خبر سار جداااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااا لمرضى السرطان شفاهم الله

إكتشاف علاج نهائي للسرطان بدون التدخل الجراحي او الكيميائي باذن الله

أخيرا عقار 'الرحمة' لعلاج السرطان في مصر برعاية سعودية

يبدو ان 'السرطان' سوف يتحول في الغد القريب بفضل الله الي مجرد مرض عادي يشبه نزلة البرد تتم معالجته بجرعات دواء متوافرة رخيصة الثمن كانت 'الاسبوع' قد نشرت قصة الدكتور محمد النجار استاذ الطب الشرعي بجامعة الاسكندرية الذي توصل الي اختراع علاج لمرض السرطان بكل انواعه، وقام بتسجيل براءة اختراعه باكاديمية البحث العلمي في مصر وظل في محاولات مضنية لاقناع وزارة الصحة المصرية بتبني هذا الاختراع الذي يمكنه ان يمحو آلام البشر خاصة بعد أن استفحل المرض في العصر الحديث وبعد ان ثبتت الاثار الجانبية الحادة للعلاج الاشعاعي والكيماوي للمرضي وعدم فاعليته في الشفاء بنسبة 100 % .. حاول د. النجار اقناع المسئولين الذين تشبثوا بالروتين وطلبوا عرض الموضوع علي الازهر!!! وتساءل د. النجار عن علاقة الازهر بالدواء، وظلت المحاولات والمهاترات العلمية مما دفع المخترع للتفكير في الهجرة لامريكا وبالفعل انهالت عليه عروض شركات الدواء الامريكية لشراء العقار الذي كان يطلق عليه 'رودكس' ووقف سعر العقار حائلا دون اتمام الصفقة حيث اشترط د. النجار الا يزيد ثمن حقنة الدواء علي (300 جنيه) الامر الذي بات مستحيلا من وجهة نظر الامريكان لان البيزنس لا مكان فيه 'للعواطف المصرية ...

وانهالت العروض الاوربية لشراء العقار ومنها اليونان التي تحمس رئيس وزرائها بنفسه للتعاقد مع المخترع المصري حتي ظهر في الافق عرض سعودي تحمس له الدكتور النجار لأن صاحب العرض كان سمو الامير فهد بن عبد الله بن محمد آل سعود الذي قام بالاتفاق شخصيا مع الدكتور النجار الذي اكد ل'الاسبوع' انه في خلال ايام قليلة سوف يتم التعاقد مع الامير السعودي الذي تبني العقار وسوف يطلق عليه اسم 'عقار الرحمة' بعد ان اثبت فعاليته في علاج حوالي '300 حالة مرضية' في معظم انواع السرطان 'الغدد الليمفاوية والرئة والقولون والبنكرياس' وسوف يتم منح الجنسية السعودية للمخترع المصري ليتمكن بعدها من انشاء '5 مراكز' لعلاج السرطان في القاهرة والاسكندرية وطنطا ودمنهور والاشراف عليها مع فريق علي اعلي مستوي من اطباء واساتذة الاورام المصريين علي ان يطلق عليها 'مراكز لعلاج السرطان السريع في خلال شهر' وذلك بواسطة عقار الرحمة الذي لن يباع في الصيدليات وانما يتم العلاج به فقط داخل المراكز ولايتعدي ثمن الحقنة الواحدة (300 جنيه) وتكفي حقنتان من العقار لعلاج سرطان الدم 'اللوكيميا' إلي جانب مستحضرات طبية أخري من العقار لعلاج أنواع السرطان المختلفة وسوف يجري تصنيع العقار في اكبر مصنع أدوية بمدينة الرياض بالسعودية مع وجود فرع آخر بالإمارات وتم بالفعل اختيار اول موقع بالإسكندرية بجوار الحديقة الدولية ويجري البحث عن المواقع الاخري ليتم العمل علي قدم وساق لنتمكن من محو آلام المرضي في مصر والوطن العربي

فقط لأمانة التبليغ والله أعلم
وهذا رقم التليفون المحمول الخاص بالطبيب مكتشف العلاج الدكتور محمد النجار 0020105080657
بالله عليكم لا تدعوا الرساله تقف عندكم فتأكدوا أن هناك من ينتظرها وفي حاجة ماسة لها
ملاحظة هذا الطبيب مصري ومقيم في مصر
ونسأل الله الشفاء للجميع


(خير الناس أنفعهم للناس)

Egypt in September was full of championships. The world championship of Squash in Jizah, Cairo. And the world championship of Billiard in Hurghada. Besides an international one for fast boats. And another international one for bowling in Sharm El-Sheikh.

It was nice, but hard. Because they are in the same days and month. You had to choose what to attend.

But anyway, I love Egypt.....

Are You Ready for Ramadhan?

We are two weeks away from the month of Ramadhan. Here are some useful actions to help us to prepare spiritually and physically for the most blessed month of the year.

1) Read up on the Fiqh or Rules of Fasting: A little knowledge about the requirements of fasting can help us to fast with confidence.

To begin your reading, some basic information can be found at www.Ramadhanzone.com

2) Increase your Sadaqah (voluntary charity) - Giving charity is rewarding at any time but especially so during Shaban and Ramadhan.

The Prophet Muhammad (s) said: "Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and the needy travellers." (Bukhari)

You can give Sadaqah online instantly with your credit or debit card. It's a quick, easy and secure way to help some of the world's poorest people.

3) Sponsor an Orphan:- One way of giving regular sadaqah is by sponsoring an orphan. Sponsorship can help transform the life of an orphan and give you a personal insight into the life of a child in need.

The Prophet (s) said: "I, and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in Paradise like this", and he put his index and middle fingers together.


4) Recite more Qur'an: Every letter of the Qur'an has ten rewards. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "Whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a tenfold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter."(Tirmidhi)

You can find basic information on the benefits of reciting the Qur'an at www.Ramadhanzone.com

5) Pay your Zakat: The Arabic word "zakat" means purity, increase and blessing; and giving it in charity purifies, increases and blesses your wealth. The Blessed Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "Pay zakat out of your property, for truly it is a purifier which purifies you, and be kind to your relatives, and acknowledge the rights of the poor, neighbours and beggars."


6) Give Sadaqah Jariyah to receive a continuous flow of rewards: Waqf is a form of continuous charity (sadaqah jariyah), and the rewards for this type of charity continue even after the donor's death - for as long as people continue to benefit from the Waqf.

A Waqf share is an ideal gift for parents, children, relatives and friends, as it brings benefits in this world and in the hereafter. You can also make a special gift for the deceased - especially parents and relatives.

The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said:

"When a person dies their actions come to an end but three, ongoing charity, knowledge from which people continue to benefit and righteous offspring who pray for them" Narrated by Muslim.


"Brought from Islamic -Relief"

The international and national organisations nowadyas all over thw world are discussing the issue of war criminals. They've got a suggestion to release the war criminals who are old-aged. I think this is wrong. Simply, because most war criminals are being caught at old ages. Most of them are considered criminals of war because they were leaders killing or robbing people and rights. And in the whole world, the young leaders are very few.

They are discussing a wrong opinion based on a wrong system .... that is .... young leaders are rare.

الاسم الرسمي
جمهــورية مصر العــربية

العاصمة
القاهرة هى أكبر المدن في العالم العربي وأفريقيا والشرق الأوسط. وهى أيضاُ تعتبر المركز الصناعي والتجاري لمصر

المدن الرئيسية الأخرى
مدينة الإسكندرية – طنطا – بورسعيد - الأقصر- أسوان – الزقازيق - أسيوط.

المساحة
الكلية: 1.001.450كم مربع

مساحة اليابسة:995.450 كم مربع

مساحة المياه:6.000 كم مربع

الموقع
تقع شمال قارة إفريقيا يحدها البحر المتوسط شمالا, وفلسطين والبحر الأحمر من الشرق , وشمال السودان من الجنوب,و ليبيا من الغرب. تفصل قناة السويس شبة جزيرة سيناء (الجزء الوحيد من مصر الذي يقع في قارة آسيا) عن باقي أجزاء البلاد.

الإحداثيات الجغرافية
27.00 شمالا ، 30.00 شرقاٌ

تعداد السكان
505.756 ,77 (تقديرات يوليو 2005)

اللغة
العربية (اللغة الرسمية) والإنجليزية والفرنسية شائعتا الاستخدام.

