MUHAMMAD[S]
IN THE EYES OF NON-MUSLIM THINKERS AND SCHOLARS
It is a
difficult task to describe the versatility of character of Muhammad, the
Prophet of Islam, and it would indeed require volumes to do justice to him, to
his sincerity, generosity, frugality, broad-mindedness, firmness and tenacity
of purpose, his steadfastness, and calmness in adversity, his meekness in
prosperity, his humility in greatness, his modesty in character, his anxious
care for animals, his passionate fondness and love for children, his bravery
and fortitude, his magnanimity of spirit, his unbending sense of justice and
above all his noble mission to save humanity from destruction.
In the
face of those who do not understand him and still pour forth torrents of abuse
on the Prophet and shamefully scandalize him, what better homage to Prophet Muhammad
can we pay than quote the testimony of great Western historians, thinkers and
scholars who expressed their views on the greatest of benefactors of humanity.
In his
famous book "The Heroes", Thomas Carlyle says the following about
Muhammad:
"Muhammad
is no longer an imposter, but a great reformer. He is no longer a neurotic
patient suffering from epilepsy, but a man of tremendous character and
unbending will. He is no longer a self-seeking despot, ministering to his own
selfish ends but a beneficent ruler shedding light and love around him. He is
no longer an opportunist, but a Prophet with a fixed purpose, a man of strong
will, undeviating in his consistency....
"Muhammad
was the man of truth and fidelity, true in what he did, in what he spoke, in
what he thought; always meant something, a man rather taciturn in speech,
silent when there was nothing to be said, but pertinent, wise, sincere, when he
did speak, always throwing light on the matter...
"A
poor shepherd people roaming unnoticed in the deserts since the creation of the
world; a hero Prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe; see
the unnoticed became world noticeable, within one century afterwards Arabia is
at Granada on this end; at Delhi on that; glancing with valour and splendour
and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a great section
of the world."
George
Bernard Shaw said:
"I
have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation of its wonderful
vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that
assimilating capability to the changing phases of existence which can make
itself appeal to everyone. I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that
it would be acceptable to the Europe of today. The medieval ecelesiastics either
through ignorance or bigotry painted Islam in the darkest colours. they were,
in fact, trained to hate the man Muhammad and his religion. To them, Muhammad
was anti-Christ. I have studied him-the wonderful man, and in my opinion, far
from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of humanity. I believe
that if a man like him were to assume dictatorship of the modern world, he
would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much
needed peace and happiness. But to proceed, it was in the nineteenth century
that honest thinkers like Carlyle, Gibbon and Goethe perceived intrinsic worth
in the religion of Muhammad-already, even, at the present time many of our
people have gone to his faith , and Islamization of Europe may be said to have
begun.
Lamartine,
the famous French historian, said:
"Philospoher,
orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational
dogmas, of cult without images the founder of twenty terrestrial empires, of
one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human
greatness may be measured, we may well ask: Is there any man greater than he?''
Alfred
Martin said in (In Great Religious Teachers of The East):
"Nor
is anything in religious history more remarkable than the way in which Muhammad
fitted his transfiguring ideas into the existing social system of Arabia. To
his everlasting credit, it must be said that in lifting to a higher place of
life the communities of his day and place, he achieved that which neither the
Judaism nor Christianity of Medievel Arabia could accomplish. Nay more, in the
fulfilment of that civilising work Muhammad rendered valuable service, not only
to Arabia, but also to the entire world."
J.H.
Denison said in (Emotion as the Basis of Civilisation) the following:
"In
the fifth and sixth centuries the civilised world stood on the verge of a
chaos. The old emotional cultures that had made civilisation possible, since
they had given to men a sense of unity and of reverence for their rulers, had
broken down and nothing had been found adequate to take their place...
"It
seemed that the great civilisation which it had taken four thousand years to
construct was on the verge of disintegration and that mankind was likely to
return to that condition of barbarism where every tribe and sect was against
the next, and law and order was unknown...
"The
old tribal sanctions had lost their power. The new sanctions created by
Christianity were working division and destruction instead of unity and order.
It was a time fraught with tragedy. Civilisation, like a gigantic tree whose
foliage had over arched the world and whose branches had borne the golden
fruits of art and science and literature, stood tottering... rotted to the
core.
"Was
there any emotional culture that could be brought in togather mankind once more
into unity and to save civilisation? It was among these Arab people that the
man Muhammad was born who was to unite the whole known world of the east and
south".
