Acquaintiny with the Prophet’s manner by thinking about his Talk and behaviour
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) as a unique blessing of God
The Almighty Allah says in Holy Quran, “ We have indeed in the Apostle of God a beautiful pattern ( of conduct) for any one whose hope is in God and the Final Day and who engages much in the praise of God .” The Holy Qur’an (33:21)
One of the sources of, recognition ‘ ( inference) is the practical attitude of the Holy Prophet ( peace and blessings of God be on him and his progeny). One of God’s blessings upon us part of our pride as Muslims, as compared with the followers of other religions, lies in the fact that most of the authentic sayings of the Holy Prophet, about which we have no doubt that they have come down from him, are today available to us, whereas no other religion can definitely assert that a certain statement has been heard from Moses. Jesus Christ (on whom be peace) or any other prophet. There are, however, many sentences quoted from them but they are not definite and free from doubt.
The second distinction between Islam ( the Holy Prophet of Islam) and other religions is that the life –account of Muhammad (S) is quite clear and based on facts. Indeed, no one of the world’s leaders can be compared to him. Even authentic points and exact details concerning the life of the Holy Prophet of Islam are today within our reach, whereas all such details cannot be obtained about any other person. The year, month, day and even the exact day of the weak of his birth, the neo- natal, period, the period of living in the desert, the period before his maturity, his journeys to foreign lands ( outside Arabia),his occupations before appointment to prophet hood, the year of his marriage and his age when he got married, the number of his children and their ages, the number of them who died before him and how old they were they died, all as well the post- prophet hood happenings such as the first, second and third person who beleived in him and the years when they embraced Islam, his conversations with others, his feats and the methods he used in his doings, are all exactly and factually clear and obvious.
As to Jesus Chirst ( peace be on him) for instance ,who is the immediate prophet before Muhammad (S) and one of the eminent prophet introducing a religion, hadn’t be been confirmed by the Quran many would have lingered in doubt as to his prophet hood. (Muslims of the would recognize him as real and divine prophet according to Holy Qur’an).
In principle, Christians themselves do not believe at all in Christians dates from a historical point of view. And if they say that one thousand, nine hundred and a few years have passes since the birth of Jesus, it is only conventional rather than factual.
Unlike the Christians dates and calendar, it would be a definite date when we assert that one thousand and several years have passed since the Prophet’s emigration to Medina (Hijra). It is probable that Jesus Christ ( on whom be peace lived two hundred years before or three hundred years after the time the Christians claim for his birth. Christians ( not those who really believe in Christ) are skeptical as to whether Jesus Christ in fact existed in the world or has jus been an imaginary figure. They doubt his very existence.
This is of course wrong from the Islamic viewpoint, for the Holy Qur’an has confirmed him and since we Muslims believe in it, we are free from such doubts. But who were Christ’s disciples? How long did it take before the Bible was compiled as a book after Christ? He many Bible did exist? All of the questions remain without answers and ambiguous. As to the Holy Prophet of Islam, his practical attitude and his sayings are two reliable and authentic sources, not based on scepticism, serving us as guide and authority which we are bound to follow and benefit from.
Necessary of thinking about the Prophet’s Talk and behaviour
what is actually important is that there are subtle points in the sayings of great personalities which people should be able to understand. This is true especially of the Prophet of Islam, who not only made statements, but followed them in practice as well. He said: “God has bestowed upon me comprehensive words, i.e. He has endowed me with a power that I can make brief statements with profound meanings.” In fact, all the people listened to the Prophet’s words. but not of them could properly understand their depth. Perhaps ninety –five or ninety – nine percent of them could not fully grasp the meanings of his words. Holy Prophet himself foresaw this reality when he said: “ Record my speeches, keep them and deliver them to future generations. It is very probable that future generations can better understand the meaning of my words than the followers who sit next to my pulpit.” There is also a well –known tradition ( hadith) from the Prophet (S) who said: “My God provide happiness to all who hear my words, record them and transmit them to those who have not personally heard me saying them.”
He then continued: “ It is liked that someone who conveys a world of knowledge and wisdom in a sentence to others my himself be incapable of comprehending it fully.”