العلم
مكون من ثلاثة ألوان هى الأحمر والأبيض والأسود يتوسطهم نسر صلاح الدين الذهبي ويعد الرمز الوطني لمصر. وهذه الألوان ترمز الى دماء الشهداء وثورة الاستقلال وعهد الاحتلال الأسود على الترتيب.

العملة
الجنية المصري =100 قرشاٌ

واحد دولار أمريكي = حوالي 5.75 جنية مصري (حتى شهر أبريل 2006)

العيد القومي
23 يوليو ذكرى ثورة يوليو 1952

يوم الاستقلال
يوم 28 فبراير 1922 (عن بريطانيا)

حدود الأرض
الإجمالي: 2665 كم

دول الحدود: فلسطين 277 كم ، ليبيا 1115 كم ، السودان 1273 كم.

التضاريس
صحراء شاسعة يتوسطها وادي النيل والدلتا

المناخ
حار جاف صيفاٌ، معتدل في الشتاء

الموقع الجغرافى:


الحدود الجغرافية : تقع مصر في الركن الشمالي الشرقي من قارة أفريقيا. يحدها من الشمال الحدود الدولية للبحر الابيض المتوسط. ويحدها شرقاً الحدود الدولية للبحر الأحمر. ويحدها في الشمال الشرقي الحدود الدولية مع فلسطين. ويحدها من الغرب الحدود الدولية مع الجماهيرية الليبية · ويحدها جنوباً الحدود الدولية مع جمهورية السودان.

المساحة : تبلغ مساحة جمهورية مصر العربية حوالي ( 1.2 مليون كم2 ).

العاصمة : مدينة القاهرة عاصمة جمهورية مصر العربية وهي مدينة عريقة ذات مكانة بارزة بين عواصم العالم·

التضاريس : يمكن تقسيم تضاريس جمهورية مصر العربية إلي أربعة أقسام رئيسية :

1 - وادي النيل والدلتا : يبدأ وادي النيل جنوباً من شمال وادي حلفا حتى البحر المتوسط وينقسم إلـي مصـر العليـا ( الصعيد) من حلفا إلى جنوب القاهرة ، ومصر السفلي (دلتا النيل) وتمتد من شمال القاهرة إلي البحر المتوسط. ويمتد نهر النيل من الحدود المصرية جنوباً إلى مصبيه في البحر المتوسط شمالاً· ويتفرع النيل شمال القاهرة إلي فرعين رئيسيين هما فرع دمياط وفرع رشيد اللذان يحصران بينهما مثلث الدلتا الذي يعد من أخصب الأراضي الزراعية·

2- الصحراء الغربية : تمتد من وادي النيل في الشرق حتى الحدود الليبية في الغرب ومن البحر المتوسط شمالاً إلي الحدود المصرية الجنوبية ، وتنقسم إلي : - القسم الشمالي ويشمل السهل الساحلي والهضبة الشمالية ومنطقة المنخفضات العظمي والتي تضم واحة سيوة ومنخفض القطارة ووادي النطرون والواحات البحرية· - القسم الجنوبي ويشمل واحات الفرافرة والخارجة والداخلة وفي أقصي الجنوب واحة العوينات.

3- الصحراء الشرقية :تمتد بين وادي النيل غرباً والبحر الأحمر وخليج السويس وقناة السويس شرقاً ومن بحيرة المنزلة علي البحر المتوسط شمالاً حتى حدود مصر مع السودان جنوباً· وتتميز الصحراء الشرقية بوجود المرتفعات الجبلية التي تطل علي البحر الأحمر ويصل ارتفاعها إلي حوالي 3000 قدم فوق سطح البحر وتعتبر هذه الصحراء بمثابة مخزون الموارد الطبيعية المصرية من خامات المعادن المختلفة من ذهب وفحم وبترول·

4- شبه جزيرة سيناء : وهي علي شكل هضبة مثلثة الشكل قاعدته علي البحر المتوسط شمالاً ورأسه جنوباً في منطقة رأس محمد وخليج العقبة من الشرق وخليج السويس وقناة السويس من الغرب وتنقسم سيناء من حيث التضاريس إلي ثلاثة أقسام رئيسية هي :

- القسم الجنوبي : وهو منطقة وعرة شديدة الصلابة تتألف من جبال جرانيتية شاهقة الارتفاع ، ويصل ارتفاع جبل كاترين نحو 2640 متراً فوق سطح البحر وهو أعلي قمة جبلية في مصر·

- القسم الأوسط: منطقة الهضاب الوسطي أو هضبة التيه وتنحدر أودية هذه الهضبة نحو البحر المتوسط انحداراً تدريجياً·

- القسم الشمالي : وهو يضم المنطقة المحصورة بين البحر المتوسط شمالاً وهضبة التيه جنوباً وهو عبارة عن أرض منبسطة ومنطقة سهلية تكثر فيها موارد المياه الناتجة عن الأمطار التي تنحدر مياهها من المرتفعات الجنوبية وهضبات المنطقة الوسطي·

As a result of the cartoons about the prophet Muhammed plus other cartoons about the prophet Jesus where both were insulting the both prophets and were totally against human rights, the German government recently has adopted a new rule of that kind of blasphemy to avoid conflicts. The new law says that any one who insults or libels any religious symbol will be prisoned as a punishment for a period that extends to three years.

So, long live Germany who adopts peace ... I wish all other countries punish blasphemy actions like Germany.

ما أجمل الخط العربى وما أشمله.

الروابط التالية هى بعض مواقع للخط العربى:

http://www.tshkeel.com/gall/categories.php?cat_id=20

http://www.tahayati.com/lohathatarabee.htm

http://www.isesco.org.ma/arabic/EcrArab/Tcent.htm

http://www.sh2soft.net/nuke/modules.php?name=Fonts&l_op=ViewFont&cid=1

http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D8%B7_%D9%83%D9%88%D9%81%D9%8A

http://www.iraqiartist.com/Arabic/articles_2/Article_166.htm

http://www.moon15.com/index.php?action=file&id=59

http://arabscastle.com/download/browse.php?pg_which=2&cat=37

http://www.kuwaitculture.org/tashkeelee/samyaomar.htm

Excerpt from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s translation of the Burda of Imam Busiri: On The Praise of The Prophet, UPON HIM BE PRAYERS AND PEACE


I have neglected the path of the one who brought black nights
To life by praying, until even his feet swelled with distress.

To quell his hunger he tightened his midriff
By strapping stones to his soft and strong ribs.

Lofty mountains, to entice him, draped themselves in gold,
But he showed them a towering soul, perfectly content, without desire.

The extremity of his needs only confirmed his freedom from desire
Need never overshadows Virtue that is firmly rooted.

How could the need of such a man be answered by the world,
When without him this world would never have come into being!

Muhammad, lord of both worlds, lord of both species,
Lord of both assemblages Arabs and all others.

Our Prophet, commander of right, forbidder of wrong,
No soul kept his word more justly, whether ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

He is the beloved whose intercession is hoped for
As arms against a host of relentless calamities.

He called on God. Whoever clings to him
Clings to a rope that will never unravel nor break.

His form and character surpassed even the previous prophets,
And none have approached him in knowledge or nobility.

They all seek from the Messenger of God
Cupfuls from his ocean or sips from his unceasing rain.

They all stand before him according to their limits,
As if dots on his knowledge or diacritical marks on his wisdom.

He is the one whose meaning and form were perfected,
And then Originator of souls chose him as the beloved.

Incomparable, his beauty has no peer
The essence of beauty itself is in his nature.

Leave aside what the Christians have claimed for their Prophet
Then praise him as you like, but do so wisely.

Ascribe to his essence what you wish of honor,
Attribute to his exalted status what you will of greatness!

Truly, the Messenger of God’s bounty
Cannot be overstated by two lips and a tongue.
If a miracle could equal his stature in magnitude,
The mere mention of his name would revive decaying bones.

Concerned for our welfare, he did not confuse us with matters
We could not fathom, so we neither wandered nor wavered

Human beings cannot grasp his meaning
Even those at his side could not keep up with him.

He is like the sun, small to the eye when seen from afar,
But when glimpsed close up, it dazzles and overwhelms.

How can slumberous souls in this world grasp his reality
Distracted as they are by the strength of their dreams?

The extent of what we know of him is this: He is a man,
And yet, without exception, he is the best of God’s creation.

All of the signs brought by the noble prophets before him
Came to them through his light alone.

He is bounteous sun and they her orbiting planets
She reveals their lights for humanity in the darkness of night

Until finally his light dawned on the horizon,
And his radiant guidance suffused the world and brought life to countless civilizations.

