Family Forum / Marriage / Marriage / November 2009

ISLAM and the AIM of LIFETwelve Proofs that Muhammad is a True Prophet
Shaykh `Abdul Rahman `Abdul Khaliq
Originally published by IANA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My brothers and sisters everywhere! With this essay, I am not singling
out the adherents of Islam - to which I ascribe - but rather I am
writing this essay to every man and woman throughout the whole world.

I ask Allah that He facilitates tat this essay reaches every ear,
falls under the sight of every eye, and is understood by every
heart...

Muhammad the son of `Abdullah is Allah's Prophet and the Final
Messenger Sent by Allah to the Inhabitants of Earth.

My brothers and sisters everywhere! You should know that the
Messenger, Muhammad the son of `Abdullah (may Allah's blessings and
peace be upon him) is Allah's Messenger in reality and truth. The
evidences that show his veracity are abundant. None but an infidel,
who out of arrogance alone, could deny these signs.

Among these proofs:

1. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) was raised
illiterate, unable to read or write, and remained like that till his
death. Among all his people, he was known as being truthful and
trustworthy. Before receiving revelation, he had no prior knowledge of
Religion or any previously sent Message. He remained like that for his
first forty years. Revelation then came to Muhammad with the Koran
that we now have between our hands. This Koran mentioned most of the
accounts found in the previous scriptures, telling us about these
events in the greatest detail as if he witnessed them. These accounts
came precisely as they were found in the Torah sent down to Moses and
in the Gospel sent down to Jesus. Neither the Jews or Christians were
able to belie him regarding anything that he said.

2. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also
foretold of everything that would occur to him and his community after
him, pertaining to victory, the removal of the tyrannical kingdoms of
Chosroes [the royal title for the Zoroastrian kings of Persia] and
Caesar, and the establishment of the religion of Islam throughout the
earth. These events occurred exactly as Muhammad foretold, as if he
was reading the future from an open book.

3. Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) also brought
an Arabic Koran that is the peak of eloquence and clarity. The Koran
challenged those eloquent and fluent Arabs of his time, who initially
belied him, to bring forth a single chapter like the Koran. The
eloquent Arabs of his day were unable to contest this Koran.

Indeed, till our day, none has ever dared to claim that he has been
able to compose words that equal-or even approach-the order, grace,
beauty, and splendor of this Glorious Koran.

4. The life history of this Noble Prophet was a perfect example of
being upright, merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, generous,
distant from all evil character, and ascetic in all worldly matters,
while striving solely for the reward of the Hereafter. Moreover, in
all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful and fearful of
Allah.

5. Allah instilled great love for Muhammad (may Allah's blessings and
peace be upon him) in the hearts of all who believed in and met him.
This love reached such a degree that any of his companions would
willingly sacrifice his (or her) self, mother or father for him.

Till today, those who believe in Muhammad honor and love him. Anyone
of those who believe in him would ransom his own family and wealth to
see him, even if but once.

6. All of history has not preserved the biography of any person in the
manner it has preserved the life of Muhammad, who is the most
influential human in history.

Nor has the entire earth known of anyone whom every morning and
evening, and many times thereafter throughout the day, is thought of
by those who believe in him. Upon remembering Muhammad, the believers
in him will greet him and ask Allah to bless him. They do such with
full hearts and true love for him.

7. Nor has there every been a man on earth whom is still followed in
all his doings by those who believe in him.

Those who believe in Muhammad, sleep in the manner he slept; purify
themselves (through ablution and ritual washing) in the manner he
purified himself; and adhere to his practice in the way they eat,
drink, and clothe themselves.

Indeed in all aspects of their lives, the believers in Muhammad adhere
to the teachings he spread among them and the path that he traveled
upon during his life.

During every generation, from his day till our time, the believers in
this Noble Prophet have fully adhered to his teachings. With some,
this has reached the degree that they desire to follow and adhere to
the Prophet's way in his personal matters regarding which Allah has
not sought of them to adhere to in worship. For example, some will
only eat those specific foods or only wear those specific garments
that the Messenger liked.

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad repeat those
praises of Allah, special prayers, and invocations that he would say
during each of his actions during day and night, like: what he would
say when he greeted people, upon entering and leaving the house,
entering and leaving the mosque, entering and leaving the bathroom,
going to sleep and awaking from sleep, observing the new crescent,
observing the new fruit on trees, eating, drinking, dressing, riding,
traveling and returning from travel, etc.

