.
More
than that, whatever he did and
whatever he said did not concern
only his own time but he
addressed all times and places
and all peoples and levels
throughout the world to come
until the Last Day. As none of
his sayings have not been
contradicted so far, no one has
ever been able to criticize him
for any of his actions, sayings
and decisions. Is it possible
for one who is not a Prophet
taught by God, the All-Knowing,
to have such intelligence,
foresight, sagacity, insight,
sound reasoning and prudence?
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