What excellence lies in the birth of a prophet adorned with such character!
Beauty itself shines forth from his smiling face!

Exquisite as a lily, illustrious as a full moon,
Magnanimous as the ocean, persistent as time.

Due to his majesty, even when alone,
He seemed surrounded by military might and cohorts of courtiers.

It is as if precious pearls, locked in their shells,
Poured from the treasury of his sweet mouth and smile.

As if, face to face with the sun,
Minds were forced to blink at the mere sight of him.

No perfume is as sweet as the ground that holds his bones.
What Paradise awaits the one who breathes its scent or brushed lips against its soil!




------------------------------------------------------------Guidance Magazine- Summer 2003 - Page 48-49

Its always been interesting for me to find the origin of things, how it started and how it was adapted to our new world, below is an article I found about the origin of El-Fanous ______________________________________________________________________ Nobody has ever questioned about the origins of the Fanous; when and where did it start? Actually, there are different interpretations to this question. The strongest three estimations date the Ramadan lantern to the Fatimid reign; but when exactly and how, that is what makes the difference. The first narration states that when Al-Moezz ledin Allah, the first Fatimid Caliph came to Cairo in 362 of the lunar calendar, Caireans received him carrying colorful lanterns to light the streets leading to his palace. This was the fifth night of Ramadan. Since then, the lantern has been used during the holy month. Another story suggests that the lanterns were used to light the procession that viewed the crescent to announce the start and end of each day's fasting. At that time, fasting only started when the lanterns were extinguished. However, the most interesting story about the Fanous is that during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah, women were only allowed to go outside their homes during Ramadan, and they were proceeded by a little boy carrying a copper lantern so that men in the streets would move away. But even after the laws were softened and women were permitted to go out, people liked the lanterns so much that they made their children carry them in the streets every Ramadan. Since then, Ramadan has never existed without a Fanous and it never will

Source: EL Mashbakeya Magazine

Well, i'm so happy.... on that day 17th April i was contacted by two people.

the first is the cultural and literal committee in my college telling me that i won the first place award in the annually poetry writing award...after winning the same place for the last year to be the no. 1 winner two years in row in the same competition...

the second was by the british council informing me that i won a prize in the ZeroCarbon City climate change and environment exhibition, that was sponsored by the Eguptian ministery of environmental affairs and Aghakhan foundation...

i went to the British council and took the prize on 19th April and going to take the poetry prize on 22th April...
so, congratulations to me!!

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/69/story_6982_1.html#cont

Islam: The Next American Religion?

The U.S. began as a haven for Christian outcasts. But
what religion fits our current zeitgeist? The answer
may be Islam.

Americans tend to think of their country as, at the
very least, a nominally Christian nation. Didn't the
Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice their
Christian religion? Don't Christian values of
righteousness under God, and freedom, reinforce
America's democratic, capitalist ideals?

True enough. But there's a new religion on the block
now, one that fits the current zeitgeist nicely. It's
Islam.

Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing
religious community in the United States. This is not
just because of immigration. More than 50% of
America's six million Muslims were born here.
Statistics like these imply some basic agreement
between core American values and the beliefs that
Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look
beyond popular stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam
are surprised to find themselves on familiar ground.

Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the
answer may be yes.

Islam is monotheistic. Muslims worship the same God as
Jews and Christians. They also revere the same
prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from Abraham,
the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and
messenger of God, to Jesus--not leaving out Noah, Job,
or Isaiah along the way. The concept of a
Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the
1940s in America. Now, as a nation, we may be
transcending it, turning to a more inclusive
"Abrahamic" view.

In January, President Bush grouped mosques with
churches and synagogues in his inaugural address. A
few days later, when he posed for photographers at a
meeting of several dozen religious figures, the
Shi'ite imam Muhammad Qazwini, of Orange County,
Calif., stood directly behind Bush's chair like a
presiding angel, dressed in the robes and turban of
his south Iraqi youth.

Islam is democratic in spirit. Islam advocates the
right to vote and educate yourself and pursue a
profession. The Qur'an, on which Islamic law is based,
enjoins Muslims to govern themselves by discussion and
consensus. In mosques, there is no particular priestly
hierarchy. With Islam, each individual is responsible
for the condition of her or his own soul. Everyone
stands equal before God.
Americans, who mostly associate Islamic government
with a handful of tyrants, may find this independent
spirit surprising, supposing that Muslims are somehow
predisposed to passive submission. Nothing could be
further from the truth. The dictators reigning today
in the Middle East are not the result of Islamic
principles. They are more a result of global economics
and the aftermath of European colonialism. Meanwhile,
like everyone else, average Muslims the world over
want a larger say in what goes on in the countries
where they live. Those in America may actually succeed
in it. In this way, America is closer in spirit to
Islam than many Arab countries.

Islam contains an attractive mystical tradition.
Mysticism is grounded in the individual search for
God. Where better to do that than in America, land of
individualists and spiritual seekers? And who might
better benefit than Americans from the centuries-long
tradition of teachers and students that characterize
Islam. Surprising as it may seem, America's
best-selling poet du jour is a Muslim mystic named
Rumi, the 800-year-old Persian bard and founder of the
Mevlevi Path, known in the West as the Whirling
Dervishes. Even book packagers are now rushing him
into print to meet and profit from mainstream demand
for this visionary. Translators as various as Robert
Bly, Coleman Barks, and Kabir and Camille Helminski
have produced dozens of books of Rumi's verse and have
only begun to bring his enormous output before the
English-speaking world. This is a concrete poetry of
ecstasy, where physical reality and the longing for
God are joined by flashes of metaphor and insight that
continue to speak across the centuries.

Islam is egalitarian. From New York to California, the
only houses of worship that are routinely integrated
today are the approximately 4,000 Muslim mosques. That
is because Islam is predicated on a level playing
field, especially when it comes to standing before
God. The Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, "under
God") and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (all people are
"created equal") express themes that are also basic to
Islam.

Islam is often viewed as an aggressive faith because
of the concept of jihad, but this is actually a
misunderstood term. Because Muslims believe that God
wants a just world, they tend to be activists, and
they emphasize that people are equal before God. These
are two reasons why African Americans have been drawn
in such large numbers to Islam. They now comprise
about one-third of all Muslims in America.

Meanwhile, this egalitarian streak also plays itself
out in relations between the sexes. Muhammad, Islam's
prophet, actually was a reformer in his day. Following
the Qur'an, he limited the number of wives a man could
have and strongly recommended against polygamy. The
Qur'an laid out a set of marriage laws that guarantees
married women their family names, their own
possessions and capital, the right to agree upon whom
they will marry, and the right to initiate divorce. In
Islam's early period, women were professionals and
property owners, as increasingly they are today. None
of this may seem obvious to most Americans because of
cultural overlays that at times make Islam appear to
be a repressive faith toward women--but if you look
more closely, you can see the egalitarian streak
preserved in the Qur'an finding _expression in
contemporary terms. In today's Iran, for example, more
women than men attend university, and in recent local
elections there, 5,000 women ran for public office.

Islam shares America's new interest in food purity and
diet. Muslims conduct a monthlong fast during the holy
month of Ramadan, a practice that many Americans
admire and even seek to emulate. I happened to spend
quite a bit of time with a non-Muslim friend during
Ramadan this year. After a month of being exposed to a
practice that brings some annual control to human
consumption, my friend let me know, in January, that
he was "doing a little Ramadan" of his own. I asked
what he meant. "Well, I'm not drinking anything or
smoking anything for at least a month, and I'm going
off coffee." Given this friend's normal intake of
coffee, I could not believe my ears.

Muslims also observe dietary laws that restrict the
kind of meat they can eat. These laws require that the
permitted, or halal, meat is prepared in a manner that
emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of
animals. These laws ride on the same trends that have
made organic foods so popular.

Islam is tolerant of other faiths. Like America, Islam
has a history of respecting other religions. In
Muhammad's day, Christians, Sabeans, and Jews in
Muslim lands retained their own courts and enjoyed
considerable autonomy. As Islam spread east toward
India and China, it came to view Zoroastrianism,
Hinduism, and Buddhism as valid paths to salvation. As
Islam spread north and west, Judaism especially
benefited. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after
centuries as outcasts, only came about after Muslims
took the city in 638. The first thing the Muslims did
there was to rescue the Temple Mount, which by then
had been turned into a garbage heap.

