ISLAM AND PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.

)
By: Michael J. Diamond and Peter Gowing

Islam literally means to surrender oneself completely to God's will. The Muslim (i.e.,
one who surrenders) then is the one who practices Islam. The essential element of true belief
for the Muslim is monotheism, which cannot be compromised in the smallest way.

MUHAMMAD, MESSENGER OF GOD

It is important to state at the outset just what the Prophet Muhammad is not. He is
not considered to be divine in any way whatsoever. He was a man, he had a father and a
mother like all other men, he was born in Mecca, and he died. Muslims are rightly offended if
we call them "Mohammedans," implying that in some way they worship Muhammad and not
God alone. For the Muslims, Muhammad is the human instrument of God's revelation and His
will for man.

ARABIA BEFORE THE ADVENT OF ISLAM

The one date that we should remember when we speak of Islam is 622 A.D., which
is the year 1 in the Muslim calendar. It is not the year of Muhammad's birth or death, nor is the
date of the first revelation to Muhammad rather it is the date of "emigration" of Muhammad and
some of his companions from Mecca to Medina, two cities in Central Arabia. The word in
Arabic for his emigration is 'Hijra,' and so the Muslim calendar is usually marked A.H. thus 622
A.D. was 1 A.H.

Before the Hijra, Muhammad had been preaching in Mecca for 12 years, and this
puts the date of the first revelation of the Qur'an at 610 A.D. and the birth of Muhammad at
around 570 A.D.

Much of the history of Islam revolves around the two cities of Medina and Mecca.
Mecca had once been a place of pilgrimage in Arabia even before the emergence of Islam.
The center of Mecca was its shrine or Kaabah containing the black stone as well as many idols.
Religion at the time of the birth of the Prophet was the worship of 'divine agencies and spirits
and some goddesses. These spirits lived in lonely places, in trees, rocks, etc. There were also
people in Mecca who were possessed by spirits, and these people would talk strangely and
make pronouncements. As a matter of fact, when Muhammad first started to preach, he was
accused of being one of these. Religion at this time was mainly spirit-worship and devotion to
many gods and idols.

When Muhammad started to preach, he asserted not that God existed but that He
alone existed and there were no other gods or goddesses.

This period in Islamic history is known as the period of Ignorance or the 'Jahiliyyah.'
During this time infanticide was widely practiced, and many baby girls were killed at birth.
There were some people, though, who were coming to a belief in the one God and they were
called 'hanif' or monotheist. In the Qur'an, Abraham was called a 'hanif.'

Apart from the pagans and the hanif who lived in Mecca, there were also some Jews
and possibly some Christians or at least people who had contact with Christians. Muhammad
himself had traveled with the caravans, and he is said to have met Christians. One of the
traditions relates that as a small boy with the caravans, he met a monk. Mecca was a meeting
place of many peoples and religions and was not isolated from the outside world.

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.)

When we think of Islam and Arabia, the picture that comes to mind is deserts,
nomads, and their camels. But Islam is not a religion that was born in the desert; it was born in
a town — an urban commercial setting. He was born around the year 570 A.D. in Mecca and
was orphaned soon after. At first, he was protected by his grandfather Abd Al Muttalib and
then by his Uncle Abu Talib.
 As a child, Muhammad knew deprivation, poverty, and insecurity. At the age of 25,
he married a wealthy widow who was his employer- Khadijah, an owner of caravans. She was
15 years his senior at that time. She gave him children, security, and domestic happiness, and
Muhammad did not take another wife while she was alive. They had six children. The
happiness and security that he now possessed, however, were not enough to keep him happy
and content.

Once while he was praying on a hill near Mecca, a revelation came to him the first of
many that he was to have right up until the time of his death in 632 A.D.

