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| History |
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. |
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| 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
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| 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.
Author:
Syed Abul Ala Maududi
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