Let alone all that, all those who believe in Muhammad fully perform-
even to the minute detail-every act of worship-like prayer, fasting,
charity, and pilgrimage-as this Noble Messenger (may Allah's blessings
and peace be upon him) taught and as he himself performed.

All of this allows those who believe in him, to live their lives in
all aspects with this Noble Messenger as their example, as if he was
standing before them, for them to follow in all their doings.

8. There has never been nor will there ever be a man anywhere upon
this earth who has received such love, respect, honor, and obedience
in all matters-small and large alike-as has this Noble Prophet.

9. Since his day, in every region of the earth and during every
period, this Noble Prophet has been followed by individuals from all
races, colors and peoples. Many of those who followed him were
previously Christians, Jews, pagans, idolaters, or without any
religion. Among those who chose to follow him, were those who were
known for their sound judgment, wisdom, reflection, and foresight.
They chose to follow this Noble Prophet after they witnessed the signs
of his truthfulness and the evidences of his miracles. They did not
choose to follow Muhammad out of compulsion or coercion or because
they had adopted the ways of their fathers and mothers.

Indeed many of the followers of this Prophet (may Allah's blessings
peace be upon him), chose to follow him during the time when Islam was
weak, when there were few Muslims, and when there was severe
persecution of his followers on earth. Most people who have followed
this Prophet (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) have done
so not to acquire some material benefits. Indeed many of his followers
have suffered the greatest forms of harm and persecution as a result
of following this Prophet. Despite all this harm and persecution, this
did not turn them back from his religion.

My brethren! All of this clearly indicates to anyone possessing any
sense, that this Prophet was truly and really Allah's messenger and
that he was not just a man who claimed prophethood or spoke about
Allah without knowledge.

10. With all this, Muhammad came with a great religion in its credal
and legal make-up.

Muhammad described Allah with qualities of complete perfection, and at
the same time in a manner that is free of ascribing to Him any
imperfection. Neither the philosophers or the wise could ever describe
Allah like such. Indeed it is impossible to imagine that any human
mind could conceive of an existing being that possesses such complete
ability, knowledge, and greatness; Who has subdued the creation; Who
has encompassed everything in the universe, small or large; and Who
possesses such perfect mercy.

Nor is it in the ability of any human being to place a perfect law
based upon justice, equality, mercy and objectivity for all human
activity on earth like the laws that Muhammad brought for all spheres
of human activity - like buying and selling, marriage and divorce,
renting, testimony, custody, and all other contracts that are
necessary to uphold life and civilization on earth.

11. It is impossible that any person conceive wisdom,, morals, good
manners, nobleness of characters as what this honorable Prophet (may
Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought.

In a full and complete manner, Muhammad spread a teaching regarding
character and manners toward one' parents, relatives, fiends, family,
humanity, animals, plants and inanimate objects. It is impossible for
the human mind alone to grasp all of that teaching or come with a
similar teaching.

All of that unequivocally indicates that this Messenger did not bring
an) of this religion from his own accord, but that it was rather a
teaching and inspiration that he received from the One Who created the
earth and the high heavens above and created this universe in its
miraculous architecture and perfection.

12. The legal and credal make-up of the religion that the Messenger,
Muhammad, (may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him) brought
resembles the engineering of the heavens and the earth. All of that
indicates that He who created the heavens and the earth is the One Who
sent down this great law and upright religion.

The degree of inimitability of the Divine law that was sent down upon
Muhammad is to the same degree of inimitability of the Divine creation
of the heavens and earth. For just as humanity cannot create this
universe, in the same manner humanity cannot bring forth a law like
Allah's law that He sent down upon His servant and messenger Muhammad
(may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him).

What is your purpose in life? What is the rationale behind our life?
Why do we live in this life? These questions frequently intrigue
people who try to find accurate answers.

People provide different answers to these questions. Some people
believe the purpose of life is to accumulate wealth. But one may
wonder: What is the purpose of life after one has collected colossal
amounts of money? What then? What will the purpose be once money is
gathered? If the purpose of life is to gain money, there will be no
purpose after becoming wealthy. And in fact, here lies the problem of
some disbelievers or misbelievers at some stage of their life, when
collecting money is the target of their life. When they have collected
the money they dreamt of, their life loses its purpose. They suffer
from the panic of nothingness and they live in tension and
restlessness.

Can Wealth Be an Aim?

