Читать книгу What's Up With Those Crazy Muslims - Irfan Alli - Страница 12

Muslims consider Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be God’s last prophet and Messenger to mankind. We do not worship him, nor do we pray to God through Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Muslims believe the same angel Gabriel who came to Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus also came to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all). Muslims also believe that God, through the angel Gabriel, revealed the Quran to Muhammad (peace be upon him). This was done over a period of twenty-three years. Muslims consider the Quran to be God's last revelation to mankind and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is God’s last prophet and messenger to mankind. Since one in every five persons on earth is a Muslim, the Quran enlightens and guides over one and a half billion people around the world.

Muhammad (peace be upon him) lived during the sixth and seventh centuries. He was born in Arabia in the year 570 of the Christian era. He was called to prophet hood at the age of 40 and died at the age of 63. The Quran, which we have referred to throughout this book, was revealed to him in small amounts over 23 years. In this short span of 23 years he was able to change the whole of the Arabian Peninsula from drunkenness, idol-worship and paganism to the worship of one God; from moral decay to moral excellence; from tribal wars to solidarity and purpose; from the exploitation of women and killing of female infants to respect for women. He did all this by applying the Quran. Human history had never seen such a comprehensive change in a society before or since.

To this day the details of his private and public utterances have been preserved for all to read and hear. Out of a barren desert a civilization grew that was to impact the ways of Africa, Asia and Europe. Today Muslims are in every country of the world and Islam is the fastest growing religion.

The Encyclopedia Britannica calls him “the most successful of all religious personalities of the world.” Others had this to say:

“My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” (From: The 100 - A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History by Michael H. Hart.)

“People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense. People like Ghandi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the other, are leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was Mohammed, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree Moses did the same.” (Professor Jules Masserman)

“Philosopher, Orator, Apostle, Legislator, Warrior, Conqueror of ideas, Restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty-terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?” (From: Historie de la Turquie by Alphonse de LaMartine)