Muhammad the Prophet of Mercy and the Modern Day Muslims
Introduction
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) has been described in the Qur’an by different titles but the most famous is his title is in 21:107. Almighty God say, “And We have not sent you but as a mercy for the universe.”
Look at the style used by the Amighty in this verse: “…but as mercy for the universe.” Muhammad is not just a mercy for the Quraysh tribe or the Arabs; rather he is a mercy for the heavens and the earth, for the sun and the moon, for stars and planets, for lands and mountains, for rivers and oceans, for plants and trees, for animals that stride on the land and also for those that fly in the sky.
Muhammad is a mercy all the children of Adam and Eve, the white and the black, the brown and the yellow tan, and the Arabs and the non-‘Arabs – he is a special mercy for those who believe the fundamentals of his message, those who are known as Muslims.
Not only that the Prophet is a mercy for the entire universe, his followers, on their own human level, are expected to express mercy towards one another: “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are stern (in their dealings) with the enemies but merciful among themselves.” (48:29) In words of Iqbal Lahori, a believer is as strong as the steel in face of an enemy but as soft as the silk among themselves.
Return to the Basics
If Muhammad is the mercy for the universe and his followers are expected to behave mercifully towards one another, then why is so much strife and bloodshed in the house of Islam – from Pakistan to Afghanistan and from Iraq to Syria? Muslims are killing Muslims!
There are multiple causes for this malice: from forces without to deviant ideologies within, more so the deviation within. And the only solution to this problem is “return to the basics”.
What do I mean by “return to the basics”? Well, let us start with clarifying the universal and unanimous criterion of being a Muslim.
Anyone who believes in One God and in Muhammad as the Last Prophet and in the Life in Hereafter is a Muslim. And anyone who believes in these three concepts, his life, his dignity and his property is sacrosanct, muhtaram – it is forbidden to violate that in any shape or form.
Let me quote an interesting conversation between Miqdad and the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) quoted in both Sahih al-Buhkhari and Sahih Muslim.
Miqdad: “O the Messenger of Allah (a.s.), what do you think about a situation where I met a non-Muslim enemy and we fight one another. In that fight, he cuts one of my hands by his sword. I continue to fight him and when he realizes that I might overcome him, he run away to a tree [seeking to shield by blows], and then he uttered the word, ‘I submit myself to Allah.’ O the Messenger of Allah, should I kill him after has uttered those words?”
It is important to realize that this person’s statement of submitting to Allah, i.e., become a Muslim, is very much suspicious – he most probably is using that to save his life.
The Prophet replied, “Do not kill him. And if you kill him, then he will have your status that you had before you kill him, and you will have his status before he uttered those words.”
If a person like Miqdad was to kill such a person, then Miqdad become like a kafir harbi (an enemy) whereas the other person becomes like Miqdad!
What message do we derive from this? If a person says that he has become a Muslim –even in very suspicious circumstances– we don’t have a choice but to accept that person as a Muslim!
This is what I mean by returning to the basics. I am amazed at those who call themselves “Salafis – literally those who turn back to the early ancestors” why they don’t read their own books.
How can a person go into a holy place like a masjid, on a holy day like Friday, at the holy hour like the time of Juma prayer, and then explode the bomb to kill men, women and children? How can such a person even think that he is a Muslim?
Where does this “takfiri” mentality come from? This is not from the salaf! The Salafis, the Taliban and Daesh are not at all true to the values of the early Muslim generation!
Call for Tolerance & Respect among Muslims
Once we have the basics in place, then the difference among the Muslims in theology and jurisprudence should be tolerated, rather they should respect one another. After all, those who believe in the same God, the same Book, the same Prophet, the same qiblah have many common values that can bind them into the brotherhood of the global ummah.
I can proudly say that the most senior scholars among the mainstream Shi‘a world are clear and loud in promoting the sense of brotherhood among the Muslim of various sects.
In the past, we had religious leaders like the Grand Ayatullah Burujurdi, in 1950s, who was instrumental in establishment of Dar-ut-Taqrib Baynal Madhahib al-Islamiyya in Cairo with support of the Grand Mufti Mahmud Shaltut. Then we had Imam Khumayni who promoted the week between the 13th Rabi I and 17th Rabi I as a week of unity.
Presently, we see the land of Iraq where we see the ongoing bloodshed by Daesh forces against Muslims and non-Muslim minorities, and in midst of that strife and violence, we see the clear and loud message of the Grand Ayatullah Sistani constantly call for calm between the Shi‘a and the Sunni, as well as between Muslim and non-Muslim minorities. He has go to the extent of saying, “The Shi‘as [in Iraq] should defend the socio-political rights of the Sunnis before [even] the Sunnis themselves.” He has further said, “Our speech is the call of unity; and I have always said: Do not say, ‘our Sunni brethren,’ rather say, ‘Sunni are ourselves…’
This statement actually reflects the hadith that the ummah is like a body, if one part of it is hurt, then the pain is felt by the whole body.
Final Remarks
Iqbal Lahori, in a beautiful Urdu couplet, in his own words quotes Allah’s message that:
If you are faithful to Muhammad and his message, then I am with you.
What is the worth of this world? The lawh & qalam will become yours.
Iqbal says that if Muslims truly the teaches of Prophet Muhammad, they can write their own destiny as an ummah. Since Muslims have not truly followed the Prophet, they will continuously face disgrace and humiliation!
So get back to the basics, and start to respect the life, the dignity and the property of a fellow Muslim. When the Prophet went for the pilgrimage, he faced the Ka‘ba and said, “Indeed your sanctity is great in the eyes of God but, O Ka‘ba, you should know that life a believer is more sacrosanct in the eyes of God than your sanctity!”
- Muslim an-Nishapuri, Sahih Muslim, Kitabu ’l-Iman, bab tahrim qatlil kafir ba’d an qala la ilaha il-lal-lah.
- Al-Muṣannaf of ‘Abdu ’r-Razzāq al-Ṣan‘ānī, vol. 11, p. 178.