Sir William
Muir said in (The Life of Muhammad):
"For
few and simple were the precepts of Muhammad. His teaching had wrought a
marvellous and mighty work. Never since the days when the primitive
Christianity startled the world from its sleep and waged moral combat with
heathenism had men seen the like arousing of spiritual life, the like faith
that suffered sacrifices and took joyfully the spoiling of goods for
conscience's sake.''
Johnson
in (Oriental Religions) also said:
"Muhammad's
thoroughly democratic conception of the divine government, the universality of
his religious ideal, his simple humanity, all affiliate him with the modern
world."
Sir
Philip Gibbs said in( the Glory of Muhammad):
"Islam
(meaning resignation), as the religion of Muhammad is properly called, has done
more for the progress of civilisation and morality than any other faith which
has animated the souls of men since the creation of this world. Through many
centuries and at the present day it has been, and is, a power for good among hundreds
of millions of the human race, and without its high moral code there is no
doubt that the blackest barbarism and the most idolatrous worship would reign
omnipotent where Allah and faith of nobility lead men to light."
Major A.
G. Leonard said:
"If
ever a man on this earth found Allah, if ever a man devoted his life to Allah's
service with a good and great motive, it is certain that the Prophet of Arabia
(Muhammad) is the man. Muhammad was not only the greatest but truest man that
humanity has ever produced."
Sadhu T.
L. Vasvani said:
"I
salute Muhammad as one of the world's mighty heroes. Muhammad has been a world
force, a mighty power of the uplift of many peoples."
Mahatma
Gandhi said:
"
When I closed the second volume of the Prophet's Biography', I was sorry that
there was no more for me to read of that great life. I was more than ever
convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in
the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self - efacement of
the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his
friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in
Allah and his own mission."
Bertram
Thomas said:
"His
moral teachings sprang from a pure and exaltedmind aflame with religious
enthusiasm. From being a persecuted preacher exiled to Madina, he rose to
political power. This he enjoyed only in the last few years of his life, and
this he used for the spiritual and material welfare of Muslims.
Such
indeed was the magnificence ol his good works that he died in debt, some of his
belongings in pawn with a Jew-among them his only shield for which he obtained
three measures of meal.
"He
lived in great humility, performing the most menial tasks with his own hands;
he kindled the fire, swept the floor, milked the ewes, patched his own garments
and cobbled his own shoes.
"He
laboured for the amelioration of the slaves' lot, liberating any that were
presented to him."
Stanley
Lane-Poole said:
"He
who, standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his people is the same who
was never the first to withdraw his hand from another's clasp; the beloved of
children, who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from his
wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in that
sweet-toned voice. He was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme
joy of making one great truth their very life-spring. He was the messenger of
the one God; and never to his life's end did he forget who he was, or the
message which was the marrow of his being. He brought his tidings to his people
with a grand dignity sprung from the consciousness of his high office, together
with a most sweet humility whose roots lay in the knowledge of his own
weakeness."
D. S.
Margoliouth said:
"His
humanity extended itself to the lower creation. He forbade the employment of
living birds as targets for marksmen and remonstrated with those who
ill-treated their camels... Foolish acts of cruelty which were connected with
old superstitions were swept away by him...
No more
was a dead man's camel to be tied to his tomb to perish of thrist and hunger.
No more was the evil eye to be propitiated by the bleeding of a certain
proportion of the herd. No more was the rain to be conjured by tying burning
torches to the tails of oxen;... The manes and tails of horses were not to be
cut, nor were asses to be branded."
In (The
Ethics of the Great Religions) Gorham said:
"Sleeping
one day under a palm-tree, Muhammad awoke suddenly to find an enemy named
Du'thur standing over him with drawn sword.
"O,
Muhammad, who is there now to save thee?', cried the man. `Allah!', answered
Muhammad. Du'thur, while trying to strike, stumbled and dropped his sword.
Muhammad seizeit and cried in turn: "O, Du'thur, who is there now to save
thee?'. `No one', eplied Du'thur.Then learn to be merciful', said Muhammad, and
handed him back his weapon.Du'thur became one of his firmest friends."
Pierre
Crabites said:
Muhammad
was probably the greatest champion of women's rights the world has ever seen.
Islam conferred upon the Muslim wife property rights and juridical status
exactly the same as that of her husband. She is free to dispose of and manage
her financial assets as she pleases, without let or hindrance from her husband.
Many
great and enlightened souls including rationalists, poets, scientists,
intellectuals, and holy men have unequivocally expressed their appreciation for
the Holy Prophetsa of Islam. For the current review, I limit my scope to a few
handpicked great men belonging to our beloved nation India. Let us review these
observations and expand our knowledge.
