Lineal Chart of the Prophets

The Birth of Muhammad, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) of Islam (s.a.w.a.)

Muhammad (s.a.) opened his eyes to the world on the 17th of Rabi’al-awwal of the 53rd year before the Hijrah (570 A.D.).

His father, ‘Abdullah, was from the family of Hazrat Ismail, and had died before he could see his son. His mother was one most pious women of that time. Muhammad (s.a.) was entrusted to a virtuous women called Halimah, who suckled him and nursed him.

One day, Muhammad (s.a.) who had not yet reached the age of four years asked Halimah if he could go into the desert with the other boys Halimah said: “I bathed Muhammad and annointed his hair with oil. I put collyrium on his eyes and hung a Yemenite stone on a string and put it round his neck so that no harm could come to him from the spirits of the desert. But Muhammad tore the stone from his neck and said, “Don’t worry about me. My God is taking care of me!”

So we see that from childhood he was the object of God’s favour and grace and was always guided by Divine friendship and help in works that were in their right time and place.

Mohammed’s behaviour and speech in childhood were such that everyone’s attention was attracted. In his youth, also, he was far from that which tainted those people in its environment. He took no part in their riotous poetry gatherings. He drank no wine, was an enemy of the idols; he was perfect in speech and act. Years before he became a prophet, the people called him ‘al-Amin (the trustworthy one). He had a pure mind and radiant intellect, and a godly and heavenly character. Every year for one month he went to the cave of Hira and was with God in His mysteries and in prayer. At the end of the month, before returning to his home, he went around the Ka’bah and made seven or more circumambulations.

At the age of forty, while busy in worship in the cave of Hira, he was elevated to the status of Messengership.

For three years the prophet of Islam (s.a.) received no command to call people openly to Islam, and during that only a few people had faith in Muhammad (s.a.)Among men, the first person who loved and followed him was Hazrat Ali (a.s.) and among women, Khadijah.

(1) Then after three years he received the command to invite people openly to Islam, and he called his close family to be his guests; about forty of these people assembled together. The food which the Prophet (s.a.) had prepared was no more than enough to satisfy the appetite of one man, but by the power of God that little food filled everyone, and this was the cause of much amazement. Abu Lahab, without thinking what he was saying, cried out: “Muhammad is a magician!” That day the relatives dispersed before the prophet could speak, so he called them again the next day. After they had partaken of the food and hospitality, he spoke: “O Sons of ‘Abdul-muttalib! No youth has brought to his people better than what I bring to you. I have brought you the best of this world and of the world of the resurrection. I have been commanded by Allah to call you to Him. Which of you will extend his help to me and became my brother and successor? “Apart from Ali (a.s.), no-one answered. The prophet placed his hand on ‘Ali’s shoulder and said: “This is my brother and my executor among you. Listen what he says and obey him!“

(2) One day the prophet (s.a.) went up on to Mount Safa and called the people around him. He said: if I told you that an enemy was going to fall on you this morning or this evening, would you trust me ?” All together they replied: “Yes!” He said: “l warn you of a severe torment that is soon to fall on you. “ Out of fear that the speech of Muhammad (s.a.) would take effect the hearts of those present, Abu Lahab broke that silence and said to him: “Did we assemble here just to listen to this nonsense?”

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) started his call with the slogan of tawhid and the worship of one God, and established tawhid as the basis of all other beliefs. He made known to men Allah, who is nearer to man than man himself; he abolished all forms of idol-worship, revolutionised the atmosphere of Mecca, and drew people to his religion. Meanwhile, the Quraysh (the most powerful tribe in Mecca, to which Muhammad (s.a.) belonged) were becoming ill at ease with the progress he was making and tried hard to stop his preaching, even once trying to kill him; but with the help and protection of Allah and with His care and intercession all their tortures, persecutions and schemes were without effect and came to nothing. Day by day the call to Islam, and also the acceptance by people, spread, even to those who came from outside Mecca. People rose up with their souls in answer to this Divine invitation.

In the eleventh year of the prophethood, some people from Medina belonging to the Khazraj tribe came to Mecca to perform the ceremonies of Hajj. The Prophet invited them to Islam and they accepted, with this promise that when they went back to Medina they would call the people to Muhammad’s religion. They went to Medina and spread around the invitation of the Prophet of Islam (s.a.). The next year twelve Medinese accepted the faith of the Prophet of Islam (s.a.) at Aqaba and resolved; not to associate any with Allah, not to steal, not to fornicate, not to indulge in infanticide, not to bring malicious accusations against anyone, not to disobey the Prophet in anything which he indicated. Then the prophet sent a man by the name of Mus’ab along with them to teach the Qur’an and thus a large group in Medina pledged their faith in the prophet.

