Prophethood

A Brief History of Holy Prophet’s (SAWA) Life
His father’s name was Abdullah and his mother’s name was A’aminah. He was born on the seventh day of Month of Rabi al-Awwal in the year called the Year of Elephant (A’am al-Feel) in the Holy City of Mecca; he was appointed to prophethood at the age of forty years. He remained in Mecca for thirteen years and during this period he invited people towards Islam openly and secretly, during this period a group of people believed in him but the pagans and idol-worshippers with their complete stubbornness interfered and prevented the advancement and progress of the Islam.
They made serious efforts and endeavors in torturing Muslims and the Holy Prophet (S) to the extent that his own life was threatened with danger, then he was forced to migrate to the Holy City of Medina; gradually little by little the Muslims too joined him there and eventually the Holy City of Medina was turned into the prime capital of the Islamic Government and its military garrison. The Holy Prophet (S) continued propagation of commandments, guidance of the people and administering social affairs for a period of ten years; the Islamic Army continuously remained at the alert position for defense and war.
The Holy Prophet (S) lived in this world for a period of sixty three years; he passed away on the twenty-eighth of the Month of Safar in the eleventh year of migration, and was buried in the Holy City of Medina. Since his childhood, he was well mannered, truthful and righteous and due to this reason he was called as Muhammad, the trusted one (amin); from the point of view of good moral ethics he was the most famous among the people of his period.
Treachery and lying were never noticed with respect to him, he never oppressed any one, never performed indecent acts, treated the people with respect, was well mannered and courteous, showed favor and compassion towards the destitute and distressed; whatever he said, he acted upon it accordingly and it was due to the means of his loveable manners that people were inclined towards Islam and became Muslims with their own determination.
Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said: “A beggar came near the Holy Prophet (S) and asked for help, he got a little amount of dates from a helper as a debt and gave it to him; a little time passed but the means of paying the debt were not available to him. One day the person to whom he was indebted came and demanded his dates, he replied: ‘Right now I do not have them, whenever I am in a position to do so I would return them to you.’ He came again and heard the same reply from him. At the third time when he arrived and heard the same reply, he said: ‘O Prophet of Allah! Until when will you keep saying, God-willing, I would pay?’ The Holy Prophet (S) while encountering his impolite reply smiled and said: ‘Is there anyone who would give me dates as a debt?’ A person replied: ‘O Prophet of Allah, I would give you.’ He said: ‘Pay this man such amount of dates, the creditor said: ‘I do not demand more than half of this quantity; the Holy Prophet (S) replied: ‘I have bestowed the remaining half quantity upon you.’”4
Islamic Laws
The Islamic laws are not only limited to worshipping, commandment and individual obligations, rather it consists of a comprehensive social order and has commands and a program in various arenas of human beings; it has laws and programs regarding social, political, legal, and civil affairs. The Holy Prophet (S) and the Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (a.s.) governed the Muslims through the execution of the same laws; Muslims in the beginning of Islam through means implementation of the same programs were able to achieve all those advancements and astonishing progress, and established a powerful and magnificent government. We believe that the laws of Islam are better and more perfect than all the laws; if they could be executed completely between mankind and if they could be utilized for administering society, mankind would attain prosperity and goodness, oppression and tyranny would be completely rooted out, piece and coexistence would replace wars and confrontation; and poverty and unemployment would be totally eliminated.
We believe that: The laws of Islam are not defective and do not require reformation and completion. We know that the sacred Islamic ideology understands real interests of the people and has provided them the very best laws. We believe that every law that is against the Holy Qur’an is not in the interests of the people and does not have any worth. We believe that we should follow the Islamic commandments and the Holy Qur’an in all areas of life in order to become prosperous.
We know that the horrible state of affairs of Islamic nations has not been created because of the effect of Islam; instead their entire affliction is because of their refusal of the implementation of Islamic laws. Since, we left the Islamic laws behind and required medicines of sickness for our social problems from others, and only sufficed ourselves in the name of Islam, we have fallen into such a dark day.
We believe that if Muslims want to regain their lost prestige, dignity and grandeur and join the lines of progressive and advanced nations, they have no options except to become the real Muslims, and should implement all commandments of the Holy Qur’an and should take inspiration from its social programs. But so far the laws and programs of Islam remain only written with ink upon paper, and have not been implemented in their totality; we should not wait for progress and grandeur.
1. Did you think that We had created you for a playful purpose and that you were not to return to Us?” (The Holy Qur’an, 23:115)
2. Bihar al-Anwar, v. 11, p. 30.
3. Bihar al-Anwar, v. 11, p. 1-61.
4. Hayat al-Qulub, v.2, p-168.