Annie
Besant writes in her book The Life and Teachings of Muhammad:
It is
impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great prophet
of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but
reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme.
And although in what I now put to you I shall say things which may be familiar
to many, yet I myself feel, whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a
new of reverence to that mighty Arabian teacher.[1]
The
great poetess of India, Sarojini Naidu states regarding the religion brought by
the Holy Prophetsa of Islam:
It
[Islam] was the first religion that preached and practised democracy, for, in
the mosque when [from] the minaret [the call to prayer] is sounded and the
worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five
times a day when the peasant and the king kneel side by side and proclaim, “God
alone is great”. I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible
unity of Islam that makes a man instinctively a brother.[2]
Mahatma
Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, had such admiration for the Holy Prophetsa of
Islam that after reading Prophet’s biography he said, “I was sorry there was
not more for me to read of that great life”[3]. He always advised Muslims to
follow the peaceful path of the Prophetsa. How he viewed the person of the Holy
Prophetsa is evident from his following words:
I wanted
to know the best of the life of one who holds today undisputed sway over the
hearts of millions of mankind… I became more than ever convinced that it was
not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life.
It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the
scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and
followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and his
own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and
surmounted every obstacle.[4]
K S
Ramakrishna Rao, an Indian professor of philosophy, in his book, Muhammad: The
Prophet of Islam describes the Holy Prophetsa as the “perfect model for human
life”. He says:
The
personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of
it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque
scenes? There is Muhammad, the Prophet. There is Muhammad, the Warrior;
Muhammad, the Businessman; Muhammad, the Statesman; Muhammad, the Orator;
Muhammad, the Reformer; Muhammad, the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad, the
protector of Slaves; Muhammad, the emancipator of women; Muhammad, the Judge;
Muhammad, the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these
departments of human activities, he is alike a hero.[5]
Late
Shri Diwan Chand Sharma, a member of the First Lok Sabha, observes:
Muhammad
was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by
those around him.[6]
Now let
us ponder over the sayings, odes and accolades heaped upon the Holy Prophetsa
Islam by revered saints and holy men of the latter days. We find in The Gospel
of Sri Ramakrishna:
Toward
the end of 1866 he began to practise the disciplines of Islam. Under the
direction of his Mussalman guru he abandoned himself to his new sadhana. He
dressed as a Mussalman and repeated the name of Allah.
His
prayers took the form of the Islamic devotions. He forgot the Hindu gods and
goddesses — even Kali — and gave up visiting the temples. He took up his
residence outside the temple precincts. After three days he saw the vision of a
radiant figure, perhaps Mohammed. This figure gently approached him and finally
lost himself in Sri Ramakrishna. Thus he realized the Mussalman God. Thence he
passed into communion with Brahman. The mighty river of Islam also led him back
to the Ocean of the Absolute.[7]
Paramahansa
Yogananda, the founder of the worldwide spiritual organization Self-Realization
Fellowship, was an Indian Hindu monk and yogi, who is revered by millions. In
one of his books, he wrote an ode in praise of the Holy Prophetsa titled, Come
to me as Mohammed. He writes:
O
Mohammed, inspired Prophet of God! thy light-house, the Koran, directs
endangered soul ships around the lethal rocks of sin to safety in the Ultimate
Harbor.
Thy
soldiers sing of spiritual victory as they hasten chivalrously to rescue Dame
Knowledge from the tyrant, Ignorance.
Thou
warnest thy flock not to follow mirages in deserts of sense pleasures, but to
browse in rich pastures of inner joy.
He
continues by mentioning some of the teachings of the Holy Prophetsa explaining
how they contribute to our moral and spiritual upliftment. He says:
Thou
hast instituted the dawn-to-dusk fast during the month of Ramadan, that Spirit
be attracted to the purified temple of man and offer him nectar and ambrosia.
Thy
followers observe thy ban against liquors and opiates, which impair the mind
and prevent divine perceptions. Thou pointest out that man’s desire for
intoxicants is a misguided craving for the life-transforming rejuvenator made
in the Namaz wine press of prayer.[8]
Guru
Baba Nanak, the holiest figure in Sikhism, was an ardent admirer of the Holy
Prophetsa of Islam. He has highly praised Prophet Muhammadsa on many occasions.