The prophet’s Migration (Hijrat)

Till the thirteenth year of his mission, the Prophet (s.a.) called the people in Mecca to Islam, and stood firm when faced with the persecutions of the Quraysh. Eventually he got to know that the Quraysh had hatched an incredible plot to kill him, so he put Hazrat’ Ali (a.s.) to sleep in his bed in his place and left Mecca at night; he hid in a cave and then migrated from there to Medina.

The hijrah of the Prophet opened an entirely new chapter in the history of Islam from which a stimulating and surprising leap forward was made. For this very reason, the hijrah of Muhammad (s.a.) became the beginning of the dating system of the Muslims.

With the presence of the Prophet of Islam (s.a.) in Medina, the tribes of Awsh and Khazraj became brothers for life in the shadow of the teachings of Islam, and a blessed sincerity and cordiality was established between them.

The example of Muhammad’s behaviour, his spiritual and moral superiority, and the naturalness of his pure religion, caused the people to come the people to Islam by the score, and in the end to accept it.

The Prophet of Islam (s.a.) was from the people and with the people, and did not maintain a distance from them. He shared with them in their gains and losses. He firmly criticised oppression and aggression, and refrained from and prevented them. He set forth all the principles which were, in the light of Islam, effective for the development of the position of women, and put an end to the tyranny they had been subjected to previous to Islam, but he also vehemently fought against their unchastity and licentiousness for he wanted them to attain their real development on the basis of the true principles of Islam.

He defended the rights of slaves, and had broad comprehensive programmers for their freedom. The Prophet of Islam created a society where black and White, rich and poor, great and small, were all equal and could enjoy the benefits of being human beings. In such an atmosphere, there could be no question of ‘racial discrimination’ , for there was a much higher basis in virtue, knowledge, piety, human values and ethical greatness. Let us look at a clear example of the great teachings of the Prophets (s.a.): Juwaybar was a young man, poor and rather ugly. He came to Medina with a great enthusiasm for Islam, and accepted it. The Prophet gave him a place in the mosque, and later in ‘ Saqifah ‘, a garden which was under the control of the Prophet, and made him its overseer.

One day the Prophet told him: “it is good for a man to take to himself a woman, and to choose a wife, so that he may keep his chastity and have a home-life.”

“May God bless you, but l am poor and ugly; in what woman could there be such a desire that she would take me as her husband? Especially as l am not from a noble family.”

“Juwaybar, with the coming of Islam all the nobility of the age of ignorance (before Islam) has been broken down together, Black and white, Arab and non-Arab have all come from Adam, and God made Adam from the earth.

“For this reason today there is no black and white, not even any results from imperfection or excess in something.

“The dearest person to God is the virtuous person.”

“Now go to the house of Ziyad and ask for his daughter, Dhalfa on my behalf.”

Juwaybar did what the Prophet had told him, but Ziyad, who was one of the nobles of the Ansar tribe, did not accept, and said, “We only give our daughters to people like ourselves - and the Prophet himself knows that very well; so go back till l have consulted with him and give him my apologies myself.” He turned to go back, but because of his anger he cried out. “I swear by God, neither the Qur’an nor the Prophet have said that one must give one’s daughter to someone who is of equal status in family and in wealth!”

Dhulfa heard the voice of Juwaybar, and sent someone to her father. He came to her and she asked him, “what have you said to that young man that has made him angry?”

“The prophet sent him to me to take you, my daughter, with my agreement “Juwaybar would not tell a lie; send him back and go yourself to the prophet so that he may clarify the matter for you. “Ziyad did what his daughter had said. He sent Juwaybar back, and himself hurried to the prophet and said, “Juwaybar brought a message from you. I want to remind you that I am an Ansar, and that we do not give our daughters in marriage except to men of equal status from the same tribe.”

“Juwaybar is a believer and a man of faith, and a man with faith is the equal of a women with faith. Give him your daughter as a wife.” Ziyad then returned home and told his daughter what the prophet had commanded. The daughter said,” father to disobey the prophet’s command is against the religion. And I am ready of my own accord, so accept Juwaybar as your son-in-law!”

Ziyad brought Juwaybar in front of the people of his tribe and gave him in marriage to his daughter on the basis of the command of Islam. He even gave the dowry to his daughter from his pocket, and gave them a house with all necessities so that they would live happily. Truly, this light was dazzling; this source or warmth-giving radiance lit up a flame in every heart that was a guide to all pure hearts on the path. And thus it was that the muddled souls of the people were led forth from the harrassment of the gloom and turned in their hundreds towards Islam, seeking the protection of the illustrious, illuminating system of the Qur’an.

References
1. Tarikh at-tabari, vol.3,p.1159;Sinah ibn Hisham, vol, 1,p.240-245
2. Tarikh at-Tabari,vol.3,p. 1171-1173.