During that first revelation, he became aware of a voice and a figure on the horizon,
yet it was near him. Everywhere he looked, he could see the figure, and he was commanded
to:

Recite! In the name of thy Lord Who Created man from a clot;
Recite! For thy Lord is most gracious who taught man by the pen taught
man what he knew not (Surah 96:1-4)

The first word of the revelation was recited or 'Iqra' in Arabic, which is the same root
word of Qur'an, and means 'the recitation of something already written down.' The revelation of
the Holy Quran to Muhammad was, Muslim beliefs, he is coming down from the heaven of the
Book, which is already written there. This original book is called the 'Mother of the Book.' The
rest of the revelation was given to the Prophet during the rest of his life over a period of some
22 years.
The figure that Muhammad saw on the horizon was later identified as the Angel
Gabriel, God's messenger to Muhammad. The first revelation took place during the month of
Ramadhan.

Muhammad's first reaction to the revelation was fear and apprehension and even
thought that he might be going mad or that he was being possessed by the spirits. However,
his wife Khadija believed in him, and he encouraged him, and after some time, he believed in
the validity of his call as the messenger of God.

He then began to preach what was béing revealed to him, and the people of Mecca
laughed at him as they might at anyone else whose behavior suddenly seemed eccentric. In
his preaching, Muhammad proclaimed the oneness of God, His uniqueness, His power, the
folly of idol worship and the judgment that was coming to the people who did not listen and
take heed.

The amusement of the Meccans soon turned annoyance and then anger when it
seemed their vested interests might be in danger from what Muhammad taught. As long as
Muhammad was protected by his Uncle Abu Talib, he was safe in Mecca. But when Abu Talib
died, and no further protection was forthcoming from the family, the Prophet had to plan his
future differently. He decided to accept an invitation from the people of Medina to go further
and act as an arbitrator in their disputes.

In 622 A.D., with his faithful friend and companion, Abu Bakr and some other
Muslims, Muhammad left Mecca in some danger and arrived soon after in Medina. The group
that traveled with Muhammad to Medina were called "community of faith" - 'Ummah.' They had
listened to Muhammad as he preached what was being revealed to him, had believed and had
left all things behind in Mecca and followed him to Medina. Some of the non-Muslim residents
in Medina were a little put out by the arrival of these strangers because they would have to
look after and feed them. But those who already believed were delighted and welcomed the
newcomers and argued as to where Muhammad would live in the city. He diplomatically said
that he would allow his camel to choose the place wherever the camel stopped, there he would
reside. Thus, he solved a potentially thorny problem and avoided jealously.

There were many Jews in Medina at that time who owned most of the better land
there. The Qur'an calls the Jews the "People of the Book", meaning that they too have Sacred
Scripture. Muhammad had presumed that they would accept his claim to prophethood, but
they just laughed at him. Muhammad claimed that he was yet another prophet carrying the
same message from God to the Arab people that Moses had brought to the Jews. Indeed, he
thought of his religion as but a continuation of the religion of the Jews, and he and His
followers even prayed facing Jerusalem, the sacred city of the Jews. The Jews would not
accept this and accused both Muhammad and the Qur'an as frauds. Muhammad, later on, had
all the Jews removed from Medina.

From this time on, Islam developed into a separate religion, and Muhammad came
to see that his message was universal and not just for the people of Arabia. The Qibla or
direction faced during prayer was changed at this juncture from Jerusalem to Mecca.

Trouble with the people of Mecca was inevitable. Muhammad allowed his people in
Medina to raid the Meccan caravan, and their success consolidated his own power base in
Medina. With the success of the raids, the Meccans decided to deal with Muhammad and
Medina once and for all the two sides met in the Battle of Badr and the Muslims won in the
battle. Muhammad saw this victory as a sign of God's approval of his mission as the
Messenger of God.

After more successes against the Meccans and the disruption of the Meccan
caravan trade, Muhammad decided to go back to Mecca in 628 A. D. for the annual pilgrimage.
The Meccans were afraid to allow him to enter the city. They negotiated a settlement whereby
the following year the Meccans would leave the city for three days so the Muslims might do the
Pilgrimage. Muhammad had come a long way from the time he left the city in 622 to 628 when
the Meccans had to make an agreement that they would abandon the city for three days.

The next year the Muslims did the Pilgrimage to Mecca. However, the Meccans
broke some terms of the treaty within the next two years, and Muhammad and his army were
obliged to march on to Mecca. There was no fight, however, and no blood was split. The city
simply surrendered to Muhammad.

