Islam began when man's career on earth
began---more precisely at the time of man's creation and his
descent. Allah created Adam and Eve and enjoined them to worship Him
and live a life of obedience to the Divine Will.
Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and of human
beings. Man must turn to Him for sustenance and guidance. The very
word Islam means obedience to God. In this respect, Islam is man's
natural religion---the only natural course is for man to look
towards Him for guidance.
The day Adam and Eve were sent down to live on earth, Allah told
them that they were His servants and He was their Master and
Creator. He told them and mankind that the best course was for them
to follow His guidance, to obey His orders and to refrain from what
He had forbidden. God said to them that He would be pleased if they
obeyed Him and in turn He would reward them. If, however, they did
not heed His commands, He would be displeased and would punish them.
This was the simple beginning of Islam.
Adam and Eve invited their children to follow the Islamic way of
life. They and their children and their later generations followed
the teachings of Islam as propounded by Prophet Adam (peace be upon
him) for quite a long period of time. It was only later on that
certain people began disobeying Allah. Some of them began
worshipping other gods of their own making, some of them regarded
themselves as gods, while a few others even declared their freedom
to do as they pleased--defying God's orders. This is how kufr
(disbelief) came into being. Its essence lies in refusal to worship
God--pursuing the path of defiance to the Creator.
When kufr (disbelief) began to increase and multiply it affected
the life of society in a number of ways. Exploitation, oppression,
viciousness and immorality emerged in different forms. Life became
intolerable. Allah then appointed some righteous people to preach
the Message of Truth among the wrongdoers, invite them to the Right
Path and convert them to God-fearing people--worshipping and obeying
God Alone. In short, they were asked to perform a mission--to make
people righteous and true Muslims. These noble people entrusted with
this great mission were called Prophets or Messengers of Allah.
Allah sent these Prophets to different nations and countries. All of
them were honest, truthful, and people of noble character. All of
them preached the same religion--Islam. To mention a few
names--Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. All of them were the Prophets
of God and thousands of them were, over the centuries, sent into the
world to guide mankind.
In the history of the last few thousand years, one can see the
recurrent arrival of Prophets whenever kufr(disbelief) increased and
assumed menacing proportions. The prophets tried to stop the tide of
disbelief and invited people towards Islam. Some people adopted the
Islamic way of life, but others rejected it. The people who followed
the Prophets became Muslims and, after learning higher ethical and
moral disciplines from them, began to preach and spread nobility and
goodness. Having forgotten the teachings of Islam, later generations
of Muslims themselves gradually sank into disbelief. Whenever such a
situation arose, God sent a Prophet or Messenger to revive Islam.
This continual arrival of Messengers of God continued for thousands
of years. In the course of those long years, Islam was revived by
those Prophets, who restated the Message forgotten by their people.
At long last God sent the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who
revived Islam in such an outstanding fashion that it still exists
today and will continue to exist (God willing), till eternity.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in 571 C.E. in
the now famous city of Arabia called Makkah. Islam had no following
in Arabia at that time nor did it have any following anywhere else
in the world. Although the traces of teachings of the earlier
Prophets could be found among a few pious people who tried to
worship one and only one God and live a life of obedience to Him,
the true religion of God was lost in a maze of paganism and
pantheism. The pure worship of God, unadulterated by shirk (worship
of false gods), was nowhere to be found. Moral values had lost their
grip and people were indulging in all sorts of lax behavior and
wickedness. Such was the situation in Arabia as also in the whole
world at the close of the sixth century when God decided to send the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as His last Messenger. He spent
forty years of his life as a patient observer in the city of Makkah.
Everyone respected him for his noble qualities of head and heart.
But they were not aware that this man was destined to become the
world's greatest leader.
During the early years of his life, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) felt very much grieved to see the gross immorality of the
world of his time. There was exploitation of man by man. There was
injustice and tyranny. He was grieved and anxious, but was somewhat
silent as he, too, was unable to devise a remedy for the ailing
humanity of the day. At long last, God chose him as His Messenger.
