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| The Last Messenger and the Message of God
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All praises and thanks, be to Almighty God, the creator
of all that exists. The greatest thing that God has offered humanity is that he provided them messengers chosen from among
the best of their kind.
He disclosed and conferred upon man the Revelation to guide everyone towards the truth, the
straight path, as well as warn and deliver people from falsehood and evil, such that they would alone seek His pleasure and
satisfaction in pursuit of Paradise.
Since time immemorial, God sent prophets after prophets, messages after messages
--- dating from Noah to Abraham, Moses, Jesus (Peace be upon all of them) and culminating with the seal of them all, Muhammad
(Peace be upon him), who came to confirm not only the previous messengers but especially that of the universal message which
calls people to worship the Creator alone.
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 Al- Quran 2:285 |
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 The Apostle believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth
in God, His angels, His books, and His apostles. "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His apostles."
And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys." |
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| Birth and childhood |
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Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was born on Monday, the 12th
of Rab'i-ul Awwal, 570 AD. A city in the middle of a desert inhabited by people who traveled vast distances to settle and
prosper in their trade, heart of the great caravan routes. The holy sanctuary Ka’bah was filled with more than 360 idols,
pilgrims and visitors from distant places worshipped these idols. The original pristine message of Abraham in the oneness
of God was lost and it was time for a messenger to bring mankind from the worship of the creation to the worship of the Creator,
Almighty God.
His father died before his birth and his mother, Aminah died when he was six years old. His uncle who
was from the respected tribe of Quraysh raised him. He was unable to read or write, and remained so up until his death. As
he grew up, he became known as truthful, trustworthy, generous, and sincere. He was so trustworthy that he was addressed as
such, Al-Ameen (The most Trustworthy).
The lawlessness rife among the Meccans, the sudden outbursts of causeless and
bloody quarrels among them, and the immorality and skepticism of the Quraysh, naturally caused feelings of pity and sorrow
in him. Such scenes of social misery and religious degradation were characteristic of a depraved age.
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| Marriage |
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When Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was twenty-five years old,
he traveled to Syria working for a noble and respected Quraysh widow named Khadijah. Later, he married Khadijah who was forty
years old, almost fifteen years older than her husband, but in spite of the disparity of age between them, most tender devotion
on both sides existed. This marriage gave him the loving heart of a woman who was ever ready to console him in his despair
and to keep alive within him the feeble, flickering flame of hope when no man believed in him and the world appeared gloomy
in his eyes. She was the first person to accept Islam and supported the prophet till she died at the age of sixty five.
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| First Revelation |
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Muhammad was now approaching his fortieth year, and his mind was ever
engaged in profound contemplation and reflection. Before him lay his country, bleeding and torn by fratricidal wars and intolerable
dissension's; his people, sunk in barbarism, addicted to the observation of rites and superstitions, were, with all their
desert virtues, lawless and cruel.
For years after his marriage, Muhammad had been accustomed to secluding himself
in a cave in Mount Hira, a few miles from Mecca. To this cave he used to go for prayer and meditation, sometimes alone and
sometime with his family. There, he often spent the whole nights in deep thought and profound communion with the Unseen yet
All-Knowing Allah of the Universe. It was during one of those retirements and in the still hours of the night, that Angel
Gabriel came to him to tell him that he was chosen as the Messenger of Allah sent to reclaim a fallen people to the knowledge
and service of their Almighty Lord.
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| Al- Quran 96:1-5 |
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| Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- |
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| Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: |
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| Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- |
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| He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- |
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| Taught man that which he knew not. |
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| Migration to Medina |
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As soon as he began to recite the Quran and preach the truth that
Allah had revealed to him, he and his small group of followers suffered persecution from unbelievers. The hostile Quraysh
prevented the Prophet from offering his prayers at the Sacred House of the Ka’bah; they pursued him wherever he went;
they covered him and his disciples with dirt and filth when engaged in their devotions; they scattered thorns in the places
which he frequented for devotion and meditation.
Amidst all these trials the Prophet did not waver. He was full of
confidence in his mission, even when on several occasions he was put in imminent danger. The persecution grew so fierce that
in the year 622 A.D., Allah gave them the command to emigrate. This emigration from Mecca to the city of Medina, some 260
miles to the north, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.
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| His message |
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The Prophet Muhammad was instructed to call to the religion of "Islam"
meaning “submission to the will of God”.
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| Oneness of God : Al- Quran 112:1-4 |
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| Say: He is God, the One and Only; |
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| God, the Eternal, Absolute; |
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| He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; |
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| And there is none like unto Him. |
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| Al- Quran 2:255 |
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| God! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. |
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| No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. |
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| His are all things in the heavens and on earth. |
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| Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? |
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| He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. |
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| Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. |
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| His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is
the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). |
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| No Compulsion in Religion Al- Quran 2:256 |
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| Let there be no compulsion in religion: |
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| Truth stands out clear from Error: |
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| whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand- hold, that never breaks. |
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| And God heareth and knoweth all things. |
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| Return to Mecca |
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After several years, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) and his followers
were able to return to Mecca where they forgave their enemies. Before Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) died at the age of
sixty-three, the greater part of the Arabian Peninsula had become Muslim and within a century of his death, Islam had spread
to Spain in the West and as far East as China.
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| Spread of Islam |
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Among the reasons for the rapid and peaceful spread of Islam was the
truth and clarity of its doctrine. Islam calls for the faith in only One God, Who is the only one worthy of worship.
The
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) was a perfect example of an honest, just, merciful, compassionate, truthful, and brave
human being. In all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful of Allah.
God made Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on
him) as the Prophet of the Prophets; Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) is the last and final Messenger of Allah. Allah says
in Surah Al-Imran 3: 81
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| Al- Quran 3:81 |
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| Behold! God took the covenant of the prophets, saying: |
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| "I give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you an apostle, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render
him help." |
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| God said: "Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?" |
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| They said: "We agree." |
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| He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses." |
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No distinction based on Race or Ethinicity
Al- Quran 49:13
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| O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may
know each other, not that ye may despise (each other). |
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| Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. |
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| And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). |
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| Prayer for Mankind Al- Quran 2:286 |
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| On no soul doth God Place a burden greater than it can bear. |
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| It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. |
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| (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! |
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| Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; |
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| Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. |
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| Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. |
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| Have mercy on us. |
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| Thou art our Protector; |
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| Help us against those who stand against faith." |
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