Today, of course, the long discord between Israel and
Palestine has acquired harsh religious overtones. Yet
the fact remains that this is a battle for real
estate, not a war between two faiths. Islam and
Judaism revere the same prophetic lineage, back to
Abraham, and no amount of bullets or barbed wire can
change that. As The New York Times recently reported,
while Muslim/Jewish tensions sometimes flare on
university campuses, lately these same students have
found ways to forge common links. For one thing, the
two religions share similar dietary laws, including
ritual slaughter and a prohibition on pork. Joining
forces at Dartmouth this fall, the first kosher/halal
dining hall is scheduled to open its doors this
autumn. That isn't all: They're already planning a
joint Thanksgiving dinner, with birds dressed at a
nearby farm by a rabbi and an imam. If the American
Pilgrims were watching now, they'd be rubbing their
eyes with amazement. And, because they came here
fleeing religious persecution, they might also
understand.

Islam encourages the pursuit of religious freedom. The
Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is not the world's
first story of religious emigration. Muhammad and his
little band of 100 followers fled religious
persecution, too, from Mecca in the year 622. They
only survived by going to Madinah, an oasis a few
hundred miles north, where they established a new
community based on a religion they could only practice
secretly back home. No wonder then that, in our own
day, many Muslims have come here as pilgrims from
oppression, leaving places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and
Kosovo, where being a Muslim may radically shorten
your life span. When the 20th century's list of
emigrant exiles is added up, it will prove to be heavy
with Muslims, that's for sure.

All in all, there seems to be a deep resonance between
Islam and the United States. Although one is a world
religion and the other is a sovereign nation, both are
traditionally very strong on individual
responsibility. Like New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free
or Die," America is wedded to individual liberty and
an ethic based on right action. For a Muslim,
spiritual salvation depends on these. This is best
expressed in a popular saying: Even when you think God
isn't watching you, act as if he is.

Who knows? Perhaps it won't be long now before words
like salat (Muslim prayer) and Ramadan join karma and
Nirvana in Webster's Dictionary, and Muslims take
their place in America's mainstream.

إنى طـلـبـت الشعــر أن يتعـطــف
فـأجــــابنى هـــيهـات أن أتوقـف

إنى سـأنـظـمها عـرائـس ترتـدى
ثــوبـا من الـنـور البهى مهفهفـا

وبكـفـهـا كأس الهـنـاء ومن رأى
تلك الـكـؤوس يـسـره أن يرشـف

خطرت فكان الصوت صوت بــلابل
والـقـد منها كـان قـدا أهـيـفــا

والعطر يزكو من ثـنـايا عـطـفـهـا
والبشـر قـد عـم الجميع وقـد طـفا

يتساءلـون فـتـنحـنى وتجـيـبـهــم
الـيـوم مـيـلاد الـنـبـى الـمـصطـفى

الـيـوم مـيـلاد الـسـعــادة والهـدى
اليـوم مـيـلاد الـمـحــبـة والـوفـــا

الـيـوم ميـلاد الـذى قــد جــاءنــا
وعـليه طـيـر الخـير حام ورفـرف

من جــاء يهديــنـا لسـبـل هـنائـنـا
يدعـو الجـميع إلى الهدى متلطـفا

متـبســمـا ومـسـلـمـا ومـقــدمــــا
بـيـمـيـنه أرقى الهـدايا مـصحـفـا

عـرف الجـمـيـع به قـداسـة ربـهـم
لـولا الـنـبـى مـحـمـد لـم تـعــرفـا

لــولاه ظــل الـنـاس هـلـكى كـلهـم
يتخـبطــون يـحـول بينهـم الجـفـا

ولـد الـنـبـى الهـاشـمـى فأقـشـعـت
ظـلـمـاتـنا والجهـل ولى واخـتـفى

وزها بـه نـور الـسـعــادة والهـدى
لـولاه غـاب النـور عـنا وانـطـفـا

عـذرا رسـول الله أن قـصــرت فى
وصـف فـإن جـمالـكـم لن يوصف

جـاءت قــديــمـا ذرة مـن نـوركــم
قـد جـمـل الـرحـمـن مـنها يوسفا

والله لـو جــد الـعــبــاقــر كـلـهــم
فى وصـف أفـضـال لـه لـن تعـرفا

والله لـو مــاء الـبـحـار بجـمـعـهـا
كان المـداد لـوصـف أحمد ما كفى

والله لو قـلـم الزمـان من الـبـدايـة
لـلـنهـاية ظـل يكـتـب ما اكـتـفـى

والله لو قـبـر الـرســول تـفـجــرت
أ نــواره لـلـبــدر ولــى واخـتـفـى

تـكـفـيـه لـقـيـا فى السماوات العلا
وبحـضـرة الــرب الجـليـل تشرف

يـكـفـيـه أن الـبـدر يـخـسـف نـوره
لكــن نــور محـمـد لـن يخـســـف

للشيخ: محمود هاشم

Prophet's Biography by a Muslim
by Muhammad Hamidullah (Centre Culturel Islamique, Paris, 1969)
[Taken from Introduction to Islam by Muhammad Hamidullah (Centre Culturel
Islamique, Paris, 1969), with some changes to make it more readable. The changes
are marked by pairs of brackets like around this paragraph. Dr. Hamidullah's
present address is: 9 Beaver Court, Wilkes Barre PA, 18702, USA.]

IN the annals of men, individuals have not been lacking who conspicuously devoted their
lives to the socio-religious reform of their connected peoples. We find them in every
epoch and in all lands. In India, there lived those who transmitted to the world the Vedas,
and there was also the great Gautama Buddha; China had its Confucius; the Avesta was
produced in Iran. Babylonia gave to the world one of the greatest reformers, the Prophet
Abraham (not to speak of such of his ancestors as Enoch and Noah about whom we have
very scanty information). The Jewish people may rightly be proud of a long series of
reformers: Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, and Jesus among others.

2. Two points are to note: Firstly these reformers claimed in general to be the bearers
each of a Divine mission, and they left behind them sacred books incorporating codes of
life for the guidance of their peoples. Secondly there followed fratricidal wars, and
massacres and genocides became the order of the day, causing more or less a complete
loss of these Divine messages. As to the books of Abraham, we know them only by the
name; and as for the books of Moses, records tell us how they were repeatedly destroyed
and only partly restored.

Concept of God

3. If one should judge from the relics of the past already brought to light of the homo
sapiens, one finds that man has always been conscious of the existence of a Supreme
Being, the Master and Creator of all. Methods and approaches may have differed, but the
people of every epoch have left proofs of their attempts to obey God. Communication
with the Omnipresent yet invisible God has also been recognised as possible in
connection with a small fraction of men with noble and exalted spirits. Whether this
communication assumed the nature of an incarnation of the Divinity or simply resolved
itself into a medium of reception of Divine messages (through inspiration or revelation),
the purpose in each case was the guidance of the people. It was but natural that the
interpretations and explanations of certain systems should have proved more vital and
convincing than others.

3/a. Every system of metaphysical thought develops its own terminology. In the course of
time terms acquire a significance hardly contained in the word and translations fall short
of their purpose. Yet there is no other method to make people of one group understand
the thoughts of another. Non-Muslim readers in particular are requested to bear in mind
this aspect which is a real yet unavoidable handicap.

4. By the end of the 6th century, after the birth of Jesus Christ, men had already made
great progress in diverse walks of life. At that time there were some religions which
openly proclaimed that they were reserved for definite races and groups of men only, of
course they bore no remedy for the ills of humanity at large. There were also a few which
claimed universality, but declared that the salvation of man lay in the renunciation of the
world. These were the religions for the elite, and catered for an extremely limited number
of men. We need not speak of regions where there existed no religion at all, where
atheism and materialism reigned supreme, where the thought was solely of occupying
one self with one's own pleasures, without any regard or consideration for the rights of
others.

Arabia

5. A perusal of the map of the major hemisphere (from the point of view of the proportion
of land to sea), shows the Arabian Peninsula lying at the confluence of the three great
continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. At the time in question. this extensive Arabian
subcontinent composed mostly of desert areas was inhabited by people of settled
habitations as well as nomads. Often it was found that members of the same tribe were
divided into these two groups, and that they preserved a relationship although following
different modes of life. The means of subsistence in Arabia were meagre. The desert had
its handicaps, and trade caravans were features of greater importance than either
agriculture or industry. This entailed much travel, and men had to proceed beyond the
peninsula to Syria, Egypt, Abyssinia, Iraq, Sind, India and other lands.