Muhammad was generous in victory, and there were no reprisals, nor did the
emigrants claim back their property. His first act was to purify the Kaabah of its idols, leaving
only the Black Stone in place, proclaiming to all that there is only one God.

Muhammad's influence and successes now began to attract other tribes in Arabia,
and soon, they all became Muslims. Pagans were forbidden to come on Pilgrimage, and the
Islamic Empire was about to emerge from Arabia. Muhammad did not see the expansion. He
did the farewell pilgrimage and died at the age of 63 in the year 632 A.D. His friend and now
father in law, Abu Bakr, was appointed Caliph (successor) to rule the community.

BASIC TENETS OF ISLAM

THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

1. The Profession of Faith (Shahada)

The profession of faith is the first pillar of Islam. This is express in the following
words "l hear witness that there is no god except God and Muhammad is the messenger
of God."

These words are called the shahada because this means 'witnessing. When the
words are said, the Muslim starts by saying: "l witness/testify that there is no god except
God....' So the profession is quite simple. The Muslim asserts that he adores the One God and
that Muhammad is the messenger of God.

While we are looking at the importance, which Muslims attach to adoring the One
God only, we should know that the greatest sin in Islam is the practice of associating
something or somebody with God. God has no co-existents or partners or equals. Muslims are
careful to make sure that there is no lessening of the 'Godness' of God. God and idolatry are
incompatible.

When a Muslim baby is born, the very first words that a baby hears are the words of
the shahada. Likewise, the same words are said into the ears of the dying Muslim so that he
will be ready to meet his Creator.

2. The Five Times Daily Prayers (Salat)

Prayer in Islam is founded primarily on the precepts found in the Holy Qur'an and
the examples of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in his traditions (sunnah) and sayings (hadith). It
is understood as a duty of every Muslim to pray five times a day. Muslims also have what is
called 'dua' prayer, or non-formal prayer, a private and personal prayer, which is more
spontaneous
and does not follow a particular ritual.

The Qur'an commands the performing of the prayer but apart from the direction to
be taken during the prayer (i.e., toward Mecca), all the details of the prayer are derived from
extra-Qur'anic sources. The custom of praying five times daily, for example, comes from the
tradition of the Prophet.

The following are the names of the five obligatory prayers:

Salat al-Fajr - The Dawn Prayer

Salat al Zufr - The Noon Prayer
Salat al-Asr - The Afternoon Prayer
Salat al-Maghrib - The Sunset Prayer
Salat al Aisha - The Evening Prayer
There is no sabbath in Islam, though work does come to a halt for the midday
assembly prayer on Friday and there is sermon included in the prayer. All go back to work
when the prayer is completed, however.

Before prayer, the Muslim performs ritual ablutions so that he will pray in a purified
state. He must wash himself as is laid down in the law this purification is called 'wudhu.' The
Arabic word for mosque is 'masjid' which literally means 'the place of prostration.' However, the
Mosque is not absolutely necessary for the performance of the prayer, and as no priests are
necessary in Islam and a mosque is a place of prostration, anywhere, a Muslim can find space
to spread out his prayer mat is his mosque.

Prayer in Islam is not confined to the five obligatory prayers. The Muslim may pray
freely during the day and during the crisis, worries, and joys. His prayers maybe prayers of
adoration or petition.

3. Alms giving (Zakat)

This pillar is not just charity but an obligation and a duty and a way by which the
Muslim comes into contact with God. Zakat' is the principle of social responsibility by which the
possession of wealth obligates the owner to concern himself with the people who have little
wealth. 'Zakat' says in fact that what is mine really also belongs to the community in the final
analysis. So the Muslim gives up part of his wealth yearly for public use. Zakat, in other words,
is the setting aside of a determined part of one's wealth and transferring the ownership of it to
those people to whom God has decided it should be given. Those who do not pay the zakat
are likened in the Qur'an to the idolaters who worship false gods.

The Qur'an supports the right to private property, but a portion must be given to the
poor. This portion purifies or legitimizes the property, which is retained. Without this purifying,
ownership would, in some way, be impure.

