After hundreds of Muslims were tortured and killed by the polytheists of Mecca the question arises, “Did the Prophet take
revenge and massacre these people once he has the chance?” No! He
forgave all his former enemies and declared that anyone who did not bear
arms is safe and under the protection of the new rule. After all of
what the media tries to portray Allah says:
And we have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a Mercy to the universe. (Al-Anbiya’ 21:107)
He then marched to the Ka`bah, where he ordered his companions to join him in destroying all the idols. He (peace be upon him) asked [Bilal] to climb on top of the Ka`bah and call for the Prayer. Upon this great event most pagans embraced Islam realizing the Prophet’s mercy.
The Prophet (peace
be upon him) then returned to Medina and made his pilgrimage to Mecca
the next year. In this pilgrimage, the Prophet (peace be upon him)
delivered a sermon saying,
“We have put the means of ignorance behind us now; we must drop all
ties with usury. There is to be justice and no one should ever be
oppressed in this Holy Land again. All men are equal, be they black or
white, rich or poor, or Arab or non-Arab. The thing that distinguishes
us from one another is piety. There shall be no more paganism in the
Arabian Peninsula. We must be respectful, loving, gentle and just in
dealing with our women. We will be called to account for how we dealt
with our mothers, wives and daughters on the Day of Judgment.”
(Al-Tabari)
During this time the verse was revealed to him:
This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.(Al-Ma’idah 5:3)
The Legacy of Prophethood Is Sealed
Soon after this he fell ill and after almost three months, he died in
632 C. E. in Medinah. He was buried in the chamber of his house next to
the first mosque of Islam which is named after Him. May Allah’s Peace
and Mercy be upon Him!
Amazingly, through 23 years, over a hundred assassination attempts
and a number of battles he did not die. Yet, when the conclusion of
Allah’s message came he passed within a few months. This is exactly what
we should expect for the final Messenger to mankind.
The Qur’an itself emphasizes that Allah has chosen the Prophet (peace
be upon him) as an example for Muslims to follow and that obeying him
is the same as obeying Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) only spoke
regarding guidance as Allah guided him to say.
It is He who
has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to
them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom
– although they were before in clear error.(Al-Jumu`ah 62:2)
The book of Allah is known as the Qur’an,
and the wisdom is contained in what we call the Sunnah, which is a
compilation of authentically recorded Hadiths (i.e. narrations) handed
down by a few generations word for word. The scholars then agreed to
collect all these available Hadiths which consist of the Prophet’s
sayings, actions, his description physically and morally, and tacit
approvals. These Hadiths have been collected into hundreds of books and
classified into authentic, weak and fabricated based upon many rules.
The Sunnah contains the living example of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) and the practical application of Allah’s revelation.
When asked by some of companions “How was the general manner of the Prophet (peace be upon him)?” `A’isha, the widow of the Prophet and Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleases with her) said, “His character was the Qur’an” (Al-Bukhari)
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