6. We do not know much about the Libyanites of Central Arabia, but Yemen was rightly
called Arabia Felix. Having once been the seat of the flourishing civilizations of Sheba
and Ma'in even before the foundation of the city of Rome had been laid, and having later
snatched from the Byzantians and Persians several provinces, greater Yemen which had
passed through the hey-day of its existence, was however at this time broken up into
innumerable principalities, and even occupied in part by foreign invaders. The Sassanians
of Iran, who had penetrated into Yemen had already obtained possession of Eastern
Arabia. There was politico-social chaos at the capital (Mada'in = Ctesiphon), and this
found reflection in all her territories. Northern Arabia had succumbed to Byzantine
influences, and was faced with its own particular problems. Only Central Arabia
remained immune from the demoralising effects of foreign occupation.

7. In this limited area of Central Arabia, the existence of the triangle of Mecca-Ta'if-
Madinah seemed something providential. Mecca, desertic, deprived of water and the
amenities of agriculture in physical features represented Africa and the burning Sahara.
Scarcely fifty miles from there, Ta'if presented a picture of Europe and its frost. Madinah
in the North was not less fertile than even the most temperate of Asiatic countries like
Syria. If climate has any influence on human character, this triangle standing in the
middle of the major hemisphere was, more than any other region of the earth, a miniature
reproduction of the entire world. And here was born a descendant of the Babylonian
Abraham, and the Egyptian Hagar, Muhammad the Prophet of Islam, a Meccan by origin
and yet with stock related, both to Madinah and Ta'if.

Religion

8. From the point of view of religion, Arabia was idolatrous; only a few individuals had
embraced religions like Christianity, Mazdaism, etc. The Meccans did possess the notion
of the One God, but they believed also that idols had the power to intercede with Him.
Curiously enough, they did not believe in the Resurrection and Afterlife. They had
preserved the rite of the pilgrimage to the House of the One God, the Ka'bah, an
institution set up under divine inspiration by their ancestor Abraham, yet the two
thousand years that separated them from Abraham had caused to degenerate this
pilgrimage into the spectacle of a commercial fair and an occasion of senseless idolatry
which far from producing any good, only served to ruin their individual behaviour, both
social and spiritual.

Society

9. In spite of the comparative poverty in natural resources, Mecca was the most
developed of the three points of the triangle. Of the three, Mecca alone had a city-state,
governed by a council of ten hereditary chiefs who enjoyed a clear division of power.
(There was a minister of foreign relations, a minister guardian of the temple, a minister of
oracles, a minister guardian of offerings to the temple, one to determine the torts and the
damages payable, another in charge of the municipal council or parliament to enforce the
decisions of the ministries. There were also ministers in charge of military affairs like
custodianship of the flag, leadership of the cavalry etc.). As well reputed caravan-leaders,
the Meccans were able to obtain permission from neighbouring empires like Iran,
Byzantium and Abyssinia - and to enter into agreements with the tribes that lined the
routes traversed by the caravans - to visit their countries and transact import and export
business. They also provided escorts to foreigners when they passed through their
country as well as the territory of allied tribes, in Arabia (cf. Ibn Habib, Muhabbar).
Although not interested much in the preservation of ideas and records in writing, they
passionately cultivated arts and letters like poetry, oratory discourses and folk tales.
Women were generally well treated, they enjoyed the privilege of possessing property in
their own right, they gave their consent to marriage contracts, in which they could even
add the condition of reserving their right to divorce their husbands. They could remarry
when widowed or divorced. Burying girls alive did exist in certain classes, but that was
rare.

Birth of the Prophet

10. It was in the midst of such conditions and environments that Muhammad was born in
569 after Christ. His father, 'Abdullah had died some weeks earlier, and it was his
grandfather who took him in charge. According to the prevailing custom, the child was
entrusted to a Bedouin foster-mother, with whom he passed several years in the desert.
All biographers state that the infant prophet sucked only one breast of his foster-mother,
leaving the other for the sustenance of his foster-brother. When the child was brought
back home, his mother, Aminah, took him to his maternal uncles at Madinah to visit the
tomb of 'Abdullah. During the return journey, he lost his mother who died a sudden
death. At Mecca, another bereavement awaited him, in the death of his affectionate
grandfather. Subjected to such privations, he was at the age of eight, consigned at last to
the care of his uncle, Abu-Talib, a man who was generous of nature but always short of
resources and hardly able to provide for his family.

11. Young Muhammad had therefore to start immediately to earn his livelihood; he
served as a shepherd boy to some neighbours. At the age of ten he accompanied his uncle
to Syria when he was leading a caravan there. No other travels of Abu-Talib are
mentioned, but there are references to his having set up a shop in Mecca. (Ibn Qutaibah,
Ma'arif). It is possible that Muhammad helped him in this enterprise also.

12. By the time he was twenty-five, Muhammad had become well known in the city for
the integrity of his disposition and the honesty of his character. A rich widow, Khadijah,
took him in her employ and consigned to him her goods to be taken for sale to Syria.
Delighted with the unusual profits she obtained as also by the personal charms of her
agent, she offered him her hand politely using a mediator. According to divergent reports, she was 40
years of age at that time. The union proved happy. Later, we see him sometimes in the fair of
Hubashah (Yemen), and at least once in the country of the 'Abd al-Qais (Bahrain-Oman),
as mentioned by Ibn Hanbal. There is every reason to believe that this refers to the great
fair of Daba (Oman), where, according to Ibn al-Kalbi (cf. Ibn Habib, Muhabbar), the
traders of China, of Hind and Sind (India, Pakistan), of Persia, of the East and the West
assembled every year, travelling both by land and sea. There is also mention of a
commercial partner of Muhammad at Mecca. This person, Sa'ib by name reports: "We
relayed each other; if Muhammad led the caravan, he did not enter his house on his return
to Mecca without clearing accounts with me; and if I led the caravan, he would on my
return enquire about my welfare and speak nothing about his own capital entrusted to
me."

An Order of Chivalry


13. Foreign traders often brought their goods to Mecca for sale. One day a certain
Yemenite (of the tribe of Zubaid) improvised a satirical poem against some Meccans who
had refused to pay him the price of what he had sold, and others who had not supported
his claim or had failed to come to his help when he was victimised. Zuhair, uncle and
chief of the tribe of the Prophet, felt great remorse on hearing this just satire. He called
for a meeting of certain chieftains in the city, and organized an order of chivalry, called
Hilf al-fudul, with the aim and object of aiding the oppressed in Mecca, irrespective of
their being dwellers of the city or aliens. Young Muhammad became an enthusiastic
member of the organisation. Later in life he used to say: "I have participated in it, and I
am not prepared to give up that privilege even against a herd of camels; if somebody
should appeal to me even today, by virtue of that pledge, I shall hurry to his help."

Beginning of Religious Consciousness

14. Not much is known about the religious practices of Muhammad until he was thirtyfive
years old, except that he had never worshipped idols. This is substantiated by all his
biographers. It may be stated that there were a few others in Mecca, who had likewise
revolted against the senseless practice of paganism, although conserving their fidelity to
the Ka'bah as the house dedicated to the One God by its builder Abraham.

15. About the year 605 of the Christian era, the draperies on the outer wall of the Ka'bah
took fire. The building was affected and could not bear the brunt of the torrential rains
that followed. The reconstruction of the Ka'bah was thereupon undertaken. Each citizen
contributed according to his means; and only the gifts of honest gains were accepted.
Everybody participated in the work of construction, and Muhammad's shoulders were
injured in the course of transporting stones. To identify the place whence the ritual of
circumambulation began, there had been set a black stone in the wall of the Ka'bah.
dating probably from the time of Abraham himself. There was rivalry among the citizens
for obtaining the honour of transposing this stone in its place. When there was danger of
blood being shed, somebody suggested leaving the matter to Providence, and accepting
the arbitration of him who should happen to arrive there first. It chanced that Muhammad
just then turned up there for work as usual. He was popularly known by the appellation of
al-Amin (the honest), and everyone accepted his arbitration without hesitation.
Muhammad placed a sheet of cloth on the ground, put the stone on it and asked the chiefs
of all the tribes in the city to lift together the cloth. Then he himself placed the stone in its
proper place, in one of the angles of the building, and everybody was satisfied.

16. It is from this moment that we find Muhammad becoming more and more absorbed in
spiritual meditations. Like his grandfather, he used to retire during the whole month of
Ramadan to a cave in Jabal-an-Nur (mountain of light). The cave is called `Ghar-i-Hira'
or the cave of research. There he prayed, meditated, and shared his meagre provisions
with the travellers who happened to pass by.