Zakat is given to the poor, destitute, debtor, those who strive in the way of God, the
son of the traveler and those employed in the collection of it.
 The Qur'an also makes it clear that greedy people, anyone who hoards items like
food are hateful to God and will go to hell.

4. Fasting (Saum)

All Muslims who have reached puberty are required to fast during the month of
Ramadhan, except those who are sick, aged or infirm, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and
travelers. Throughout the period of the fast, there is a special emphasis on attendance at the
mosque more than during the rest of the year. The fast is an assertion that man has larger
needs than those of the body. The body is to be the subject of man and not his master,
dictating his every thought. The fast is for thirty days, but it is not the same as the Christian
Lent for the idea of Penance as Christians understand it is absent from Ramadhan. The
dominant theme is detachment from all created things in order to avoid and abandon
everything except that all subsistent God who never passes away, the All Powerful and
Merciful Lord. By fasting the Muslim intends to draw closer to Gods and to be more finely
attuned to his will.

During Ramadhan, those who fast often give gifts and alms to the poor. They share
with the less fortunate those goods that God has given to them. This act is performed in the
name of God and is a way of making contact with Him.

Fasting encourages patience and endurance. It is a remembrance of God, It is not a

fast of the stomach but also of the ears, mouth, and eyes that bad things will not be listened to
and of the eyes that nothing bad or impure is looked at.

Fasting is a sign of contradiction to the world that is becoming steadily more

materialistic. It unifies the rich and the poor those who eat well and those who fast practically
every day of the year. The spirit of getting closer to God and of submitting to his Will, which is
expressed in the Ramadhan fast are genuine religious values.

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

The 'hajj' is the journey to the point of the 'Qibla' of the prayer. Each Muslim is
expected to go to Mecca once in his lifetime for the pilgrimage if he is able to do so.

In Mecca is the great Mosque in its courtyard is the 'Kaabah' a cube-shaped building
which houses the black stone. This single stone announces to all the central belief of Muslims
that there is but one God and no other. It was a center of pilgrimage even before the time of
Muhammad. Mecca is where Abraham worshipped with his son Ishmael.

The Hajj is a response to the revelation and the law of God, which was revealed in
Mecca. It is a pledge of the pilgrim to dedicate the rest of his life to God. The hajj is also a
sacrament of Muslim unity, and it inspires solidarity.

Figure 11. Map of Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj)

Source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hajj (2016)
 The Holy Qur'an

Islam is a religion of the Book, the book being the Holy Qur'an. It has been said that
just as Christ, a person, is the center of Christianity, in the same way for Islam, the center is a
book.

We should remember that the Qur'an is written in Arabic can never be adequately
translated There are many translations because the majority of Muslims are not Arabs, but
these translations are not called "translations," e.g., Pickthall's work is titled "The Meaning of
the Glorious Qur'an." In the second Surah, the Qur'an says, "We have sent down an Arabic
Qur'an" So the Muslims feel that God sent it in Arabic, and the only real reading of it must be in
Arabic. Any translation changes its Arabic form so that it can never be more than
approximately the Qur'an.

The Qur'an is considered not only to be the masterpiece of the Arabic language, but
it is also the place where Muslims find the final truth. It has 114 Surahs or chapters, all of the
unequal length and having about 6200 verses. In the early surahs, revealed at Mecca, the
language is poetic. In the later surahs, revealed at Medina, the language is often more legal
and less poetic in form. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the eternal and literal word of God.
Qur'an has come down from heaven from the "Mother of the Book" which is already written
there. The Qur'an was "transmitted" or descended on Muhammad," it was "dictated from
heaven" to Muhammad. Muhammad had nothing to do with the form or composition of the
Qur'an. He merely spoke aloud the words that he was commanded to speak - no more, no less.
Muhammad in the Qur'an was firstly a "warner" telling of the coming Judgment of Mankind.
Later on, much legislation was revealed for the proper ruling of the community.

The Qur'an is seen by Muslims as the final revelation of God's will, the final
revelation and scripture from God; it is the Last Word, the most complete revelation from God
to Man through Muhammad, who is the "Seal of the Prophets", the last in the line of Prophets
of God which began with Adam. The Qur'an is the primary source for all Islamic Law and
Dogma. Tradition became a secondary source later on.