He says:
It is difficult to be called a Muslim; if one is truly a Muslim, then he may be called one. First, let him savor the religion of the Prophet as sweet; then, let his pride of his possessions be scraped away. Becoming a true Muslim, a disciple of the faith of Mohammed, let him put aside the delusion of death and life. As he submits to God’s Will, and surrenders to the Creator, he is rid of selfishness and conceit. And when, O Nanak, he is merciful to all beings, only then shall he be called a Muslim.[9]
Similarly, Guru Arjan quotes Guru Nanak as saying:
One who
realizes the Prophet attains heaven. Azraa-eel, the Messenger of Death, does
not cast him into hell.[10]
Sathya
Sai Baba, the famous Indian guru and the founder of the Sathya Sai Organisation
has also spoken exhaustively about Islam and the Holy Prophetsa of Islam. He
observes:
Mohammad,
who sought to establish the primacy of the One Formless Absolute had a large
share of persecution, defamation, and privation….Those who seek to know God
must steel themselves to bear insult, injury and torture, with a smile.[11]
On
another occasion, he said:
Truth
should not be confined to speech. It must express itself in action. Only the
one who is truthful in word and deed can be esteemed as a genuine human being,
according to Prophet Mohammed.[12]
Similarly,
he says:
Prophet
Mohammed, likewise, told his disciples before his passing that the money he owed
to a camel driver should be paid before his end came. The discharging of one’s
debts is regarded as a pious obligation for every Bharatiya.[13]
Explaining
how the Holy Prophetsa remained determined in the face of fierce opposition
from his people, Sathya Sai says:
Hazrath
Muhammad announced the message of God that he had heard to the townsmen of
Mecca. At that time, people did not give heed to the Divine Declarations. They
forced him to leave the place. But, Hazrath Muhammad knew that truth will win
and God will prevail. He knew that the insult and injury were only for the
body; the Aathma can never be hurt.
The
Ramzan month is set apart for the holy task of bringing into memory and
practice the teachings that Hazrath Muhammad conveyed and attaining that stage
of unity and purity which is truly Divine.[14]
The fact
that all these personalities, who are revered by millions and occupy a high
position in the hearts of those who know them, were influenced by the noble
character of Prophet Muhammadsa and that they could not remain without
admitting his greatness and acknowledging his loftiness undeniably proves that
the Holy Prophetsa was an embodiment of perfect human attributes. May the world
come to realize this truth and give him the respect that he truly deserves.
The
author holds a Master’s degree in English and is also a Management Post
Graduate. Currently, he serves as the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth
Association (Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya), Kolkata chapter. He is a regular
contributor for Light of Islam.
REFERENCES
[1] The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, p. 3
[2] From the lecture The Ideals of Islam by Sarojini Naidu, delivered at the Lawley Hall, on December 19, 1917 under the auspices of the Young Men’s Muslim Association, Madras. Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu p. 169
[3] Young India September 11, 1924, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi v. 29 p. 133
[4] Young India September 11, 1924, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi v. 29 p. 133
[5] Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam p. 20
[6] The Prophets of the East by Diwan Chand Sharma p. 96
[7] The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna p. 46
[8] Whispers From Eternity p. 108-109
[9] Siri Guru Granth Sahib p. 141, English translation by Singh Sahib Sant Singh Khalsa
[10] Siri Guru Granth Sahib p. 1084, English translation by Singh Sahib Sant Singh Khalsa
[11] Name: Never-Failing Fountain, Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 8, May 16, 1968
[12] Secure God’s Love, Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 17, December 25, 1984
[13] Love: Sacrifice: Unity,
Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 23, December 25, 1990
[14] Unity and Purity: Message of Ramzan, Sathya Sai Speaks v. 16, July 12, 1983
REFERENCES
[1] The
Life and Teachings of Muhammad, p. 3
[2]
From the lecture The Ideals of Islam by Sarojini Naidu, delivered at the Lawley
Hall, on December 19, 1917 under the auspices of the Young Men’s Muslim
Association, Madras. Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu p. 169
[3]
Young India September 11, 1924, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi v. 29 p.
133
[4]
Young India September 11, 1924, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi v. 29 p.
133
[5]
Muhammad: The Prophet of Islam p. 20
[6] The
Prophets of the East by Diwan Chand Sharma p. 96
[7] The
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna p. 46
[8]
Whispers From Eternity p. 108-109
[9]
Siri Guru Granth Sahib p. 141, English translation by Singh Sahib Sant Singh
Khalsa
[10]
Siri Guru Granth Sahib p. 1084, English translation by Singh Sahib Sant Singh
Khalsa
[11]
Name: Never-Failing Fountain, Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 8, May 16, 1968
[12]
Secure God’s Love, Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 17, December 25, 1984
[13]
Love: Sacrifice: Unity, Sathya Sai Speaks, v. 23, December 25, 1990
[14]
Unity and Purity: Message of Ramzan, Sathya Sai Speaks v. 16, July 12, 1983
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