The Reality of the Looking Glass: Seeing Muhammad

5 stars Mr. Shahriar!

I was just waiting for someone to chalk up an article like this on chowk!

However, I would have liked it better if you had provided some more examples of gentleness from the Prophet`s (PBUH) life ... after all, its littered with them.

shehryar

All praise be to Allah! But they say :

``Ba khuda deewana baashad ba Mohammad hoshiyaar`` (You can be wild while talking about God, but be careful when talking about Mohammad) as there is law of blasphemy in Pakistan based on some Hadees which can be interpreted to allow any body to lynch any body who dares to say anything against the prophet and none to protect Allah from any criticism. There are heaps of literature spread over the centuries. You can choose whatever you like if you want to lynch somebody for blasphemy without even having a resort to the dreaded Law of Blasphemy.

Ref UmerMurtaza #12

[Harimau,

I`ll tell you what`s a joke: a higher organism worshipping lower organisms.]

Are you referring to Muslims worshipping Allah?

Anyway, how do you know that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not God?

Ref number #14

[#10 RE-VISITED

At the end of the interact, a word BAQRA appears.]

I thought that was your signature. Perfect for one who is as dumb as a goat.

Ref jang #20

[... for others its optional..they can follow any good man (real or fictional) example. e.g. you can follow example of urstruly and give candy during halloween.]

Wouldn`t that be un-Islamic? Is there any Hadith stating that Prophet Mohammad gave out candy on Halloween? Does the Koran require Muslims to give out candy on Halloween?

Exactly how does Urstruly handle his little kids` requests to go trick-or-treating? Inquiring minds want to know.

Wishing a blessed day to all those who celebrate it.

Ref wiseguyin #31

[{the purpose of those mistakes is to show the followers the difference between right and wrong}

ROTFL .... Dude, going by this definiton, your prophet seems to have taught the followers
too much i guess.]

Perhaps this applies to the Satanic Verses!

Re: # 32
You r welcome. I was trying to have a dignified conversation until I was dampened by
post#27. Wiseguyin`s #31 is funny and appropriate response.

There are Muslims who are good people, who have luv and respect for Mohamed at
the same time show dignity to non-muslims. I am sure you and me have encountered
such muslims in India. But collectively as societies... my goodness...

Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintoists, Taoists, animists mind their own business.
While they have their weird stories about earth is 6000 yrs old, throwing stones, kissing stones, etc. Only Christians and Muslims have this urge that theirs is the rational religion, superior religion, etc; at best they can tolerate others.

Going back to Bakthi Yoga...there are other problems with Bakhthi towards Mohamed...
for example historical Jesus and Buddha were gentlemen, genuinely peaceful people. This is not something cooked up by Buddhists and Christians, evidence exists that both were genuine reformers, and preached people to be rational and search for truths themselves.

The historical Muhamed is a warrior who conducted wars on horse backs, slaughtered Jews, and did some other things that wiseguyin points out!!!The many stories of benevolence on the part of Muhamed apply only to the faithfuls i.e the coverted, not to the infidels/ kafirs.

For all prophet worshippers, Shia and Sunni alike, here is a message for you, directly from the lips of the prophet :





[25:30] And the messenger says (on that day), ``My Lord, my own people abandoned this Quran.``

For the Jesus worshippers, here is a quote for you from Jesus on the same day:

Matthew 7:21-23

[21] ``Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,` shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
[22] On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?`
[23] And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.`

Re: #31 & #32

There is a difference between a mistake and moral bankruptcy. Please appreciate the difference. Let me explain it through a hadith, which is often quoted by enemies of Islam as a proof that prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was a cruel man. The hadith goes something like this:

``Some men (3 or 4) came to Holy Prophet and complained that they were sick with jaundice and saught his help. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) told them to go out of the city and live in a collective farm that was owned by the Muslims of Medina. He advised them to take rest and good weather would take care of their health. THese men went to the farm and in few days they killed the camel sheppereds and stole the camels. Holy Prophet sent a posse who captured them and brought them to Holy prophet (pbuh). He gave his verdict that the eyes of those men should be gouged, their hands tied and they be thrown in the desert where they would die due to heat etc.``

Many people from the above category who quote this hadith to prove that he was a cruel and heartless man, conveniently overlook the chain of other hadiths that describe the background of this hadith. The background goes like this:

When Holy Prophet (pbuh) came to Medina at the request of Medinites, as an arbiter and their unbiased leader he enetered into a constitutional agreement with the people of Medina who were, Muslims, Jews, Christians, pagans, sabians, animists etc. One of the clause of the constitution was that each kind of people will be accorded the autonomy to be dealt with law of their own books. For example, for cognizable offenses a Jew will be dealt with according to the law in Torah.

The four people who stole camels belonged to a jewish tribe and when they had stolen the camels they gouged the eyes of sheppereds and tied them with ropes and left them in the desert to die. Torah prescribes the law of an eye for an eye, hence, Holy Prophet based his verdict on the rulings of Torah when he prescribed the same punishment.

But soon after those thieves were punished, a revelation came to Holy prophet raprimending him that his decision was a mistake, and he should have waited for divine guidance. After that a series of revelations revealed to him through which Allah annuled the law of an eye for eye and replaced it with the laws of Qisas (retribution) and Diyat (compensation). According to these laws the next of kin of the victim has right to forgive a murderer in exchange for compensation or for nothing if he choses to do so. The diyat is the same as the modern law of monetry compensation for a bodily injury.