Views of Revelation in the Qur'an and the Bible

We shall now look very briefly at the way a Muslim sees how the Qur'an was
revealed in contrast to the way Christians view the revelation of the Bible. Christians believe
that God made biblical writers his instruments in such a way that they respected their freedom,
mental processes, traditions, culture, languages, and their individual historical contexts. So
when they spoke or wrote their inspired works, in a real way, it was their own message as well
as God's word. Thus the biblical message comes in so many different forms and images to the
extent that we can identify different authors of the bible by their literary Style. But this does not
make too much sense to a Muslim. For him, revelation is a dictation. God spoke to Muhammad
through an Angel, and the Prophet repeated what he heard word for word. He had no say in
the choice of language used, the phrasing, or even the sentences. So a Muslim will never say:
"As Muhammad said in the Qur'an... ", that would be blasphemy. He says, "God says in the
Qur'an..." This is something we must be careful about, because we do say, "As St. Paul says
in Romans..." and this would confuse a Muslim because we seem to be denying the authorship
of God in the Bible.

In the Bible, we find stories, proverbs, Laws, poetry, and many other types of writing.
We are all familiar with them. But in the Qur'an, there are only the Prophetic utterances.
Everything is presented as a kind of sermon spoken by God or an Angel to Muhammad and to
mankind.

The Qur'an is the WORD OF GOD. It is a copy of the Eternal Tablet in Heaven. The
idea and the Message of the Qur'an are uncreated and Eternal. The Qur'an cannot be bought
or sold, it is shown the greatest reverence. All occasions in life are blessed with quotations
from it.
 The Recording of the Qur'an

It is no wonder that the Muslims were concerned to bring together the Qur'an and to
preserve it because it provides the basis of their organization in both the temporal and spiritual
spheres. The first way of preserving it was by making a written collection. The Qur'an did not
appear at one time, but rather it was revealed gradually, as circumstances required, over a
period 21 years, from the first manifestations of the Prophets vocation to his death - a part of it
was revealed in Mecca and part in Medina. So every time the Prophet recited the surah his
followers wrote it down on materials used for writing in those days, namely pieces of leather,
animal bones such as shoulder blades and ribs, palm leaves and likaf - flat white stones. The
Prophet died in the 11th year of the Hijra, by which time the Qur'an had either been recorded
on materials such as those mentioned above or had been preserved on the minds of men.
Those who had preserved it thus were called Qurra. All the extant verses of the Qur'an were
collected and collated into the authoritative text now used everywhere in Islam. This was
accomplished during the reign of the Caliph Uthman in 653 A.D. (31 A.H.)

The Tradition (Sunna)

Central Arabia, before Muhammad was a society based on tradition, and the word
innovation was synonymous with heresy! Life in the desert was a precarious one, where tried
and tested ways of doing things were adhered to simply because the line between survival and
death was a very thin one. The ways of their forefathers were the ways of survival and
therefore highly valued. The method of living by adhering to tradition was basic to the Arab
way of life before the coming of Islam.

The arrival of Islam in Arabia was surely one of the greater innovations of the time
with the Qur'an being the greatest innovation of all. Muhammad's place in Islam goes beyond
his role as a transmitter of the Qur'an. The Qur'an does contain some legislations, but all the
rules necessary for the daily life of a Muslim cannot be found there. The Qur'an is, after all, a
short book. The need for legislation became acute as Islam expanded, and Muslims came into
contact with new cultures and new peoples, encountering new problems to be solved. For
example, the Qur'an has little to say about personal or social conduct or commercial ethics.
There are several suggestions on these matters given in the Qur'an, but nothing very specific.

Where then did Islam turn for guidance in devising specific laws and rules of
conduct? Where better than to the person of the Prophet Muhammad himself and his behavior
during his lifetime in Mecca and Medina. The companions who were with Muhammad during
his time as a messenger of God and preacher observed him and orally reported what he did
and said. Later on, when Muslims were in doubt after the Prophets death as to what to do in a
particular case, they would recall what he had done during his lifetime in similar cases, and
they would justify a new course of action in this way. If Muhammad had done such and such in
particular case, then it was appropriate for good Muslims to do the same.