When he attained the age of forty, God entrusted him with the
Mission of spreading Islam, the true religion of God, the religion
of peace and justice, by means of the Revelations which we now know
as the Quran.
Having been appointed as the Messenger of God, the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) started to communicate God's Message to his
people in Makkah. He began by inviting them to worship none but
God--their sole Creator and Master. People in general opposed him
and tried to prevent him from spreading Islam. He, however,
continued his work with unflinching determination and dedication. As
a result, many honest people gathered round him. They became his
staunch supporters. The teachings of the Messenger of God spread
slowly but surely outside his native Makkah to Arabia at large.
Those who had a reputation for honesty and moral excellence began to
accept the Faith, while opposition to them came from many ignorant
people and vicious quarters. This continued for thirteen years.
There was a gradual breaking of new ground. Islam was gaining a
following all over Arabia. This is one side of the story. On the
other hand, the defenders of the old order, people with vested
interests and steeped in ignorant customs were hardening their
opposition to Islam. Whenever new converts to Islam were presented,
they were abused, humiliated, beaten, tortured, expelled and even
put to death. Nevertheless, they remained firm and steadfast. At
last the Makkah elders devised a plot to assassinate the Messenger
of God in order to nip the Islamic movement in the bud. When affairs
reached that pitiful state, God ordered His Messenger to leave
Makkah and migrate to Madinah.
Having learned that the Prophet was planning to migrate from
Makkah, its leaders expedited their plans to murder him on his
journey outward. However, their disgraceful conspiracy could not
succeed. The Prophet arrived at Madinah safe and sound. This is the
most famous migration (hijrah) in the history of Islam. The Muslim
calendar begins from that day, the years being numbered "After
Hijrah" (A.H.).
Madinah, a city some 450 kilometers from Makkah, was growing as a
centre for Islam. A number of people had already been converted to
the new faith. Islamic teachings were winning new supporters every
day. Leaders of the two major tribes of Madinah had accepted Islam
and were ready to sacrifice their lives and property for the cause
of Islam. At this point, the Prophet started planning to move to
Madinah.
As soon as the Prophet settled in Madinah, the new Muslims started
to flock into the city from the four corners of Arabia. This further
strengthened the new centre. Islam was no longer a persecuted
religion; it was able to obtain a firm foothold and was provided
with the historic opportunity to establish an Islamic State and
society. This constitutes the most important development of the
post-Hijrah period. The leaders of Makkah, the defenders of the old
order, did not miss the significance of this change. They realised
that a new model was being set up, which would be a challenge to the
way they were running their society. This caused great anxiety
amongst them. They decided to crush this rising force while it was
still in its infancy. For they believed that it would be easy to
crush the Muslims while they were few and far between and lacked a
centralized power. Now things were changing. Muslims were
concentrating at one place and organizing a new society with its own
government. The prospects of annihilating such a state, once it was
firmly entrenched, looked remote to them. The unbelievers feared
that if the Muslims were allowed to gain momentum they would become
a great power. Consequently they hurried to band themselves together
with a view to eradicating the embryonic Islamic government at
Madinah. The Makkah leaders lost no time in issuing a clarion call
to their kith and kin and to all supporters of the old order in
neighboring towns and all over Arabia to rally round them to form a
force which could crush the Muslims. They formed a band of cavalry
which invaded Madinah and its environs time and again with all their
military might. They, however, could not defeat the Prophet and his
loyal supporters. In spite of all efforts on the part of the
unbelievers, Islam continued to spread in Arabia. The good, honest
folk continued to forsake kufr (disbelief) and come into the fold of
Islam.
Eventually, Islam gained a crowning success when the Prophet
entered victoriously into Makkah--once the stronghold of kufr. This
all happened within eight years of the establishment of the Islamic
State of Madinah. No sooner had Makkah submitted to the Islamic
forces than the remaining hostile groups of unbelievers of Arabia
began to surrender. Within the next year, the whole of Arabia
accepted Islam and the Muslims established a powerful government
over an area consisting of some twelve hundred thousand square
miles.