Revelation

17. He was forty years old, and it was the fifth consecutive year since his annual retreats,
when one night towards the end of the month of Ramadan, an angel came to visit him,
and announced that God had chosen him as His messenger to all mankind. The angel
taught him the mode of ablutions, the way of worshipping God and the conduct of prayer.
He communicated to him the following Divine message:
With the name of God, the Most Merciful, the All-Merciful.
Read: with the name of thy Lord Who created,
Created man from what clings,
Read: and thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
Who taught by the pen,
Taught man what he knew not. (Quran 96:1-5)

18. Deeply affected, he returned home and related to his wife what had happened,
expressing his fears that it might have been something diabolic or the action of evil
spirits. She consoled him, saying that he had always been a man of charity and
generosity, helping the poor, the orphans, the widows and the needy, and assured him that
God would protect him against all evil.

19. Then came a pause in revelation, extending over three years. The Prophet must have
felt at first a shock, then a calm, an ardent desire, and after a period of waiting, a growing
impatience or nostalgia. The news of the first vision had spread and at the pause the
sceptics in the city had begun to mock at him and cut bitter jokes. They went so far as to
say that God had forsaken him.

20. During the three years of waiting. the Prophet had given himself up more and more to
prayers and to spiritual practices. The revelations were then resumed and God assured
him that He had not at all forsaken him: on the contrary it was He Who had guided him to
the right path: therefore he should take care of the orphans and the destitute, and proclaim
the bounty of God on him (cf. Q. 93:3-11). This was in reality an order to preach.
Another revelation directed him to warn people against evil practices, to exhort them to
worship none but the One God, and to abandon everything that would displease God (Q.
74:2-7). Yet another revelation commanded him to warn his own near relatives (Q.
26:214); and: "Proclaim openly that which thou art commanded, and withdraw from the
Associators (idolaters). Lo! we defend thee from the scoffers" (15:94-5). According to
Ibn Ishaq, the first revelation (n. 17) had come to the Prophet during his sleep, evidently
to reduce the shock. Later revelations came in full wakefulness.

The Mission

21. The Prophet began by preaching his mission secretly first among his intimate friends,
then among the members of his own tribe and thereafter publicly in the city and suburbs.
He insisted on the belief in One Transcendent God, in Resurrection and the Last
Judgement. He invited men to charity and beneficence. He took necessary steps to
preserve through writing the revelations he was receiving, and ordered his adherents also
to learn them by heart. This continued all through his life, since the Quran was not
revealed all at once, but in fragments as occasions arose.

22. The number of his adherents increased gradually, but with the denunciation of
paganism, the opposition also grew intenser on the part of those who were firmly
attached to their ancestral beliefs. This opposition degenerated in the course of time into
physical torture of the Prophet and of those who had embraced his religion. These were
stretched on burning sands, cauterized with red hot iron and imprisoned with chains on
their feet. Some of them died of the effects of torture, but none would renounce his
religion. In despair, the Prophet Muhammad advised his companions to quit their native
town and take refuge abroad, in Abyssinia, "where governs a just ruler, in whose realm
nobody is oppressed" (Ibn Hisham). Dozens of Muslims profited by his advice, though
not all. These secret flights led to further persecution of those who remained behind.

23. The Prophet Muhammad [was instructed to call this] religion "Islam," i.e. submission
to the will of God. Its distinctive features are two:
A harmonius equilibrium between the temporal and the spiritual (the body and the soul),
permitting a full enjoyment of all the good that God has created, (Quran 7:32), enjoining
at the same time on everybody duties towards God, such as worship, fasting, charity, etc.
Islam was to be the religion of the masses and not merely of the elect.
A universality of the call - all the believers becoming brothers and equals without any
distinction of class or race or tongue. The only superiority which it recognizes is a
personal one, based on the greater fear of God and greater piety (Quran 49:13).

Social Boycott

24. When a large number of the Meccan Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, the leaders of
paganism sent an ultimatum to the tribe of the Prophet, demanding that he should be
excommunicated and outlawed and delivered to the pagans for being put to death. Every
member of the tribe, Muslim and non-Muslim rejected the demand. (cf. Ibn Hisham).
Thereupon the city decided on a complete boycott of the tribe: Nobody was to talk to
them or have commercial or matrimonial relations with them. The group of Arab tribes
called Ahabish, inhabiting the suburbs, who were allies of the Meccans, also joined in the
boycott, causing stark misery among the innocent victims consisting of children, men and
women, the old and the sick and the feeble. Some of them succumbed yet nobody would
hand over the Prophet to his persecutors. An uncle of the Prophet, Abu Lahab, however
left his tribesmen and participated in the boycott along with the pagans. After three dire
years, during which the victims were obliged to devour even crushed hides, four or five
non-Muslims, more humane than the rest and belonging to different clans proclaimed
publicly their denunciation of the unjust boycott. At the same time, the document
promulgating the pact of boycott which had been hung in the temple, was found, as
Muhammad had predicted, eaten by white ants, that spared nothing but the words God
and Muhammad. The boycott was lifted, yet owing to the privations that were undergone
the wife and Abu Talib, the chief of the tribe and uncle of the Prophet died soon after.
Another uncle of the Prophet, Abu-Lahab, who was an inveterate enemy of Islam, now
succeeded to the headship of the tribe. (cf. lbn Hisham, Sirah).

The Ascension

25. It was at thIs time that the Prophet Muhammad was granted the mi'raj (ascension): He
was received on heaven by God, and was witness of the marvels of
the celestial regions. Returning, he brought for his community, as a Divine gift, the [ritual
prayer of Islam, the salaat], which constitutes a sort of communion between man and
God. It may be recalled that in the last part of Muslim service of worship, the faithful
employ as a symbol of their being in the very presence of God, not concrete objects as
others do at the time of communion, but the very words of greeting exchanged between
the Prophet Muhammad and God on the occasion of the former's mi'raj: "The blessed and
pure greetings for God! - Peace be with thee, O Prophet, as well as the mercy and
blessing of God! - Peace be with us and with all the [righteous] servants of God!" The
Christian term "communion" implies participation in the Divinity. Finding it pretentious,
Muslims use the term "ascension" towards God and reception in His presence, God
remaining God and man remaining man and no confusion between the twain.

26. The news of this celestial meeting led to an increase in the hostility of the pagans of
Mecca; and the Prophet was obliged to quit his native town in search of an asylum
elsewhere. He went to his maternal uncles in Ta'if, but returned immediately to Mecca, as
the wicked people of that town chased the Prophet out of their city by pelting stones on
him and wounding him.

Migration to Madinah

27. The annual pilgrimage of the Ka'bah brought to Mecca people from all parts of
Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad tried to persuade one tribe after another to afford him
shelter and allow him to carry on his mission of reform. The contingents of fifteen tribes,
whom he approached in succession, refused to do so more or less brutally, but he did not
despair. Finally he met half a dozen inhabitants of Madinah who being neighbour of the
Jews and the Christians, had some notion of prophets and Divine messages. They knew
also that these "people of the Books" were awaiting the arrival of a prophet - a last
comforter. So these Madinans decided not to lose the opportunity of obtaining an advance
over others, and forthwith embraced Islam, promising further to provide additional
adherents and necessary help from Madinah. The following year a dozen new Madinans
took the oath of allegiance to him and requested him to provide with a missionary
teacher. The work of the missionary, Mus'ab, proved very successful and he led a
contingent of seventy-three new converts to Mecca, at the time of the pilgrimage. These
invited the Prophet and his Meccan companions to migrate to their town, and promised to
shelter the Prophet and to treat him and his companions as their own kith and kin.
Secretly and in small groups, the greater part of the Muslims emigrated to Madinah.
Upon this the pagans of Mecca not only confiscated the property of the evacuees, but
devised a plot to assassinate the Prophet. It became now impossible for him to remain at
home. It is worthy of mention, that in spite of their hostility to his mission, the pagans
had unbounded confidence in his probity, so much so that many of them used to deposit
their savings with him. The Prophet Muhammad now entrusted all these deposits to 'Ali,
a cousin of his, with instructions to return in due course to the rightful owners. He then
left the town secretly in the company of his faithful friend, Abu-Bakr. After several
adventures, they succeeded in reaching Madinah in safety. This happened in 622, whence
starts the Hijrah calendar.

Reorganization of the Community

28. For the better rehabilitation of the displaced immigrants, the Prophet created a
fraternization between them and an equal number of well-to-do Madinans. The families
of each pair of the contractual brothers worked together to earn their livelihood, and
aided one another in the business of life.

