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THE
PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S LIFE PRIOR TO
HIS MESSENGERSHIP PROMISED HIS
PROPHETHOOD
The extraordinary events took
place on the night of his birth.
For example, most of the idols
at the Ka‘ba toppled over; the
palace of the Sassanid Emperor
shook and cracked, and its
fourteen pinnacles collapsed;
the small lake of Sawa in Persia
sank into the earth, and the
fire which was worshipped by the
Magians at Istakhrabad and had
been lit continually for a
thousand years was extinguished.
Together with these events, the
different character he displayed
even in his childhood and the
meaningful signs men of insight
observed on him meant that he
would undertake a great mission
in future.
During the period of his life
prior to his Prophethood, he
opposed injustices in his
community and joined
organizations like the Hilf al-Fudul,
which was established to defend
the helpless and restore usurped
rights to their owners.
Although of honorable descent,
he never lived in luxuries and
grew up as an orphan under the
protection of first his
grandfather and then his uncle.
Although he may have earned some
money by the trade he did before
and after his marriage, he used
to spend whatever he had to
support the orphans, widows and
the poor and therefore never
lived a wealthy life and did not
have powerful backing.
Despite the moral corruption in
his community, he lived an
extraordinarily chaste and
perfectly disciplined life,
without never falling into
dissipated ways. During his
childhood, he intended only
twice to attend wedding
ceremonies but on both occasions
sleep overpowered him half-way.
When he was 25 years old, he
married Khadija, a respected
widow fifteen years older than
himself and never married again
until her death 25 years later.
Those who knew him said that he
was as shy as a young girl when
asked for in marriage.
Muhammad’s
childhood and youth were a
prelude to his Prophethood.
Besides his other exalted,
laudable characteristics,
everyone agreed upon his
truthfulness and trustworthiness
Muhammad’s childhood and youth
were a prelude to his
Prophethood. Besides his other
exalted, laudable
characteristics, everyone agreed
upon his truthfulness and
trustworthiness. He never lied,
never cheated and never broke
his word. He was called ‘the
Trustworthy’ even by his
bitterest enemies.
People
would say of him: ‘If you go
on a journey and need someone to
whose safeguarding you will
entrust your family and
belongings, you can entrust them
to Muhammad without hesitation.’
The Ka‘ba had been partly
ruined by rain and resultant
floods. The Quraysh restored it.
The moment came when the Black
Stone had to be put back in its
place. It would be an honor for
the individual or clan who did
that since the Black Stone was
revered for its sanctity. In
order to prevent a clash which
was about to ensue between the
clans to acquire that honor,
they all agreed on the
arbitration of Muhammad. He
asked them to fetch a piece of
cloth, which he spread on the
ground. Putting the Black Stone
on it, he told the chiefs of the
clans to take each a corner of
the cloth. In this way the Stone
was raised to the required
height and then he took it
himself and put it in its place.
Thanks to his wisdom, the danger
of a war between the clans was
averted.
Muhammad
learned from no one during his
whole lifetime and was never
influenced by the written
culture of the time.
Muhammad was unlettered. He
learned from no one during his
whole lifetime and was never
influenced by the written
culture of the time. Towards his
fortieth year, he used to
retreat to the cave of Hira.’
This unlettered man came out of
the cave with a new, wholly
authentic message to heal all
the wounds of humanity and
challenged all the literary
geniuses to produce a like of
his message. This alone is
enough to show that he is a
Prophet sent by God to guide
humanity to truth.
No
one among his enemies dared to
accuse him of lying or cheating.
No one among his enemies dared
to accuse him of lying or
cheating. In order to prevent
the spread of his Message, they
only labeled him sometimes as a
poet, sometimes as a sorcerer or
magician and sometimes as an
insane one. There were times
when, in order not to accept his
Message, they put forward false
pretexts, saying: ‘If only
this Quran had been sent down
to one of the great men of the
two cities (Makka and Ta’if)?’
It is inconceivable that a man
of forty who, until then, was
never witnessed to tell a single
lie and to cheat, and to display
any moral and intellectual
imperfection, would completely
change, suddenly and
unexpectedly, and begin to cheat
everyone and continue to do so
without being discovered. As
prior to his Prophethood, no
one, including his bitterest
enemies, ever accused him of
lying and cheating, so also
after it, though they uttered
different slanders about him,
they could not help but confess
his truthfulness. If they had
ever witnessed any dishonest act
by him, or if, to answer his
challenges, they had been able
to produce the like of a single
chapter of the Quran, in
order to discredit him or stop
him preaching his message, they
would not have felt obliged to
wage war on him. However, after
years of futile resistance
caused by low and selfish
motives, even his most bitterest
enemies like Safwan ibn Umayya,
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, ‘Amr ibn
al-‘As, Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl
and others, finally accepted the
truthfulness of his message.
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