Muhammad
You Must Know This Man

In the mist of this campaign, we would like to clarify to our colleagues, teachers, neighbors few things and give a glimpse about the life of our beloved prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him and all other prophets. The prophet Mohammad was the one who taught us to strive for the best conduct and manners and taught us to cherish the peace and the mutual respect. To all, this is the man whom we respect in the same way as we respect his other brothers in the prophethood including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus (peace be upon them all).

You may be an atheist or an agnostic or you may belong to any of the religious denominations that exist in the world today. You may have been a Communist or a believer in democracy and freedom. No matter what you are, and no matter what your religious and political beliefs, personal and social habits happen to be – you still must know this man.
He was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, founded a state, built a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numberless social and political reforms, established a dynamic and powerful society to practice and represent his teachings, and he revolutionized the worlds of human thought and human action for all time.
His name was Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)-and he accomplished all these wonders in the unbelievably short span of twenty-three years.
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was born in Arabia in 570 C.E., and when he died at the age of 63, the whole of the Arabian Peninsula had changes from paganism and idol worship to the worship of One God; from tribal quarrels and wars to national solidarity and cohesion; from drunkenness and debauchery to sobriety and piety; from lawlessness and anarchy to disciplined living; from utter moral bankruptcy to the highest standards of moral excellence. Human history has never known such a complete transformation of a people or a place before or since.
The Encyclopedia Britannica calls him “the most successful of all religious personalities of the world.” George Bernard Shaw said, “if Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) were alive today, he would succeed in solving all those problems which threaten to destroy human civilization in our times.” Thomas Carlyle was amazed as to how one man, single-handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades.
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad, said in (Young India):"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind....I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life."
Michael H. Hart in his recently published book on ratings of men who contributed towards the benefit and upliftment of mankind writes: "My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels". (M.H.Hart,'The 100: A ranking of the most influential persons in history', New York, 1978, pp.33).
Jules Masserman wrote in TIME Magazine: "Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was Mohammad, who combined all the three functions. To a lesser degree Moses did the same." (Jules Masserman, 'Who Were Histories Great Leaders?', TIME Magazine, July 15, 1974).
Indeed no other human being ever accomplished so much, in such diverse fields of human thought and behavior, in so limited a space of time, as did Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He was a religious teacher, a social reformer, a moral guide, a political thinker, a military genius, an administrative colossus, a faithful friend, a wonderful companion, a devoted husband, a loving father-all in one. No other man in history ever excelled or equaled him in any of these difficult departments of life.
Muhammad was a man with a noble and exalted mission -and his unique mission was to unite humanity in the worship of the One and only God and to teach them the way to honest and upright living in accordance with the laws and commands of God. He always described himself as a messenger and servant of God, as indeed every single action and movement of his proclaimed him to be.
Today, after the lapse of some 1400 years, the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. Today they offer the same undying hope for treating mankind’s many ills which they did when Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was alive. This is our honest claim and this is the inescapable conclusion forced upon us by a critical and unbiased study of history.
The least you should do as a thinking, sensitive, concerned human being is to stop for one brief moment and ask yourself: Could it be that these statements, extraordinary and revolutionary as they sound, are really true? Supposing they really are true, and you did not know this man Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) or hear about his teachings? Or did not know him well and intimately enough to be able to benefit from his guidance and example? Is it not time you responded to this tremendous challenge and made some effort to know him? It will not cost you anything but it may well prove to be the beginning of a completely new era in your life.
[The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers. "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His Messengers." And they say: "We hear, and we obey, (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys."] Quran 2:285 more...