29. Further he thought that the development of the man as a whole would be better
achieved if he co-ordinated religion and politics as two constituent parts of one whole. To
this end he invited the representatives of the Muslims as well as the non-Muslim
inhabitants of the region: Arabs, Jews, Christians and others, and suggested the
establishment of a City-State in Madinah. With their assent, he endowed the city with a
written constitution - the first of its kind in the world - in which he defined the duties and
rights both of the citizens and the head of the State - the Prophet Muhammad was
unanimously hailed as such - and abolished the customary private justice. The
administration of justice became henceforward the concern of the central organisation of
the community of the citizens. The document laid down principles of defence and foreign
policy: it organized a system of social insurance, called ma'aqil, in cases of too heavy
obligations. It recognized that the Prophet Muhammad would have the final word in all
differences, and that there was no limit to his power of legislation. It recognized also
explicitly liberty of religion, particularly for the Jews, to whom the constitutional act
afforded equality with Muslims in all that concerned life in this world (cf. infra n. 303).

30. Muhammad journeyed several times with a view to win the neighbouring tribes and
to conclude with them treaties of alliance and mutual help. With their help, he decided to
bring to bear economic pressure on the Meccan pagans, who had confiscated the property
of the Muslim evacuees and also caused innumerable damage. Obstruction in the way of
the Meccan caravans and their passage through the Madinan region exasperated the
pagans, and a bloody struggle ensued.

31. In the concern for the material interests of the community, the spiritual aspect was
never neglected. Hardly a year had passed after the migration to Madinah, when the most
rigorous of spiritual disciplines, the fasting for the whole month of Ramadan every year,
was imposed on every adult Muslim, man and woman.

Struggle Against Intolerance and Unbelief

32. Not content with the expulsion of the Muslim compatriots, the Meccans sent an
ultimatum to the Madinans, demanding the surrender or at least the expulsion of
Muhammad and his companions but evidently all such efforts proved in vain. A few
months later, in the year 2 H., they sent a powerful army against the Prophet, who
opposed them at Badr; and the pagans thrice as numerous as the Muslims, were routed.
After a year of preparation, the Meccans again invaded Madinah to avenge the defeat of
Badr. They were now four times as numerous as the Muslims. After a bloody encounter
at Uhud, the enemy retired, the issue being indecisive. The mercenaries in the Meccan
army did not want to take too much risk, or endanger their safety.

33. In thc meanwhile the Jewish citizens of Madinah began to foment trouble. About the
time of the victory of Badr, one of their leaders, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, proceeded to Mecca
to give assurance of his alliance with the pagans, and to incite them to a war of revenge.
After the battle of Uhud, the tribe of the same chieftain plotted to assassinate the Prophet
by throwing on him a mill-stone from above a tower, when he had gone to visit their
locality. In spite of all this, the only demand the Prophet made of the men of this tribe
was to quit the Madinan region, taking with them all their properties, after selling their
immovables and recovering their debts from the Muslims. The clemency thus extended
had an effect contrary to what was hoped. The exiled not only contacted the Meccans, but
also the tribes of the North, South and East of Madinah, mobilized military aid, and
planned from Khaibar an invasion of Madinah, with forces four times more numerous
than those employed at Uhud. The Muslims prepared for a siege, and dug a ditch to
defend themselves against this hardest of all trials. Although the defection of the Jews
still remaining inside Madinah at a later stage upset all strategy, yet with a sagacious
diplomacy, the Prophet succeeded in breaking up the alliance, and the different enemy
groups retired one after the other.

34. Alcoholic drinks, gambling and games of chance were at this time declared forbidden
for the Muslims.

The Reconciliation

35. The Prophet tried once more to reconcile the Meccans and proceeded to Mecca. The
barring of the route of their Northern caravans had ruined their economy. The Prophet
promised them transit security, extradition of their fugitives and the fulfillment of every
condition they desired, agreeing even to return to Madinah without accomplishing the
pilgrimage of the Ka'bah. Thereupon the two contracting parties promised at Hudaibiyah
in the suburbs of Mecca, not only the maintenance of peace, but also the observance of
neutrality in their conflicts with third parties.

36. Profiting by the peace, the Prophet launched an intensive programme for the
propagation of his religion. He addressed missionary letters to the foreign rulers of
Byzantium, Iran, Abyssinia and other lands. The Byzantine autocrat priest - Dughatur of
the Arabs - embraced Islam, but for this, was lynched by the Christian mob; the prefect of
Ma'an (Palestine) suffered the same fate, and was decapitated and crucified by order of
the emperor. A Muslim ambassador was assassinated in Syria-Palestine; and instead of
punishing the culprit, the emperor Heraclius rushed with his armies to protect him against
the punitive expedition sent by the Prophet (battle of Mu'tah).

37. The pagans of Mecca hoping to profit by the Muslim difficulties, violated the terms
of their treaty. Upon this, the Prophet himself led an army, ten thousand strong, and
surprised Mecca which he occupied in a bloodless manner. As a benevolent conqueror,
he caused the vanquished people to assemble, reminded them of their ill deeds, their
religious persecution, unjust confiscation of the evacuee property, ceaseless invasions and
senseless hostilities for twenty years continuously. He asked them: "Now what do you
expect of me?" When everybody lowered his head with shame, the Prophet proclaimed:
"May God pardon you; go in peace; there shall be no responsibility on you today; you are
free!" He even renounced the claim for the Muslim property confiscated by the pagans.
This produced a great psychological change of hearts instantaneously. When a Meccan
chief advanced with a fulsome heart towards the Prophet, after hearing this general
amnesty, in order to declare his acceptance of Islam, the Prophet told him: "And in my
turn, I appoint you the governor of Mecca!" Without leaving a single soldier in the
conquered city, the Prophet retired to Madinah. The Islamization of Mecca, which was
accomplished in a few hours, was complete.

38. Immediately after the occupation of Mecca, the city of Ta'if mobilized to fight against
the Prophet. With some difficulty the enemy was dispersed in the valley of Hunain, but
the Muslims preferred to raise the siege of nearby Ta'if and use pacific means to break the
resistance of this region. Less than a year later, a delegation from Ta'if came to Madinah
offering submission. But it requested exemption from prayer, taxes and military service,
and the continuance of the liberty to adultery and fornication and alcoholic drinks. It
demanded even the conservation of the temple of the idol al-Lat at Ta'if. But Islam was
not a materialist immoral movement; and soon the delegation itself felt ashamed of its
demands regarding prayer, adultery and wine. The Prophet consented to concede
exemption from payment of taxes and rendering of military service; and added: You need
not demolish the temple with your own hands: we shall send agents from here to do the
job, and if there should be any consequences, which you are afraid of on account of your
superstitions, it will be they who would suffer. This act of the Prophet shows what
concessions could be given to new converts. The conversion of the Ta'ifites was so whole
hearted that in a short while, they themselves renounced the contracted exemptions, and
we find the Prophet nominating a tax collector in their locality as in other Islamic regions.

39. In all these "wars," extending over a period of ten years, the non-Muslims lost on the
battlefield only about 250 persons killed, and the Muslim losses were even less. With
these few incisions, the whole continent of Arabia. with its million and more of square
miles, was cured of the abscess of anarchy and immorality. During these ten years of
disinterested struggle, all thc peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern regions
of Iraq and Palestine had voluntarily embraced Islam. Some Christian, Jewish and Parsi
groups remained attached to their creeds, and they were granted liberty of conscience as
well as judicial and juridical autonomy.

40. In the year 10 H., when the Prophet went to Mecca for Hajj (pilgrimage), he met
140,000 Muslims there, who had come from different parts of Arabia to fulfil their
religious obligation. He addressed to them his celebrated sermon, in which he gave a
resume of his teachings: "Belief in One God without images or symbols, equality of all
the Believers without distinction of race or class, the superiority of individuals being
based solely on piety; sanctity of life, property and honour; abolition of interest, and of
vendettas and private justice; better treatment of women; obligatory inheritance and
distribution of the property of deceased persons among near relatives of both sexes, and
removal of the possibility of the cumulation of wealth in the hands of the few." The
Quran and the conduct of the Prophet were to serve as the bases of law and a healthy
criterion in every aspect of human life.

41. On his return to Madinah, he fell ill; and a few weeks later, when he breathed his last,
he had the satisfaction that he had well accomplished the task which he had undertaken -
to preach to the world the Divine message.