So when a Prophet committs ``mistake``, it is because of his innocence.

Dear writer

Happy Eid Mild un Nabi.

As is evident from your article Muhammad(PBUH)`s life was extremely simple. If we compare his life before and after prophethood, it is crystal clear that he was not a false prophet, who wished to have any material gains, greatness, glory or power.

Prior to his prophethood, he was a very well reputed and accomplished merchant with no financial problems. After his prophethood his financial condition became worse. He (PBUH) remained without proper food for days, he(PBUH) and his family only lived upon dates, water and some milk sent by their neighbors.

Prophet(PBUH) never ate bread made of fine flour from the time God gave him prophethood till He(PBUH) died. He(PBUH) used to sleep on a rugged leather. When He(PBUH) died, He(PBUH) left no money, except for a small piece of land, which He(PBUH) donated for charity.He(PBUH) lived a very hard life, till he died.

There was a time, all Muslim treasury was at his disposal and Muslims were extremely flourished and victorious. Is it possible that Muhammad(PBUH) might have claimed prophethood just to gain status, greatness and power? The desire to enjoy status and power is usually associated with good food, fancy clothing, monumental palaces, colorful guards and indisputable authority. Do any of these indicators apply to Muhammad(PBUH)?

Here are few glimpses of his humble life which is an answer to above query.

Muhammad(PBUH) was a prophet, a teacher, a statesman, and a judge. He (PBUH) used to milk his goat, mend his worn clothes, cook his own food, repair his old worn shoes, and visit poor people when they got sick. He(PBUH) used to help others in digging trench and in moving sand. His life was an amazing model of simplicity and humbleness.

He(PBUH) was loved, respected and trusted by his followers to an amazing extent. Yes, He(PBUH) always continued to emphasize that deification should be directed to GOD and not to him personally. Muhammad(PBUH) always disliked others to stand up for him, as others do with their great people.

He(PBUH) was offered kingdom, wealth, leadership by his opponents on one condition, if He(PBUH) give up his prophethood. Wouldn`t this offer be tempting to one pursuing worldly benefit? Was He(PBUH) hesitant? Did He(PBUH) turn it down as leaving the door open for a better bargain? Here is the answer. He(PBUH) replied,{{In the name of God, the Most merciful, the Most Gracious, I swear by the name of God,O Uncle!, that if they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in return for giving up this matter (calling people to Islam),I will never desist until either God makes it triumph or I perish defending it.}

Muhammad(PBUH) suffered extreme torture, sufferings and persecutions at the hands of His enemies, but also several murder attempts by them. What could justify such a life of sufferings and sacrifice even after he (PBUH) was fully triumphant? What could explain the HUMBLENESS and NOBILITY which he showed in his most glorious moments when He(PBUH) insisted that success is due only to GOD`s help and not to his own genius?

Are these characteristics of a power-hungry or a self-centered man?

Reference from:- guide to Islam and Quran and Life of Muhammad(PBUH) after and before prophethood.

On side note:-

Mohammad(PBUH) revolutionized the world for the betterment of whole humanity while remaining humble.

#40 bharath

Agreed, christianity and islam are problematic in their relationship with others because of this emphasis on supremacy. Fortunately, many christians (not all!) have abandoned this attitude but the challenge remains with many. With islam the challenge is much worse; even literate muslims dont understand that they have some serious attitude problems. They will simply assume their own superiority in this matter; it is quite a lot like racism or any other kind of prejudicial behavior.

Mohammed is a problematic figure, much more so than jesus or buddha. From a hindu perspective jesus or buddha can be accepted as great gurus or even avatars. Mohammed is an interesting figure but the lack of real information about him (versus fairy tales) makes it hard to appreciate his achievements.

This is the kind of double speak that is used by the criminal cults like Om cult of Japan to justify the cruelties and henious cromes against humanity.

Most of the muslims on this board, will kick the ass of mohammad if he comes to their house and asks the hand of their six year old child in marriage.

A man who is always zaqar-ba-dast and will not spare his daughter in law.

His humanity and gentleness oozes out the way he killed the father, brother, huband and other clan member of Safiya in the day and by evening marries her. What can be more human than that.

His love of man kind is very clear when he tells his barbarian disciples to loot any carvan and only give him 20%.

If he is considered as humane and gentle then I feel Doud-Ibrahim is living example of billion-trillion mohammads embodied in one man.

I truly believe that most of Muslims realy don`t know Islam and Mohammad otherwise how can the be so blinded by a man like him.

By the way friends happy id.

The sun of guidance about to rise

When mankind were in dire need of someone to destroy the order of unbelief and breathe a new life into the world, God raised Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, to stop all forms of wickedness. In the words of Ahmad Shawky:

The sun of guidance was born
and the entire universe was illumined.
A smile appeared on the lips of time
and his praises were sung.

When he appeared on the horizon of Madina years later, the pure, innocent children of that illumined city would sing his praises as follows:

The ‘full moon’ rose upon us from the hills of Wada’,
So it is incumbent upon us to thank God so long as
Those who pray and entreat Him continue to do so.

from Muhammad(PBUH) the infinite light.

There is no question that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from any perspective was the greatest and most influential person in humanity ....

The knee jerk from Hindutvists here just goes to prove that....