Arabia had the most singular government of the time, based as it
was on the principle of the sovereignty of God and the vicegerency
(Khilafah) of man. The law of the land was Islamic. The
administration of the state lay in the hands of the honest and pious
people. The country had no trace of violence, oppression, injustice
or immorality. Peace, justice, truth and honesty reigned supreme
everywhere. Many of the people of the country had come to possess
the highest moral attributes because they were honest in worshipping
God and obeying Him.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) changed the character of
Arabian life in a short period of only twenty-three years. He
instilled in the people a spirit that helped to serve the cause of
Islam. They set out with the great mission of spreading Islam
throughout the whole world. The Prophet passed away at the age of
sixty-three, after completing the greatest mission of all time.
The Companions of the Prophet took up the mission of the Prophet
after his death. They traveled to distant lands to spread the
Islamic teachings. They succeeded wherever they went. Obstacles that
stood in their way in spreading Islam were all surmounted. Islam
became so strong in such a short while that no one dared try to stop
its growth. The Muslims were spread out from India to Spain. They
changed the face of the globe. The entire population of the
countries they visited were so much impressed by their good example
and noble behavior that they began to enter quickly into the fold of
Islam. Wherever the Muslims went, they took their highest moral
attributes with them--so much so that immorality and injustice
dissolved in their presence. They transformed Godless people into
God-conscious people and gave them the Light of Knowledge and
strength of character. They changed their way of life so that virtue
and goodness could prevail. The entire social climate was reformed
and remoulded. The hands of the oppressors were held and a reign of
justice and fair play established. This was the greatest achievement
in the history of mankind.
The Companions of the Prophet rendered yet another great service to
mankind. This consisted in memorising the Quran and preserving it in
its original form as it was revealed to the Prophet. They wrote down
the Quran word for word and did not miss even a mark in its Arabic
orthography. Today, we are most fortunate in having the Quran
exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet, written and read in the
same language and in the same diction as it was written and read in
the time of the Prophet--about 1,400 years ago.
Another important aspect of their work was to preserve and
communicate to posterity the most detailed account of the Prophet's
life, speeches, instructions, commands, morals and behaviour. These
accounts by the Prophet's Companions are grouped together under the
all-embracing title of the Sunnah of Hadith (Traditions of the
Prophet). This is the greatest record ever preserved about the life
and activities of a man and is a great blessing to every generation.
For even after a lapse of 1,400 years after the Prophet's death,
people can still see and hear his teachings as the Companions of the
Prophet saw and heard them during his lifetime. Now anybody can
approach hadith literature and find out the Islamic point of view on
any subject. He can learn how to become obedient to God and what
type of man is liked by God.
The Quran and the Hadith are things of greatest importance to a
Muslim. With their preservation and security (God has promised to
secure and preserve them), Islam is protected for all time to come.
In the days before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam
was forgotten again and again after being revived, owing to lack of
the necessary care regarding the preservation and security of the
earlier Revealed Books and the details of the lives of their
Prophets. This was the reason why, after every Prophet, generations
following forgot the real teachings and drifted towards a life
devoid of good morals and norms of behaviour. But Islam, as revived
by the Prophet Muhammad, is bound to last for ever because the Book
of God and the traditions of the Prophet are both secure and
preserved in their original purity.
The Islamic way of life can be revived and reconstructed again and
again with the help of the Quran and the traditions if ever, God
forbid, the freshness of its true spirit wanes. The world no longer
requires any new Prophet to revive Islam to its pristine glory. It
is enough to have among us the learned people who know the Quran and
the traditions of the Prophet and who are able to apply their
teachings to their own lives and stimulate others to adopt and apply
them in their lives as well. This is how the stream of Islam will
continue to flow, refreshing the eternal thirst of mankind.