We often hear of a millionaire committing suicide, sometimes, not the
millionaire himself but his wife, son, or daughter. The question that
poses itself is: Can wealth bring happiness to one’s life? In most
cases the answer is NO. Is the purpose of collecting wealth a standing
purpose? As we know, the five-year old child does not look for wealth:
a toy for him is equal to a million dollars. The eighteen-year old
adolescent does not dream of wealth because he is busy with more
important things. The ninety-year old man does not care about money;
he is worried more about his health. This proves that wealth cannot be
a standing purpose in all the stages of the individual's life.

Wealth can do little to bring happiness to a disbeliever, because he/
she is not sure about his fate. A disbeliever does not know the
purpose of life. And if he has a purpose, this purpose is doomed to be
temporary or self destructive.

What is the use of wealth to a disbeliever if he feels scared of the
end and skeptical of everything. A disbeliever may gain a lot of
money, but will surely lose himself.

Worshipping Allah as an Aim

On the contrary, faith in Allah gives the believer the purpose of life
that he needs. In Islam, the purpose of life is to worship Allah. The
term "Worship" covers all acts of obedience to Allah.

The Islamic purpose of life is a standing purpose. The true Muslim
sticks to this purpose throughout all the stages of his life, whether
he is a child, adolescent, adult, or an old man.

Worshipping Allah makes life purposeful and meaningful, especially
within the framework of Islam. According to Islam this worldly life is
just a short stage of our life. Then there is the other life. The
boundary between the first and second life is the death stage, which
is a transitory stage to the second life. The type of life in the
second stage a person deserves depends on his deeds in the first life.
At the end of the death stage comes the day of judgment. On this day,
Allah rewards or punishes people according to their deeds in the first
life.

The First Life as an Examination

So, Islam looks at the first life as an examination of man. The death
stage is similar to a rest period after the test, i. e. after the
first life. The Day of Judgment is similar to the day of announcing
the results of the examinees. The second life is the time when each
examinee enjoys or suffers from the outcome of his behavior during the
test period.

In Islam, the line of life is clear, simple, and logical: the first
life, death, the Day of Judgment, and then the second life. With this
clear line of life, the Muslim has a clear purpose in life. The Muslim
knows he is created by Allah. Muslims know they are going to spend
some years in this first life, during which they have to obey God,
because God will question them and hold them responsible for their
public or private deeds, because Allah knows about all the deeds of
all people. The Muslim knows that his deeds in the first life will
determine the type of second life they will live in. The Muslim knows
that this first life is a very short one, one hundred years, more or
less, whereas the second life is an eternal one.

The Eternity of the Second Life

The concept of the eternity of the second life has a tremendous effect
on a Muslims during their first life, because Muslims believe that
their first life determines the shape of their second life. In
addition, this determines the shape of their second life and this
determination will be through the Judgment of Allah, the All just and
Almighty.

With this belief in the second life and the Day of Judgment, the
Muslim's life becomes purposeful and meaningful. Moreover, the
Muslim's standing purpose is to go to Paradise in the second life.

In other words, the Muslim's permanent purpose is to obey Allah, to
submit to Allah, to carry out His orders, and to keep in continues
contact with Him through prayers (five times a day), through fasting
(one month a year), through charity (as often as possible), and
through pilgrimage (once in one's life).

The Need for a Permanent Purpose

Disbelievers have purposes in their lives such as collecting money and
property, indulging in sex, eating, and dancing. But all these
purposes are transient and passing ones. All these purposes come and
go, go up and down. Money comes and goes. Health comes and goes.
Sexual activities cannot continue forever. All these lusts for money,
food and sex cannot answer the individual's questions: so what? Then
What?

However, Islam saves Muslims from the trouble of asking the question,
because Islam makes it clear, from the very beginning, that the
permanent purpose of the Muslim in this life is to obey Allah in order
to go to Paradise in the second life.

We should know that the only way for our salvation in this life and in
the hereafter is to know our Lord who created us, believe in Him, and
worship Him alone.

We should also know our Prophet whom Allah had sent to all mankind,
believe in Him and follow Him. We should, know the religion of truth
which our Lord has commanded us to believe in, and practice it …

Those in search of truth

Who have an open mind and heart,

Islamic Education Foundation

Welcome You.

Objectives: -

To Convey the message of Islam

To Educate Muslims about Islam

To keep in close contact with new Muslims.

Activities:

Offering Courses and presenting lectures about Islam in several
languages.

Teaching Islam and Arabic.

Teaching new Muslims to receive the Holy Quran.

Helping Non- Muslims embrace Islam and complete the required
procedures