Ignoring Mohammed is great disservice to humanity

While the demise anniversary of Prophet Mo- hammed (peace be upon him) an opportunity to revisit his glorious life, especially the late parts of it, his birth anniversary is another time to mark Mohammed’s life and get acquainted with the essence of the message. The prophet’s de- mise came in the midst of major internal tenden- cy to secure the inheritance of the prophet, espe- cially the Islamic government that he had estab- lished. There were completion for power among the “companions” of Mohammed. There were several groups who vied for power after Moham- med’s demise who were acting as “political par- ties” with little religious concerns. The first was the Quraishi group that comprised of senior fig- ures like Omar ibn Al Khattab and Abdu Bakr. The second was the Ansar (supporters) of the prophet, the third was the hypocrites who have always plotted against Mohammed. The fourth was the Umayyad party headed by Abu Sufyan and his son, Mu’a’wiyah. The fifth was the Reli- gious Party who remained loyal to the message during and after Mohammed. No sooner had the prophet died than did some of these groups launch their programmes that eventually led to the abandonment of the fundamentals of the re- gion. These were instrumental in stalling the prophet’s programme that he had designed for the time after his demise.

The birth anniversary of Mohammed was a dif- ferent time with promising future and eventual dominance of the world. His doctrines were uni- versal, his narrative infringed other considera- tions; tribal, political or ethnic. Muslims were hoping that the years they had spent in the presence of Moham- med would outlive him for long and that his vision of succession would be implemented for the good of the Muslims and to overtake the factional power programmes. The early years of the new religion were complete- ly influenced by the prophet’s doctrines that enabled everyone to play a role. The struggle to establish Islam on firm grounds was led by Mohammed (AS). People were enthusiastic about it, the prophet’s leadership was providing the guidance for them to establish themselves.

What is significant at this junc- ture is to emulate Mohammed’s life. But in the meantime, the groups were form- ing their power basis with a vision for the future. They appeared to have missed the opportunity of preserving the heritage of Mohammed. While he took a political lead in order to protect his fol- lowers, his main aim was always to establish the prominence of God Almighty. For modern day Muslims the essence of the message revealed by Mohammed must always be the attachment to the founding principles of Islam whose main aim is to free man from slavery, servitude and fear (of hunger and political fear). Mohammed had embraced spirituality and attachment to God from early age when he spent long times at the secluded “Cave of Heraa” at the outskirts of Mecca. Throughout his prophethood spirituality was the cornerstone of his message. He wanted good for the Muslims after his demise, urging them to uphold to the holy Quran and seeking his spiritual and religious legacy from his house- hold.

The Muslims ought to have learnt one main les- son from Mohammed; his insistence on main- taining the unity of the Muslims. At the worst time of crisis he was advocating social peace. When Abu Sufyan, the head of the party that would eventually take over after his demise de- clared Islam to avoid being penalised Moham- med accepted his conversion and said: Whoever enters Abu Sufyan’s house shall be in peace”. He accepted the verbal declaration of many peo- ple in order fend off social trauma and eventual disintegration of the Ummah. He was serious in preserving the unity of the Muslims. His house-hold were also serious. Imam Ali, who was designated by Moham- med as his successor, remained silent when the political coup happened after Mohammed’s demise. He balanced the situation and realised that the future of Islam would more seriously com- promised if he challenged the new leadership. He was repeated- ly quoted as saying that he would put the interest of Islam ahead of his own. This is the main lesson as Muslims await the anniversary of his birth. It is the top form of personal sacrifice in anticipation of collective outcome to all. It is out of our love to the human race that we urge everyone to know Mohammed without prejudice.