Religion and Theology

It was the worst of times, it was the darkest of times, it was the time when the birth of a daughter forced a father to bury her alive, it was the time when the entire Arabian Peninsula was encircled by polytheistic beliefs. It was the time when the Holy Kabba was a bastion of more than three hundred idols. It was in the midst of such dark times when the benevolent for the entire mankind stepped into this world. He not only revolutionized the society but also chastised its people as if they have been reincarnated. He told them to follow the order of God as it is the only way which can immune them from the raging fire of Hell. He instructed them to remain steadfast to the word of Quran as implementing upon the message of this Holy book will provide them the solution of their every problem they encounter in everyday life. It was Muhammad the last messenger of Allah.

Out of all 1, 24,000 apostles send by Allah, Muhammad occupies a very special place primarily because other apostles that were send by Allah were for a specific nation or tribe but the beauty of Muhammad and his message is that his teachings and his preaching are not confined or limited to any nation or tribe but are a universal message which will serve as a beacon of guidance not only for Muslims but for followers of all religions throughout his life.

From a very young age Muhammad was known as Sadiq and Ameen meaning the most truthful and honest, a very prominent example justifying this example was when the dispute of the holy stone of Hajr-e-Aswad broke out in the Arab. Due to the religious importance associated with the stone each tribe wanted to gain the prestige of placing the stone. Following a number of negotiations which ended in deadlock a decision was made that the first person entering the Kabba the following day will be provided the authority of decision making. Fortunately, to every ones delight the first person to enter the Kabba was Muhammad. He placed the stone on a piece of mantle and asked all tribe leaders to hold each end of the mantle to place the stone at its appropriate place. It was due to the ingenious strategy and decision making ability of the prophet that helped in resolving a dispute which was on the brink of bloodshed. It is worth mentioning here that some other incidents and episodes like these which proved his wisdom and intelligence made him an ideal personality in Arabia even before he was declared the prophet of Allah.

Approaching towards the age of forty he became fond of solitude and isolation. Cave Hira became his only place where he would spend his days and nights with a short supply of dates and water. As written by Armstrong, It was in that very cave he was provided the message by Angel Gabriel about his prophet hood. Gabriel appeared in front of him and asked him to read, he replied that he cannot read. The question was repeated thrice and the same reply came. It was after this that Gabriel told Muhammad to read with the name of thy Lord who created Man from a clot of blood, and read in the name of your Lord who is the most Supreme. After some time a second revelation was made to prophet to publicly preach people about Islam and about the oneness of Allah (Armstrong, 2007).

Moving towards the second part of the discussion which is the political agenda of Muhammad, it is first important to understand the conditions of the Arabian society. According to Armstrong, during the last years of the sixth century, Mecca had transformed into the most important settlement in the Arabian peninsula. Such economic development altered lifestyle which was superseded by rampant and ruthless capitalism (Armstrong, 2007). Muhammad realized that Quraysh were on a dangerous path and required an ideology which could save them from their ruthless disintegration. It was the time when he realized that any political oriented solution of religious nature was mandatory. Not after a long period from there onwards Muhammad was declared as the prophet of God and when he tried to integrate this ideology he was confronted with the worst kind of oppression and torment.  
 
Muhammad and his handful of faithful followers provided the most supreme examples of tolerance and patience comparison of which is hardly available in any other religion. When the opposition from the pagans acquired its zenith, the followers of Muhammad decided to migrate to Yathrib (now known as Madina). As in the words of Armstrong this was an absolutely unprecedented step for an Arab. The choice of Yathrib once again involved political convenience for the followers of the embryonic religion as the various tribal groups in the state of internal warfare and were willing to embrace Islam as a political and spiritual solution of the oasis. The event of Hijrat or migration is considered such a landmark in the history of Islam that the Muslim date their era not from the birth of Muhammad but from his year of the Hijra as in the words of Armstrong.

To a certain extent the argument raised by Armstrong about the role of Muhammad merely as a prophet and not as a political leader can be subjected to debate. From the examples stated above it is clear enough that despite of his reluctance he was acknowledged as the spiritual and political leader by the entire peninsula primarily because of his supreme attitude, ingenious strategy making and submitting to the will of Allah under all circumstances. In addition to this his efforts in uniting the tribes of Yathrib which were earlier at loggerheads and his concern for the Arabian society which was on the brink of disintegration were also some of the factors that helped in the comprehensible manifestation of his politically designed agenda.  (Armstrong, 2007)

In years to come we see that during the strategy making of any battle, Muhammads advice was provided foremost priority and it was mainly due to his spiritual cum political leadership which helped in providing a new dimension to the fabric of Islam such as in the Battle of Badr and Ahzab which are considered a landmark victory for the newly emerging religion.  (Armstrong, 2007)

As far as the question about the triumph of the political agenda of Muhammad is concerned we see that during his lifetime he was very successfully able to establish a political system which was based on the doctrines of Islam and Islamic Law and even showed its efficacy during the times of preceding caliphs like Abu Bakr and Umar, who helped in the accurate projection of Islamic principles such as social and political justice, but in contemporary times we see that no Muslim country or state follows these doctrines in its authentic way as it was exercised during the time of Muhammad or the Caliphs. Even though much light has not been shed by Armstrong on this aspect, I believe that the concomitant development of the democracy and its subsequent acceptance by states as the form of governance and ideology laid down the foundation which eroded the true essence of Islamic values and contributed to the decline of the Islamic empire.  

As discussed earlier that Muhammad was not send for any specific nation or tribe but for the entire humanity as that is why the message of Muhammad is for the entire mankind seeking to guide anyone who wants to enlighten himself with the essence of the Hadith and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. By going through Islamic history we can also easily witness that when Muhammad marched into the city of Mecca as a victor he established a state which was based completely on the Shariah laws defined by the Quran and all of this helped the Muslims not only during his lifetime but also after his demise when Islam emerged as the most powerful religion of the world.

All such factors collectively converge on the point that even though Muhammad was the last messenger of Allah, it was mainly due to this reason that his contribution in conducting politics according to the principles of Islam comprise an integral part of his eternal message and that manifests the cohesion of his teachings which have always been a source of ultimate guidance for Muslims dwelling around the world.