The Holy Prophet’s Last Message to Mankind

The Holy Prophet’s Last Message to Mankind (Fazal llahi Bashir) It is an established fact and admitted by all the religions of the world that God, our Creator is ONE GOD, and that it is He Who alone should be worshipped and loved. It is He Who manifested Himself to His chosen Messengers and appointed them to guide their fellow beings towards Him. The first Messenger of God was Adam, peace be on him, who represented God on the Earth to convey and inforce His commandments and to establish the first Divine Movement for physical, moral, social and spiritual advancement of mankind. That is why Adam is called God’s Successor on earth. After Adam, peace be on him, came a period, a very long period, in which mankind remained divided and disconnected due to poor communications. God, therefore, sent His Messengers to each and every people; “and there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent.” (Quran 35:25) Finally, the time came when Allah willed to unite mankind into one family. The means of communication appeared and nations came in contact with each • other and they found, surprisingly, that their requirements, physical and spiritual, were similar. Inner brotherly feelings awaken latent desire of togetherness and union. Allah, the All-knowing sent His Messenger, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with a perfect and complete Law — the Holy Quran for mankind. The Holy Prophet of Islam conveyed it to mankind and, in his lifetime, showed an excellent model and he, practically, established true fraternity and equality among the believers. On the llth day of the month of Dhul-Hijja, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, stood before a large gathering of Muslims at Mina and delivered an address, famed in history as the farewell address of the Holy Prophet. In the course of this address, he said: “O men! lend me an attentive ear. For I know not whether I will stand before you again in this valley and address you as I address you now. Your lives and your possessions have been sanctified by Allah against attacks by one another among you until the Day of Judgement. God has appointed for 44 REVIEW OF RELIGIONS every one a share in the inheritance. No ‘will’ shall now be admitted which is prejudicial to the interests of a rightful heir. A child born in any house will be regarded as the child of the father in that house. Whoever contests the parentage of this child will be liable to punishment under the Law of Islam. Anyone who attributes his birth to some else’s father, or falsely claims someone to be his master. God, His angels and the whole of mankind will curse him.” “O men! you have some rights against your wives, but your wives also have some rights against you. Your right against them is that they should live chaste, and not adopt ways which may bring disgrace to the husband in the sight of his people. If your wives do not live up to this, then you may admonish them. You can chastise them after due inquiry has been made by a competent authority, and your right to chastise has been established. Even so, chastisement in such a case must not be very severe. But if your wives do no such thing, and their behaviour is not such as would bring disgrace to their husbands, they your duty is to provide for them food and garments and shelter, according to your own standard of living. Remember you must always treat your wives well. God has charged you with the duty of looking after them. Woman is weak and cannot protect her own rights, when you married, God appointed you the trustee of those rights. You brought your wives to your homes under the Law of God. You must not therefore betray the trust which God has placed in your hands.” “O men! you still have in your possession some prisoners of war. I advise you, therefore, to feed them and to clothe them in the same way and style as you feed and clothe yourselves. If they do anything wrong which you are unable to forgive, then pass them on to someone else. They are part of God’s creation. To give them pain or trouble can never be right.” “O men! what I say to you, you must hear and remember. All Muslims are brethren to one another. All of you are equals. All men, whatever nation or tribe they may belong to, and whatever station in life they may hold, are equal.” While he was saying this, the Prophet raised his hands and joined the fingers of one hand with the fingers of the other hand and then said: “Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right, and superiority to claim over another. You are as brothers.” Proceeding the Holy Prophet said; “Do you know what month this is? What territory we are in? What day of the year it is today?” The Muslims said in reply, they knew it was the sacred month, the sacred land and the day of the Hajj. The Holy Prophet said: THE HOLY PROPHET’S LAST MESSAGE TO MANKIND 45 “Even as this month is sacred, this land inviolate and this day holy, so has Allah made the lives, property and honour of every man sacred. To take any man’s life or his property, or attack his honour is as unjust and wrong as to violate the sacredness of this day, this month and this territory. What I command you today is not meant only for today. It is meant for all time. You are expected to remember it and to act upon it until you leave this world and go to the next to meet your Maker.” In conclusion he said; “What I have told you, you should communicate to the ends of the earth. Maybe those who have not heard me may benefit by it more than those who have heard.” (Sihah Sitta, Tabari, Hisham & Khamees) Islam – Its Message Of the great world faiths, Islam is unique in several respects. Itisthe only one that does not rely on any myth or mystery. It is based upon the certainty of proved and acknowledged fact. Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, peace be on Him, was an historical figure, and lived his life in the full light of day. The revelation vouchsafed to him, over a period of twenty-two years, has been fully safeguarded: (1) The text of the revelation has been preserved in its purity and entirety for all time. Even Western scholars, who do not accept the Quran as Divine revelation, affirm that it is word for word that which Muhammad gave out to the world as Divine revelation. (2) Classical Arabic, the language in which the revelation was sent has continued to be in use as a living language. The revelation of God — the Quran — expounds and explains all that is or may be needed by mankind for the complete fulfilment of life (16:90). It seeks to create faith in God through rehearsal of God’s Signs; it makes provision for mankind’s material, moral, and spiritual welfare; it teaches all that is needed for the beneficent regulation of human life and expounds the philosophy underlying it, so that reason being satisfied, wholehearted conformity to what is taught is-assured (62:2—3). It expounds the necessity of establishing and maintaining communion with God. The Quran speaks at every level; it seeks to reach every type of understanding, through parables, similitudes, arguments, reasoning, the observation and study of the phenomena of nature, and the natural, moral and spiritual laws (18:55; 39:28; 59:22). Man is left to his free choice and acceptance of the truth. Faith is not commanded on the basis of authority, but is invited on the basis of understanding (12:109). This comprehensive message was conveyed in verbal revelation to the Holy Prophet of Islam over a period of approximately twenty-two years, and every aspect of it was illustrated by the Holy Prophet in his own life. He has been described in the Holy Quran as an excellent exemplar. This necessitated that his life should be lived in the light of day and that a full account of it should become available.