42. He bequeathed to posterity, a religion of pure monotheism; he created a welldisciplined
State out of the existent chaos and gave peace in place of the war of
everybody against everybody else; he established a harmonious equilibrium between the
spiritual and the temporal, between the mosque and the citadel; he left a new system of
law, which dispensed impartial justice, in which even the head of the State was as much a
subject to it as any commoner, and in which religious tolerance was so great that non-
Muslim inhabitants of Muslim countries equally enjoyed complete juridical, judicial and
cultural autonomy. In the matter of the revenues of the State, the Quran fixed the
principles of budgeting, and paid more thought to the poor than to anybody else. The
revenues were declared to be in no wise the private property of the head of the State.
Above all, the Prophet Muhammad set a noble example and fully practised all that he
taught to others.

"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." [Qur'an 48:29]
Much has been written about the Prophet Muhammad (saas), from indepth biographies by Muslim scholars and non-Muslim researchersto sayingsupon sayingsof others. Muhammad ibnu Abdillah was born in Mecca in the year 569 CE. He earned his living as a trader and was known by his people as al-amin(the trustworthy one). When Muhammad (saas) reached the age of 40, the angel Gabriel came to him with revelations that established his prophethoodinislam. Muhammad (saas) was first ordered to instruct his immediate family on Islam, including his beloved wife Khadija, but eventually it was revealed to him that he should begin delivering the message to all of mankind. In the next 20 years of his life, he communicated the message of Allah to his people, and set an examplefor how each human being should lead her or his life. This is especially valuable since Muhammad (saas) is the last Prophet of Allah. In the year 632, the year of his death, the Prophet delivered his famous last sermon.


Prophet's Biography by a Non-Muslim
by By Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, Head of the Dept. of Philosophy, Govt. College
for Women. University of Mysore, Mandya-571401 (Karnatika, India).
Re-printed from "Islam and Modern age", Hydrabad, March 1978.

In the desert of Arabia was Mohammad born, according to Muslim historians, on April
20, 571. The name means highly praised. He is to me the greatest mind among all the
sons of Arabia. He means so much more than all the poets and kings that preceded him in
that impenetrable desert of red sand.
When he appeared Arabia was a desert -- a nothing. Out of nothing a new world was
fashioned by the mighty spirit of Mohammad -- a new life, a new culture, a new
civilization, a new kingdom which extended from Morocco to Indies and influenced the
thought and life of three continents -- Asia, Africa and Europe.
When I thought of writing on Mohammad the prophet, I was a bit hesitant because it was
to write about a religion I do not profess and it is a delicate matter to do so for there are
many persons professing various religions and belonging to diverse school of thought and
denominations even in same religion. Though it is sometimes, claimed that religion is
entirely personal yet it can not be gain-said that it has a tendency to envelop the whole
universe seen as well unseen. It somehow permeates something or other our hearts, our
souls, our minds their conscious as well as subconscious and unconscious levels too. The
problem assumes overwhelming importance when there is a deep conviction that our
past, present and future all hang by the soft delicate, tender silked cord. If we further
happen to be highly sensitive, the center of gravity is very likely to be always in a state of
extreme tension. Looked at from this point of view, the less said about other religion the
better. Let our religions be deeply hidden and embedded in the resistance of our
innermost hearts fortified by unbroken seals on our lips.
But there is another aspect of this problem. Man lives in society. Our lives are bound with
the lives of others willingly or unwillingly, directly or indirectly. We eat the food grown
in the same soil, drink water, from the same spring and breathe the same air.
Even while staunchly holding our own views, it would be helpful, if we try to adjust
ourselves to our surroundings, if we also know to some extent, how the mind our
neighbor moves and what the main springs of his actions are. From this angle of vision it
is highly desirable that one should try to know all religions of the world, in the proper
sprit, to promote mutual understanding and better appreciation of our neighborhood,
immediate and remote.
Further, our thoughts are not scattered as appear to be on the surface. They have got
themselves crystallized around a few nuclei in the form of great world religions and
living faiths that guide and motivate the lives of millions that inhabit this earth of ours. It
is our duty, in one sense if we have the ideal of ever becoming a citizen of the world
before us, to make a little attempt to know the great religions and system of philosophy
that have ruled mankind.
In spite of these preliminary remarks, the ground in these field of religion, where there is
often a conflict between intellect and emotion is so slippery that one is constantly
reminded of fools that rush in where angels fear to tread. It is also not so complex from
another point of view. The subject of my writing is about the tenets of a religion which is
historic and its prophet who is also a historic personality. Even a hostile critic like Sir
William Muir speaking about the holy Quran says that. "There is probably in the world
no other book which has remained twelve centuries with so pure text." I may also add
Prophet Mohammad is also a historic personality, every event of whose life has been
most carefully recorded and even the minutest details preserved intact for the posterity.
His life and works are not wrapped in mystery.
My work today is further lightened because those days are fast disappearing when Islam
was highly misrepresented by some of its critics for reasons political and otherwise. Prof.
Bevan writes in Cambridge Medieval History, "Those account of Mohammad and Islam
which were published in Europe before the beginning of 19th century are now to be
regarded as literary curiosities." My problem is to write this monograph is easier because
we are now generally not fed on this kind of history and much time need be spent on
pointing out our misrepresentation of Islam.
The theory of Islam and Sword for instance is not heard now frequently in any quarter
worth the name. The principle of Islam that there is no compulsion in religion is well
known. Gibbon, a historian of world repute says, "A pernicious tenet has been imputed to
Mohammadans, the duty of extirpating all the religions by sword." This charge based on
ignorance and bigotry, says the eminent historian, is refuted by Quran, by history of
Musalman conquerors and by their public and legal toleration of Christian worship. The
great success of Mohammad's life had been effected by sheer moral force, without a
stroke of sword.
But in pure self-defense, after repeated efforts of conciliation had utterly failed,
circumstances dragged him into the battlefield. But the prophet of Islam changed the
whole strategy of the battlefield. The total number of casualties in all the wars that took
place during his lifetime when the whole Arabian Peninsula came under his banner, does
not exceed a few hundreds in all. But even on the battlefield he taught the Arab
barbarians to pray, to pray not individually, but in congregation to God the Almighty.
During the dust and storm of warfare whenever the time for prayer came, and it comes
five times a every day, the congregation prayer had not to be postponed even on the
battlefield. A party had to be engaged in bowing their heads before God while other was
engaged with the enemy. After finishing the prayers, the two parties had to exchange
their positions. To the Arabs, who would fight for forty years on the slight provocation
that a camel belonging to the guest of one tribe had strayed into the grazing land
belonging to other tribe and both sides had fought till they lost 70,000 lives in all;
threatening the extinction of both the tribes to such furious Arabs, the Prophet of Islam
taught self-control and discipline to the extent of praying even on the battlefield. In an
aged of barbarism, the Battlefield itself was humanized and strict instructions were issued
not to cheat, not to break trust, not to mutilate, not to kill a child or woman or an old man,
not to hew down date palm nor burn it, not to cut a fruit tree, not to molest any person
engaged in worship. His own treatment with his bitterest enemies is the noblest example
for his followers. At the conquest of Mecca, he stood at the zenith of his power. The city
which had refused to listen to his mission, which had tortured him and his followers,
which had driven him and his people into exile and which had unrelentingly persecuted
and boycotted him even when he had taken refuge in a place more than 200 miles away,
that city now lay at his feet. By the laws of war he could have justly avenged all the
cruelties inflicted on him and his people. But what treatment did he accord to them?
Mohammad's heart flowed with affection and he declared, "This day, there is no
REPROOF against you and you are all free." "This day" he proclaimed, "I trample under
my feet all distinctions between man and man, all hatred between man and man."
This was one of the chief objects why he permitted war in self defense, that is to unite
human beings. And when once this object was achieved, even his worst enemies were
pardoned. Even those who killed his beloved uncle, Hamzah, mangled his body, ripped
it open, even chewed a piece of his liver.
The principles of universal brotherhood and doctrine of the equality of mankind which he
proclaimed represents one very great contribution of Mohammad to the social uplift of
humanity. All great religions have preached the same doctrine but the prophet of Islam
had put this theory into actual practice and its value will be fully recognized, perhaps
centuries hence, when international consciousness being awakened, racial prejudices may
disappear and greater brotherhood of humanity come into existence.
Miss. Sarojini Naidu speaking about this aspect of Islam says, "It was the first religion
that preached and practiced democracy; for in the mosque, when the minaret is sounded