The Difference Between “Fahm” and “Fiqh”
The difference is that fahm is absolute understanding but fiqh denotes a deep understanding of something and when by fiqh we imply a discourse, that would be the one with deep meaning. As was stated before, the Holy Prophet of Islam said that it is likely that some learned persons ( faqih) carry a statement with profound meaning they had heard from him to others who are deeper than in thought.
Therefore, we see that with the passing of centuries, more depth has been discovered for the words of the Prophet covering different fields. For instance the Prophet has talked about morality, but the history of Islamic sciences shows that it was not until the second and third centuries that people became deeply aware of the significance of the Prophet’s remark. Similarly, in the fourth and fifth centuries, the concept of the Prophet’s statements became even clearer.
The same thing is also true of jurisprudence, ideology, philosophy, ethics, gnosticism and other fields on which the Prophet has commented.
For example, interpreters who have appeared in the later periods have been able to understand the depth of the Prophet’s words. The miraculous nature of his sayings lies in this very reality.
If we look into our fiqh in particular, and compare a genius like Sheikh Saduq Mufid and Tusi, who all lived one Thousand years ago with Sheikh Murtaza Ansari who lived about nine hundred years later, we will see that the latter’s insight into the Prophet’s words is much deeper, and that he has been able to analyse them better. Is it because Sheikh Ansari was more intelligent than Sheikh Tusi? Certainly no! The reason is that knowledge and sciences during the time of Sheikh Ansari had become more extensive and advanced. Therefore, he was better equipped to have a more profound understanding of the Prophet’s words those living one thousand years before him. Likewise, one or two hundred years later, there will probably be people who will have a deeper understanding of the Prophet’s words as compared to Sheikh Ansari understanding.
The Holy Prophet’s Behaviour
In the same way the Prophet’s saying contain hidden meanings, his behaviour too is subject to interpretation and should be deeply contemplated. The Holy Quran says:
“We have indeed in the Apostle of God a beautiful pattern ( of conduct) for any one whose hope is God and the Final Day, and who engages much the praise of God. Holy Quran( 33:21)
As the Holy Quran says, the behaviour of the Prophet is an example for the followers, that is to say, his being is like an origin or focus from which all duties and laws should be extracted, of course, to narrate the records of the life of the Prophet is not in itself important, rather it is the interpretation and justification of his behaviour which is significant to us. It is important to know why he behaved in a certain way in same give situation and what he aimed by so behaving. But unfortunately, we the people, ( followers) of the Prophet, neither remember a few short sayings of him, even at the literal level, nor are we able to elaborate in the least on his behaviour and practical life.
A story about negligence of Muslims on the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h)
A well – known Iranian writer who expired several years ago, and who was not much religious in his youth, had become a friend of mine in the later years of his due to the study of some books this author had written. He once told me that he was translating a book, “The Wisdom of Religions,” i. e. wise saying from the regions of Moses, Zoroastra, Buddha and our Prophet. He said that the author of the original book had narrated much more wise sayings from other prophets than from the Holy Prophet of Islam and since he adopted a flexible way of translating, he intended to add hundred verses of the Holy Quran and one hundred short sayings of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (A.S) to his book. He said that he had had to problem in finding and compiling verses from the Quran and the sayings of Ali (A.S). However, concerning the Holy Prophet’ words, since he was not well –versed in Arabic and since he had not been able to find any in Persian books, he requested me to provide him with the Persian translation of one hundred sentences from the Holy Prophet so that he could express them according to his own taste and penmanship. I provided him with the requested sentences together with their Persian translation lest he should make mistakes, and he had them published in a book titled, “Wisdom of Religions”. One day, he came and told ,e he had not known that our Prophet had uttered such words and sayings, This man was a well- known Iranian writer of worldwide fame, a voracious reader in the whole course of his life, yet he had never heard of our Prophet’s words and sayings, and it was only after publication his book that he realized and agreed the Prophet’s words were deeper in meaning and superior to those of all other prophets.
Sources :
noble character of the Holy Prophet of Islam- pages: 15to23