We should remember in this connection the place that tradition played in the life of
the Arabs before the coming of Islam. People followed what had been traditionally done by
their forefathers and did not like innovation. For the Muslims, in their community of faith, the
behavior of Muhammad during his lifetime simply became the new Tradition, replacing the
tradition of their ancestors. Muhammad's status as a Prophet as the transmitter of the Divine
revelation helped to ensure the authority of this new Tradition. The reports of Muhammad were,
as mentioned, first passed on orally. Later they were written down and became the second
major source for the SACRED LAW (Sharia'h) second only to the Qur'an but also now
considered to be infallible. This source is called SUNNA.

There is another word we should know - HADITH. This refers to oral

communications derived from the Prophet. In other words, it is a story about something
Muhammad did or said. Each tradition usually had a Hadith to support it, but not always. There
are some traditions followed in the Muslim world that do not have Hadiths to back them up.
 As various rival groups grew up in Islam and they began to compete for the power
they needed some authority to do so, and there were conflicting opinions about the point of
Law. To ensure that their particular point of view prevailed, some factions started to
manufacture bogus Hadiths about Muhammad. Forgery was on a large scale. Later on some
great and respected scholars of Tradition such as Al-Bukhari, Muslim and An - Nawawi
investigated the thousands of hadiths and classified them as sound, good, weak, false, etc.
These scholars decreed that each hadith required an isnad ("chain"), a list of trustworthy
transmitters or relators of the story about the Prophet.

Source: Islam and Muslims: Some Basic Information by Michael J. Diamond and Peter
G.
Gowing. Q.C. 1981

ISLAMIC FESTIVALS AND HOLIDAYS

1. Amon Jadeed, New Year. Muharram 1. Also known as the Hijra Day commemorating the
flight of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina and start of the Islamic calendar.

2. Ashura, Muharram 10, Observed as a Thanksgiving Day for the mercies of God shown to
various prophets from Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Also observed as a day of penance
and mourning commemorating the massacre of the Prophets grandson, Imam Hussein and his
followers.

3. Maulidan Nabi, Birth of Prophet Muhammad Rabi-ul Awwal 12. It is observed by the
holding of assemblies in which stories of the Prophets birth, childhood, preaching, character,
suffering are narrated. It is an occasion for inner joy and happiness, not only for frivolity and
pleasure-seeking.

4. Israwal Miraj, Night of Ascension, Rajab 27. Celebrates the night of journey in which the
prophet went miraculously from Mecca to Jerusalem and from there ascended to paradise.
Muslims celebrate this night by reading the Holy Qur'an, praying and relating the story about
the Israwal Miraj.

5. Nisfu Shaban. Shaban 15. This day commemorates the change in the direction of Muslim
prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca.

6. Saum, (Fasting) Ramadhan. The whole month is given to fasting during the daylight hours.
The month is sacred because all the significant events in Islamic history occurred during the
month, including the coming down of the Holy Qur'an as Gods revelation of his will for all
mankind.

7. Nazul al Qur'an, Night of Majesty 17th of Ramadhan, Revelation of the Holy Qur'an.

8. Eidl Fitr, Festival of the Breaking of the Fast, Shawwal 1. Muslims break the fast with a
feasting, special prayers and the distribution of gifts to the poor and needy. It is a day of
thanksgiving and rejoicing and exchanging greetings with relatives and friends.

9. Eidl Adha, Festival of Sacrifice, Zul Hajji 10. The day marks the end of the pilgrimage. Also
a day for thanksgiving, rejoicing, and sharing.

10. Yaummul Jumma, The Day of Assembly. Every Friday of the week is obligatory
congregational prayer.

Sources: The Important Days in Islam and Relations Between Muslims and
Non-Muslims, By lljas Ishmael, Manila, -1977. / Islam and Muslims: Some Basic
Information by Michael J. Diamond and Peter G. Gowing. Quezon City, 1981.